Swords Bookkeeping

Providing top-notch bookkeeping and accounting services

Bookkeeping

Maintain an accurate record of financial transactions and the general ledger, and reconcile bank accounts

Accounting

Quickbooks Online Specialist, prepare balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements

Tax Filing & Audit Preparation

1099 and payroll filing. Preparation for 990s and audits to support your CPAs

Advisory

Annual budgets, cash flow planning, benchmarking, profitability analysis, present to management and board

Who I work with

I work with executive directors of nonprofits and owners of small businesses. My clients want the financial aspects of their organization managed well, so they can make informed decisions ranging in scope from strategic investments to grow and launch new programs, to managing risk with confidence in cash-flow projections, to tactical moves such as whether they can afford to hire the next employee.

Most executive directors and business owners are focused on what they do well and add the most value – fundraising, developing programs, selling, and managing operations. The day-to-day bookkeeping and accounting are often the last things on their minds. While this makes sense, my clients usually can’t afford a full-time bookkeeper or accountant and want to outsource to a high-quality services provider.
Because bookkeeping & accounting is a low priority for your time, this often translates into a lack of timely financial statements and inaccurate cash-flow projections. Running out of cash is the single highest cause of bankruptcies. On a less dramatic level, without accurate and timely financial data, it’s impossible to make good investment decisions, and you are left to fly by the seat of your pants and gamble that things will work out. Often the investments don’t pay off as well as they could, and in the meantime, you experience extra stress and sleepless nights worrying about the outcomes.
You will receive timely and accurate financial statements, that you literally can take to the bank – for loan applications, for example. You will confidently be able to make informed and timely decisions on investments in inventory, IT equipment, hiring people, salary levels, and how much and when to pay yourself. Maybe you will even sleep better at night!
Because I’m not only an experienced bookkeeper but a trained accountant and a Harvard MBA, who has consulted to firms like yours on financial and strategic decisions, I set up the books, categorize the transactions and prepare the monthly financial statements. While I’m doing those things – at no additional cost to you – I’m evaluating them to flag potential issues and opportunities, such as future cash-flow shortfalls.
Though no client situation is exactly the same, there are usually one of two ways we get started working together. One, is that this is the first time you are wanting to have your books formally set up in such a way that monthly financial statements can be generated. Two, you have had a bookkeeper who didn’t do a great job and a clean-up is needed first.
In both cases, we’d start with a consultation to determine your needs, how I can best assist you, and the monthly fees.

"Timothy’s review of our Center's bookkeeping and accounting processes enabled our leadership team to make informed decisions based on more timely and accurate financial statements. His wise and warm presence helped the staff to make needed improvements in a productive manner that felt completely supportive and encouraging in a situation that could have been fraught with anxiety or defensiveness."

Steven Hickman, Executive Director, Center for Mindful Self-Compassion
“I worked with Timothy on many projects and it was his leadership and insights that helped us find and implement the best solutions. He is able to take complex data and turn it into usable information and has the ability to work with executive management teams to lead them to strategic solutions for core business issues.”

Steve Mark, Head of Strategic Account Relationship Management, Fidelity Investments
“Timothy presents a unique way of thinking about your business – how to drive growth and profitability within the full context of your customers, shareholders, and employees and what are your specific opportunities and challenges."

Bill Torchiana, President, Torchiana, Mastrov & Sapiro

Timothy Swords

I have over 30 years of experience helping business owners and non-profit executive directors manage their organizations. Over the course of my career as a management consultant, I frequently observed that smaller companies and non-profits needed stronger foundations, through good bookkeeping, to stay afloat and thrive. This motivated me to offer a range of bookkeeping and accounting services, from cleaning up the books to generating timely and high-quality financial statements.

In addition to my accounting and bookkeeping services practice, I’ve held management positions at MUFG Union Bank, Fidelity Investments, and PwC. I have an MBA from Harvard, so I’m highly skilled at financial management.

I have served on nonprofit boards, including: the Professional Advisory Board of the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion, the Alzheimer Association No. California Chapter board, and Community Partners, a Harvard Business School Alumni organization that provides pro bono consulting to nonprofits.

I teach Mindful Leadership and credit my decades-long meditation practice for my ability to be laser-focused, stay calm under pressure, and lead empathically. I enjoy hiking in the SF Bay Area on the weekends. My greatest satisfaction comes from being a dad!

Education and Certifications