Skimmer Bookkeeping
Tiers: Add-on
Permissions: Can access Bookkeeping
What is Skimmer Bookkeeping?
Skimmer Bookkeeping is accounting software with a full bookkeeping service built on top of it. You get the automation and real-time visibility of modern accounting software, plus a dedicated bookkeeper who categorizes transactions, reconciles your accounts, and keeps your books accurate and up to date, so you don't have to.
The result: clean, ready-to-use books that hand off seamlessly to your CPA or tax professional when it's time for filing.
Step 1: Sign up in Skimmer
Click Bookkeeping on the left navigation menu to open the Bookkeeping page.
Click Add bookkeeping to start the sign-up process. From the Add bookkeeping window, you can sign up for the monthly service and add a catch-up-your-books service to help you bring your business finances up to date.
Step 2: Schedule an onboarding call with Skimmer Bookkeeping
The Skimmer Bookkeeping team reaches out to schedule a 20-minute call to walk through the onboarding process.
During the onboarding call, a member of our team walks you through everything you need to get started on Skimmer Bookkeeping. Come prepared with:
- Desired bookkeeping start date
- (If applicable) Log-in information for your old accounting software
- (If applicable) Log-in information for your payroll system
- (If applicable) List of loans (institution, loan type — for example, vehicle, SBA)
- Log-in information for business bank accounts and credit cards
Step 3: Complete your tasks
After you're onboarded to Skimmer Bookkeeping, our team sends you a text message once or twice a month, asking you to go into Skimmer Bookkeeping to (1) respond to a few questions on your transactions or (2) upload documentation (for example, loan documents, bank statements). You can respond by writing a short description or uploading relevant documents in the Bookkeeping tasks section on the right side of your Skimmer Bookkeeping Overview tab.
Step 4: Analyze your performance
As our bookkeeping team categorizes your transactions, you can access live charts and reports to review your business financials. We also send a text message at the beginning of each month when your previous month's reports are ready for review.
Visualize your performance with live charts
Click the Overview tab on the Bookkeeping page to see visuals of your pool cleaning business's overall performance. You can see a month-over-month view of your Profit & loss and a more granular breakdown of your Revenue and Expenses for each month.
Explore your financial reports
Click the Reports tab on the Bookkeeping page to dive into your pool cleaning business's financial reports. See Review your financial reports for more information on how to interpret your reports.
Manage your linked business bank accounts and credit cards
When you connect business bank accounts and credit cards, your business transactions upload into Skimmer automatically. Connect all accounts tied to your business during onboarding, but you can add or remove accounts if anything changes with your business banking solutions.
You can manage your bank account and credit card connections in the Bank transactions tab.
Connect additional business bank accounts and credit cards
- In the Linked accounts section, select Add account.
- In the window that opens, click one of the following options:
- Continue without phone number (entering your phone number is optional). Find and select your bank under Select your institution.
- Continue to login to access your business bank account.
- Follow the instructions on the screen to log in to your bank account and grant read-only access.
- If prompted, select the accounts you want to connect.
- You may be asked to enter your phone number again — select Continue without saving.
Unlink bank accounts and credit cards
To disconnect business bank accounts or credit cards:
- In the Linked accounts section, click the bank account or credit card you want to disconnect.
- Select the vertical ellipsis button (⋮) in the upper right side of the bank account or credit card tile.
- Click Unlink account and confirm that you want to unlink the account.
Fix connections with linked bank accounts
Bank accounts you've already linked sometimes unlink from Skimmer Bookkeeping when your bank password or security settings change, or if you use a small bank (for example, a local credit union) with inconsistent service. To fix the connection:
- In the Linked accounts section, click the bank account or credit card whose connection you need to reinstate.
- Select the vertical ellipsis button (⋮) in the upper right side of the bank account tile.
- Click Repair connection.
- Enter your credentials to reconnect your account.
Review your financial reports
Financial statements help small and medium-sized business (SMB) owners understand how their businesses are doing. They show whether the business is making a profit, what it owns and owes, and how cash is being used. This information helps SMB owners make smarter decisions, stay compliant, and plan for growth.
You can manage your three financial statements in the Reports tab on the Bookkeeping page. Use the toggle under Reports to choose your financial statement: Profit & loss, Balance sheet, or Cash flow statement.
Profit & loss statement
The Profit & loss statement (also called an income statement) shows how much money your business made (revenues) and how much it spent (expenses) over a certain time period.
It breaks these into simple categories important for pool service businesses, so you can see:
- Whether your business is making a profit or running at a loss
- Which activities or products bring in the most money
- What your biggest expense categories are
This report is a great way to track your performance month to month or year over year.
You can also view the individual journal entries that make up each category in the Profit & loss report by clicking the number on the right side of the report.
Balance sheet
The Balance sheet gives you a snapshot of your business's financial position at a point in time.
It breaks down your business finances into three standard categories:
- What you own — such as cash, inventory, or equipment (called assets)
- What you owe — such as loans or unpaid bills (called liabilities)
- What's left over — the value of the business after paying debts (called equity)
This report helps you assess the overall financial health of your business.
