About Us
We are a small business with years of board level experience offering your business that xtra hand of support when you need it.
We provide Payroll, Bookkeeping, Invoicing, Data Entry, Project Management, Social Media Management, Executive Secretarial and Financial Administrative support for businesses, professionals and individuals across all industry sectors. We are Manchester based, but we welcome clients and operations across the globe.
I am Laura the founder of Virtual Assistant Xtra.
Prior to starting my own business, I have worked in Corporate Banking at Royal Bank of Scotland, The Co-Operative Bank and then the custodian Bank of New York Mellon. I have always been keen to run my own company and when the right time came I decided to use the expertise and experience I had built up over the years to start a Virtual Assistant business.
**BANKING EXPERIENCE IS A BONUS FOR MY BOOKKEEPING CLIENTS**
As a former Banker, I have little doubt about the vital service offered by bookkeepers. I see my role as maintaining accurate financial records, that can be inspected at any time and assisting the business owner to run a profitable business by flagging up any issues or concerns that may have a detrimental effect.
I believe my career working in investment Banking has added a valuable extra dimension to my new role. Before leaving the bank, I could not envisage doing anything else.
Suddenly, doors opened, and I began to discover an interesting new opportunity. At first, I had to come to terms with a crucial difference between banking and bookkeeping. A credit in the banking world is a debit in the book-keeping world, It’s still about numbers that must balance. If they don’t, there’s a reason and you must find it.
After my Banking years I went to study for IAB qualifications and I am now an enthusiastic member of the IAB, QuickBooks Pro Advisor, Xero Certified and the Sage Professional Bookkeeper’s Club.
Timely management data was routine in the bank. Now I offer it to my clients to help them know precisely where they are financially.
I produce management figures on a monthly basis – what we’ve done, how we’ve done it, what it looks like if we continue in the same way and pointing out any deficiencies such as margins not holding up, amongst other criteria.
I love bookkeeping because “you can make a real difference. Clients may have been given figures in the past but often have no idea about their correlation with the previous month or year, nor the margin they are making.”
I am especially pleased when I save them money by finding they have paid twice for the same thing; or overpaid by failing to check a delivery note against an invoice.
As for the fees paid to a bookkeeper, I believe it is money well spent because of how it can help a client. “Don’t forget that HM Revenue and Customs can come round to do snap inspections and if you are deemed not to be keeping your records adequately, they can slap fines on you. A lot of small businesses don’t understand or realise that.”
A clear message for small business owners who have yet to hire a bookkeeper.
“Concentrate on the things you’re good at and leave somebody who’s good at the other things to do them for you. You can be really surprised what can come out of it. I can help you run a more successful and profitable business.
