It’s no secret that IQ Bookkeeping cares deeply about social impact and environmental stewardship. We’ve been exploring ways to show up for these values more deeply, and one program that caught our eye is called B Corp Certification:

B Corp Certification is a designation awarded by the nonprofit B Lab to companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. It signifies that a company is using business as a force for good and is committed to addressing social and environmental issues.

You might not know what a B Corp is, but you’ve definitely heard of them: Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, Coursera, TOMS and Athleta have all earned their B.

I took the B Impact Assessment, which is a great starting point to see how you currently stack up and where you have room for growth.

Full disclosure, we’re only about half way to certification point-wise, so we have lots of work to do. But as such a small operation, so many things on this survey have never even been on my radar. I’ll share a few steps on our journey so far:

2 things we were already doing that counted towards B certification:

• Paying 100% of employees an annual bonus
• Quarterly Profit Sharing

2 things I easily implemented while I was taking the assessment that moved us towards B certification:

• Added a policy on breastfeeding at work to our Employee handbook
• Created an internal program providing paid time off for employees to perform 8 hours of local volunteer work each year

2 goals to implement by the end of July that will move us towards B certification:

• Creating an internal program for employee professional development
• Monitoring energy usage for the business

This assessment process is such a great way to operationalize any values or mission statements that have to do with social justice or conservation (ours hits on both). I always thought I would live out my business mission with volunteer work, which my business has afforded me the time to complete. While volunteer work is a much-needed needle-mover, the assessment has opened my eyes to a totally different plane of mission impact through governance, customer, supplier, employee, and environmental initiatives. I’m here for it!

If sustainable and ethical business practices turn you on like they do me, and you’re in the Charlotte area, you should come to one of the quarterly Charlotte B Corp Collective meetings. Everyone is invited to these meet-ups, regardless of your B Corp cert status. I’ve been to the last 2 quarterly meetings and have been inspired both times by meeting with other mission-driven companies here in Charlotte. I’m also receiving a lot of support from their Board of Directors to get me closer to our IQ Bookkeeping certification, as they extend that support to anyone interested in getting B Corp certified. (If you’re not in Charlotte but you’re excited about this movement, check the map to see if there are B Local organizations or B Corps near you!)

Come join us! The next 2 Charlotte B Corp Collective meetings are:

• Friday, July 25th at Change Please Coffee in the Innovation Barn, 11am-1pm. Join us for lunch and a private tour!
• Friday, October 24th at Adaptive Reuse Tour & Sustainably Sourced Lunch at Camp North End. They’ll have B Corp certified business owners & reps from Asheville and the Triangle to answer questions and support your journey towards a more ethical and sustainable business.

Follow the Charlotte B Corp Collective on Linkedin for more, or feel free to reach out to me with questions.

New website: It will be live this month! We’ve recently welcomed 3 new team members, Mei Olson, Andrea Dougall and Christina White to our team, and you’ll be able to learn about all of them on the new website. Mei, Andrea, and Christina have expanded our client capacity, so go tell everybody!

New Offerings: We have been collaborating with Fortuna Money for years (keep reading if you’re not yet familiar with the financial prowess of Fortuna Money) and now we’re excited to finally be sharing these joint offerings to the public:

360° Financials: Business & Personal Financial Support

Many business owners need even more support managing their personal finances. With our 360° Financials offer, we help you create healthy boundaries between your business and personal finances, while providing support and accountability to reach your goals in both domains.

The foundational offering:
Jen guides you through an initial assessment of personal net worth, income, and expenses, and identifies key next steps for a thriving financial life. After the personal assessment, Jen compassionately keeps you accountable with monthly meetings aimed at helping you develop effective habits for money management.

Kendall and her team follow a similar business assessment during on-boarding, and manage your business finances for you.

Then, Jen and Kendall meet with you for an additional monthly call to integrate your goals and needs. This power hour teams you up with two expert strategic accounting partners who support you in developing and pursuing the best strategies to achieve your goals.

This offering is customizable based on your situation and needs, and starts at $650/month.

Small Business Finance Speaking Events

Kendall and Jen are sought-after speakers, individually and as a team. Reach out if you’d like to bring our shared expertise in bookkeeping, accounting, and business strategy to your business or coaching group. Audiences particularly love their Business Money Chat:

“Even though we were talking about many different aspects of business finance, you provided such valuable information, explained it all so well, and made it approachable for us “lay” people.”

“It is clear how passionate you both are about what you do and that you both have such a heart for small business owners.”

If either of these offerings piques your interest, schedule a call on my calendar, and Jen will join us so we can collaboratively meet your needs.