How Numbers Matter LLC Cut Month-End Close Time in Half with Financial Cents
Numbers Matter LLC
Firm Name
Accounting, Bookkeeping, Financial Management, and Consulting for Law Firms
Services
2
Staff Members
2007
Year Founded
Colorado
Location
Remote
Working Style
When Month-End Close came along, it’s like the harps started playing. The doors opened up wide. It’s made our work so much more efficient. It’s so flawless."
Steve Libhart, Founder, Numbers Matter LLCSteve Libhart has spent most of his career at the intersection of accounting and the legal industry—working inside law firms, teaching law firm accounting for the Colorado Bar Association, starting his own law-focused accounting firm, and even co-hosting the Accountants Law Pod.
Through it all, Steve has seen the industry evolve from installing QuickBooks via compact disc and meeting with clients in-person to running an entire practice remotely with cloud-based software and virtual video calls. While some of his colleagues in the accounting profession have resisted this transformation, Steve has embraced it wholeheartedly.
I’ve kind of grown up with the industry becoming more automated, and I just love it. I mean, we’re working with AI now. I’m not afraid of it."
Steve Libhart, Founder, Numbers Matter LLCThat tech-forward spirit is exactly what brought Steve to Financial Cents. And now, FC’s recently released Month-End Close feature has completely reshaped how his firm, Numbers Matter LLC, serves its clients.
The Problem: Stitching Together Too Many Tools
Before Financial Cents, Steve’s approach to tracking work, storing client information, and managing month-end close was similar to that of many other small firms: a messy conglomeration of processes and tools that didn’t quite fit together.
Everything from Word documents and Excel spreadsheets to ClickUp and Notion—I’ve tried it all."
Steve Libhart, Founder, Numbers Matter LLCNot surprisingly, this hodge-podge system created real inefficiencies for Steve’s firm:
- Month-end close took twice as long as it needed to.
- Financial reports that could have gone out in the second week of the month weren’t landing until the third week.
- Client communication around uncategorized transactions was a constant back-and-forth that was hard to track and easy to lose sight of.
For Steve’s clients—attorneys who bill in tenths of an hour and have zero patience for administrative drag—any unnecessary lag time was a big issue.
The Solution: Finding Financial Cents and Easing the Pain of Month-End Close
Steve first encountered Financial Cents at QuickBooks Connect in Las Vegas a few years back. The demo he saw on the convention floor made an immediate impression.
Something clicked with me. I don’t know what it was, but it just made sense. I was like, ‘This is the one for me.’"
Steve Libhart, Founder, Numbers Matter LLCNumbers Matter implemented Financial Cents shortly after the conference, and Steve hasn’t looked back since. Over the years, he has watched Financial Cents grow from a workflow tool into a full-fledged practice management platform. He’s become such a huge fan of Financial Cents that he actively promotes it to his peers across the industry—some of whom tried it in the early days but ended up migrating to other solutions.
I’m selling Financial Cents back to them. I’m like, ‘Did you know it does this now, and it does that now?’ And they’re like, ‘Really?’ And I’m like, ‘Go get your demo. Go back, join them again. Because it’s just phenomenal what the platform is doing.’"
Steve Libhart, Founder, Numbers Matter LLCFor Steve, the recent launch of the Month-End Close feature was truly the cherry on top.
His firm works with attorneys who often have complex, granular books and unique transaction descriptions. Pair that with their notorious resistance to saving receipts, and month-end close can quickly become a tedious slog. But Financial Cents makes it exponentially easier to request and collect receipts—and any other documentation—from clients.
I love being able to send over the uncategorized transactions to clients, and having them attach their answers and receipts and documents. I love the files portion where I can set up custom files for clients. It’s made our work so much more efficient."
Steve Libhart, Founder, Numbers Matter LLCKey Month-End Close Capabilities in Financial Cents
Recategorization
When uncategorized transactions are flagged in QuickBooks, they automatically flow into Financial Cents. There, Steve’s team can review all uncategorized items, cross-reference them against the receipts folder, and batch-send everything to the client at once.
We gather everything we want to ask them about, then go in and compare against the receipts one more time. Then I go through all the transactions and batch-send it to them so they get it all at once—instead of piecemeal pecking at them throughout the month."
Steve Libhart, Founder, Numbers Matter LLCClients respond directly in the portal—attaching any relevant files—and those responses flow back into QuickBooks automatically. For clients who need specific transaction descriptions, Steve can jump into QuickBooks, massage the wording, and move on.
1099 Preparation
1099 season used to consume nearly a full month of Steve’s bandwidth. This year, it was done in a week.
I sailed right through 1099 season, not worrying about it. I was done in a week. It used to take me almost a whole month. It used to be crazy, and this year it was flawless."
Steve Libhart, Founder, Numbers Matter LLCClient Portal
Steve no longer allows clients to email him documents or questions. When they try, he redirects them to the client portal in Financial Cents—and once they’re in, they rarely look back.
Eventually they give up and use it, and then they’re like, “Well, why didn’t I start using this sooner?” It’s so user friendly for both sides of the fence."
Steve Libhart, Founder, Numbers Matter LLCResults Round-up: Numbers Matter LLC’s Achievements with Financial Cents
Since adopting Month-End Close in Financial Cents, Numbers Matter LLC has:
- Cut month-end close time in half, moving financial report delivery from the third week of the month to the second week.
- Compressed 1099 season from nearly a month to a single week with a seamless, organized process.
- Eliminated multi-thread email chaos by moving all client communication and document collection into one portal.
- Freed up time to act as a financial advisor, not just a bookkeeper—coordinating with clients’ CPAs and providing strategic guidance throughout the year.
- Improved team visibility, with Steve’s other team member managing her assigned accounts independently and uploading preliminary financials directly to the portal for Steve’s review.
What Financial Cents Does for Small Bookkeeping and Accounting Firms (According to Steve)
Financial Cents takes all the minutia away. Your yellow stickies are gone. It cuts down the amount of time to turn the books every month. You can see the workflow before it’s an emergency—you can see what you haven’t done. Every day I make myself stop before I shut down and look at all the clients I touched that day and make sure everything is in there."
Steve Libhart, Founder, Numbers Matter LLCSteve Libhart is the founder of Numbers Matter LLC and co-host of the Accountants Law Pod, a weekly podcast for legal accounting professionals.
