BNI Lake Country Connections. “BNI is an international group of professionals whose goal it is to help one another’s businesses grow through referrals,” explains Marlene. “But it is also a great help in personal growth and developing leadership skills.” The Brainerd area has three BNI groups. Only one profession is allowed per group. For example, Marlene is the only payroll and bookkeeping service represented in her group. Other professions run the gamut from a doctor of chiropractic medicine and lawyer to an automotive technician and plumber. “We are a diverse group from a wide variety of backgrounds, skills and contacts,” Marlene says. “The experience has been invaluable to my business and me personally.” She currently serves as secretary-treasurer of Lake Country
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Connections. When asked what she likes to do in her limited spare time, Marlene laughs. “Well, I really enjoy sleeping.” She recently bought a device to track not only how much she sleeps but her quality of sleep. “I also like kayaking and intend to spend more time on the water,” she says. That makes sense for a person who is so analytical, after all, physical activity is an important aspect to getting good sleep. n
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and have come to expect. “For payroll services, it doesn’t matter if our clients have one employee or 50. A business can simply submit their payroll data to us by phone, email or fax. If we receive the information by midnight, we can turn it around by five o’clock the next business day. Our bookkeeping service doesn’t require the client to submit all or nothing. We work to create a solution that fits their specific needs and business.” Marlene says services range from doing only monthly bank reconciliations to managing entire accounts receivable and payable, payroll and filing of monthly or quarterly payroll and sales taxes. Marlene thrives on challenges. “It may sound strange,” she says, “but I enjoy taking messy financial records and converting them into accurate financial statements. Once we organize the information, it is amazing how we can streamline the process for our clients. Today’s technology provides a variety options. For example, we can share file access using the online version of QuickBooks or a service such as Qbox. We can create a method of transferring source documents and do the bookwork in our office or provide service onsite.” For people who feel uneasy about working with finances, Marlene is a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and offers one-to-one training. “We’ll set things up and provide basic instruction that fits our clients’ needs,” Waller says. “We can also assist those using QuickBooks to understand it better and use it more efficiently.” And for those who have always wanted to learn QuickBooks? Waller adds, “I also offer instruction for those with no experience with QuickBooks but who are interested in learning it.” Though much of the Paper Plan-it’s growth and success can be directly attributed to Marlene’s personal work ethic and dogged perseverance, she feels she would be remiss if she didn’t give a shout out to a local networking group,
Fall 2015 | her voice 21