LOC Bookkeeping Services LLC is a recently established business in Roane County started by owner, bookkeeper, and namesake Lori Olson-Chantry who moved to Roane County with her husband from Washington in January of last year. Olson offers over 15 years of accounting experience, certification with QuickBooks online pro advisor, and flat rate pricing. The Roane Chamber is set to hold a ribbon cutting
“My husband and I just relocated from Washington State back in January of 2022,” said Olson. “My husband is a bit older than I am and he wants to retire within the next 5 years and we just realized that that wasn’t going to be doable the way we wanted to in Washington. And just the atmosphere of Washington now, due to some political decisions, was not to our benefit any longer. So, I started doing research and everything I plugged into the computer Tennessee kind of ended up on.”
Olson and her husband spent some time scouting around for a home around Knoxville within an hour’s drive to an airport for her husband’s work, and got the idea to move to Roane County after a stay at an AirBnB in Kingston.
LOC is a business made with many years of experience in the financial areas of many businesses.
“I have done payroll, office management, accounts payable, accounts receivable, basically everything that a bookkeeper does without having that title because I might not do all of that at the same company,” Olson said. “The last company I was working for the previous two years before we moved I was working strictly payroll. And I had planned on doing something like that for an employer when we moved out here, but by the time I was ready to get back in the workforce, I just realized that I prefer to do something remote. And so I just decided to combine all of my skills and give something back to the local community and start up a bookkeeping business.”
Services on offer include entry and categorization of transactions; reconciliation of businesses, Bank accounts, credit cards, and online payment platforms; processing of vendor payments; client invoice creation; preparation of monthly client statements; and preparation of monthly balance sheets and profit and loss and accounts receivable reports.
“I got my business license for LOC back in April but hadn’t really started working the business yet, I got my first client in June,” Olson said. “I don’t plan on hiring anybody or anything; I would like it to stay just me with some flexibilities. But I’m really trying to target groups that are probably left out a little bit, which are the small businesses in the area. Single owner, new LLCs, that type of thing that I’ve worked with for different startups over my career in Washington. And I enjoy that kind of atmosphere.”
Olson is also focusing on single-owner businesses.
“I understand that niche also,” she said. “I think those are the folks that oftentimes don’t think they are going to need anyone to do their books or don’t think they can afford someone to do their books. So, I’m trying to educate people and make them realize that if they are small or they are brand new, they really need to spend time on getting their business going and making it lucrative for them. And I can help them by making sure that they are not paying taxes on more income than they need to. I tell people that if they liked doing their books then they would be a bookkeeper.”
Olson finished by saying not having a brick and mortar location allows her to “pretty much beat anyone else that is offering bookkeeping services”.
