Author’s Note: As we continue the search for the 2021 Top 100 ProAdvisors and ProAdvisor of the Year, we want to take this opportunity to highlight our 2020 award winners. Learn more about Insightful Accountant’s Top 100 ProAdvisors Award Program here.
Megan Genest Tarnow, Principal of The Mobius Group
Megan Genest Tarnow, our 2020 Top 100 ProAdvisor from Great Falls, Montana and Principal of The Mobius Group. She is the Founder, and one of two controllers. While she has a slate of clients that she manages the month end close and reporting process for, she also does a lot of data file set-ups, cleanups, and consults.
We asked Tarnow to tell us a little about her day-to-day. “I’ll generally check in with the Facebook group I admin, QuickBooks for Nonprofits and triage my email over breakfast, and then take my dogs for a brisk walk before the daily calibration meeting with my team. The next several hours are a blur of team support, scope work, client requests, and far too much email. I turn my computer off and roll my calendar over before heading downstairs for another walk and dinner with my family.”
We have all had to make adjustments to our businesses this past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tarnow and her practice have been busier than ever due to some of these adjustments. “My team was already remote [and since our] systems were already cloud-based, we really just had to help our clients make these additional adjustments as they too stopped going into the office,” Tarnow shared with us. “We’ve also done a lot of consults with nonprofits who finally realized it was time to move to the cloud.”
Making the move to be 100% QuickBooks Online has streamlined her practice and has also given her clients much more insight into their financials. “With traditional accounting software, the numbers were something that was tucked away on one person’s computer, but now they are accessible to more people, wherever they are, and become a much more essential part of the organization,” Tarnow said.
Another tool Tarnow’s practice has utilized is SaasAnt. “SaasAnt has revolutionized the tedious task of allocating shared costs across grants and programs. Journal entries that used to take literally over an hour to enter now take just a few minutes,” she shared with us.
With how fast this industry evolves, it’s a necessity to stay on top of trends. “Things are changing so rapidly – not just technology, but accounting rules and all the craziness of the PPP and now the ERTC. It’s a LOT!” Tarnow said. “Thank goodness for the online accounting community helping keep us all informed and connected. I can’t imagine doing this work otherwise. Our clients rely on them to stay up to date and keep them informed, and I rely on the community for support.”
This community of support and resources means a lot to Tarnow and she told us she intends to continue her part in it. “I want to continue to grow the amazing community that is the QuickBooks for Nonprofits Facebook group, and to lean into the Roundtable I am leading with Ufuoma Ogaga under the umbrella of Richard Roppa-Roberts’ Roundtable Labs.”
Megan Genest Tarnow believes in this ProAdvisor community and is one of the reasons it is as strong as it is. We are proud to have you as a 2020 Top 100 ProAdvisor, Megan!