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Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/123770
SMB SUCCESS STORY BY TAIJA JENKINS, ASSOCIATE EDITOR A Picture Perfect Duo: Florida CPA Helps Grow Freelance Camera Rental Company Imagine running a business out of your home for more than 25 years when a divorce forces you to move ofces and reevaluate your business strategy. Ten, in the midst of it all, you're the victim of a robbery, resulting in damages to thousands of dollars of equipment. Sounds like a movie, right? Only for Robert (Bob) Beverlin, owner of Cinebob (www.cinebob.com), this was real life. Based in Orlando, Florida, Bob started his freelance camera rental company, originally named BB Mobile Productions, more than 30 years ago in his home. It was during this time that a mutual friend in the flm business introduced Bob to Mia Tomas, CPA, one of the 2012 Most Powerful Women in Accounting (www.cpapracticeadvisor. com/10809635). Bob was looking for a CPA to help with tax work, but litle did he know that Mia would become an instrumental asset to not just his company, but to him as well. Not only does she handle his professional accounts, Mia also manages his personal accounts. 50 May 2013 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com "Mia isn't your average CPA. She's more like a family member that comes around during tax time," jokes Bob. "She's available for us all the time and has been there through thick and thin – during my times of celebration and my bad times." When Mia started her own frm in 2010 at Bob's suggestion, he asked Mia to come on board internally as Cinebob's CFO. In the middle of a divorce and looking to expand his business, Bob realized that his accounting responsibilities had become far greater than he could handle. Mia was able to help Bob locate a building for his new ofce, navigate through the legal and corporate paperwork and move systems to the cloud – something that would prove benefcial in the near future. Mia used her real estate knowledge – she has a license although she doesn't practice – to help Bob select a location that had the right pricing and structure to support his camera rental business. Because she was also his accountant and CFO, she also knew the ins and outs of his fnances and exactly how much money he had to allocate towards purchasing the building and camera equipment and sofware. "At the time, Bob was going with the motion and wasn't doing anything to grow with the opportunities he had," said Mia. "It was very important that we looked at the big picture and took advantage of the resources and opportunities we had." One valuable resource that Mia put into use was the Cloud. She moved QuickBooks to the Cloud and, afer extensive research, the company implemented a new rental tracking and barcoding system. Due to the nature of the business, Cinebob only used Mac computers. Te new system, Rental Tracker Pro, would work on both Windows and Mac and make it easier to keep track of the inventory, which had tripled. While Rental Tracker Pro does integrate with the desktop version of QuickBooks, it doesn't with QBO, a sacrifce Bob and Mia were willing to make for anytime, anywhere access. "We were already in the process of moving QuickBooks online, so we forwent the integration capability. Plus, with QuickBooks Online, Mia is able to answer questions for clients even when she's away from the ofce," said Bob. In addition to upgraded sofware, Bob also invested in a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of new equipment, more cameramen and staf to run the new sofware purchased. In addition, Cinebob has an online system in place to manage time and billing. At the time that Bob was expanding Cinebob, one of his largest competitors closed in Orlando and relocated to Atlanta afer 20 years. Bob took advantage of the loss of competition and seized the opportunity to promote his expansion within the community. He completely rebranded the company with a new name and logo and expanded the website. Te company also started ofering its customers the option to flm onsite and rent out an ofce. In addition, he held an Open House for the local community, where he invited the local flm commissioner. Te event was co-sponsored by Women in Film, an organization focused on empowering women in the flm industry, and gave the community a chance to familiarize themselves with Cinebob.