Statement of cash flow
The Statement of cash flow shows how cash moves in and out of your business. It tracks cash from day-to-day business operations, cash used for investments (like new equipment), and cash from financing (like loans or capital from owners).
This report helps ensure you always have enough cash to pay bills, make payroll, and invest in your business at the right time.
End-of-year tax packet
When it's time to file your end-of-year taxes, we also provide a tax packet with all the information your CPA needs to file your taxes (also available on request). The primary additional report included is the Balance sheet, which gives you a snapshot of your business's financial position at a point in time.
It breaks down your business finances into five standard categories:
- What you earn — such as sales (called revenues)
- What you spend — such as retail supplies or rent (called expenses)
- What you own — such as cash, inventory, or equipment (called assets)
- What you owe — such as loans or unpaid bills (called liabilities)
- What's left over — the value of the business after paying debts (called equity)
This report helps you assess the overall financial health of your business.
Upload additional transactions
Import data from another accounting software
If you'd like to import historical data from a previous accounting software, let us know during your onboarding call. During that call, a member of our team asks for additional context on the software and the data you want uploaded.
Share transactions from bank accounts that aren't connected to Skimmer Bookkeeping
If you used bank accounts that aren't connected to Skimmer Bookkeeping for business transactions — for example:
- You used a personal account for business transactions, or
- You're not able to connect a business account to Skimmer Bookkeeping
Skimmer Bookkeeping can still include these in your books. If there are only a few transactions each month you want included, send receipts for these transactions to Skimmer Bookkeeping via your SMS connection. If you want entire bank statements uploaded, we request these from you in your Bookkeeping tasks section at the end of each month.
Skimmer Bookkeeping FAQ
Why do I need a bookkeeper? Can't I just do my bookkeeping myself?
There are several benefits to using a bookkeeper with Skimmer Bookkeeping:
- Doing your own books takes time. The average small business owner who does their own books usually spends 10–15 hours per month on it. Using a bookkeeper gives you that time back to focus on running and growing your business.
- Ensure your books are done by an expert who knows your industry. Bookkeepers are experts in organizing your finances and make sure your business follows best practices for managing and reconciling your books and preparing financial reports each month. Our bookkeeping team handles your accounting for you, so you don't need to worry about managing your books throughout the year, and you can have confidence in your financial reports and know you're fully ready for tax time.
How is Skimmer Bookkeeping different from other bookkeepers?
- Much faster — get your reports within the first week of each month, so you have time to act on that information (versus 15+ days after end of month, or even quarterly or annually).
- Specifically designed for pool pros — get a bookkeeper who understands the nuances of pool service businesses (and Skimmer).
- Integrated directly into Skimmer — all your Skimmer data, automatically synced, where you run your business.
What makes your bookkeepers experts for pool pros?
While most bookkeepers handle the books for a wide range of businesses across many industries, our bookkeepers handle only pool pros' books. That means they're deeply familiar with the pool service ecosystem — for example, what categories are important for pool pros and how various vendors should be treated from an accounting perspective. For you, this means fewer questions from our bookkeeping team compared to traditional bookkeepers, and more confidence that your books are being done correctly.
Why should I have my books done monthly instead of at the end of the year?
Having your books done monthly lets you act on the data — for example, cash flow problems or insights on spending or revenue — and adjust throughout the year. It also means you spend less time scrambling during tax season, which saves time overall and improves accuracy.
Why should I start now instead of next year?
If you're unhappy with your current accounting solution and want to make a change, we want to make transitioning as easy as possible. We can either (1) migrate your previous data from other accounting solutions to get you started free of charge, or (2) do year-to-date "catch-up" bookkeeping for a heavily discounted rate. That way, you have all your accounting in one place and go into tax season feeling fully ready.
How do I hand data off to my CPA?
Skimmer Bookkeeping offers two solutions:
- An end-to-end solution (we can also file your taxes for you for an additional fee), so you don't have to worry about hand-offs or coordination.
- An end-of-year tax packet, in a format your CPA can understand — take it from us, hand it off to them, and they can file your taxes from there.
What if I leave Skimmer or Skimmer Bookkeeping?
If you no longer want to continue with Skimmer Bookkeeping, we provide a full export of your data that you can use for whatever solution you're moving to.
What if I want to maintain control over my books?
You have full visibility into Skimmer Bookkeeping through robust reporting and a comprehensive bank transaction feed, so you can let someone else manage your accounting for you without losing visibility into how your books are organized.
What if I don't want to share my bank account information with you?
Skimmer Bookkeeping has read-only access to your business transactions. That means we can't make any changes to your business finances — we only record what we see. This is the same access any bookkeeper would need to help you with your books.
Who will I be interacting with? Who will my bookkeeper be?
A member of our team based in San Francisco guides you through every step of the onboarding process and is your point of contact for any questions (for example, via SMS, email, or support calls). That same team is responsible for reconciling your books and sharing your reports with you each month.