FAQ
Workflow Seams? don’t you mean seamLESS?
Nope. In UV geometry, seams are the lines or set of coordinates that transform 2D images into 3D models. Seams are the framework of 3D structures, and in the business world, according to us at least, seams are the connection points of subsystems that make up the larger system, the company or organization as whole. Things that are described as seamless might truly be as described. Its possible to experience flawless integration from one software to the next. But an organization as a whole doesn’t experience seamless execution on all tasks and projects. Something as basic as requesting and receiving information from a client could be seamless, but likely somewhere along the workflow a task requires human action - we call that friction. And for this workflow and many other than can be seamless and frictionless, what is the cost.
There are some processes best left with a little friction, otherwise the information comes in, work product goes out, and a large black box exists in the middle. Highly sophisticated large corporations have measures in place to avoid the blackbox, but those corporations don’t make up our client base. For small to medium sized businesses, Workflow Seams has to consider the balance between flawless integration and keeping in place those tasks that cause a little friction, like encouraging the ability to pick up the phone and call a coworker instead of sending an email or slack message. This process alone has spawned many debates, articles and books, but just know this company supports the friction and supports that direct interaction.
We use automation and AI, quite a bit actually, and we like those things. However, we believe the human element can’t be ignored or undervalued when it comes to meaningful and impactful work. So seamless isn't a priority, rather a quality of a process that will “do no harm” to the health of the larger system as a whole, and thus implemented with great care.
So we mean Seams, and we believe all of the interconnections and the channels of information that create an organization are best identified, weighed and measured. And when we say something is seamless, we’ll mean that too.
Where is your “About” page?
Right here:
I’m Robert Schaefer, owner of Workflow Seams, and I’ve worked in the public accounting industry for over eleven years. I’ve had stellar mentors and the opportunity to work on a wide variety of accounting, bookkeeping, tax prep and tax planning projects over the years. Along the way I naturally began to help business and individuals build systems to manage their unique responsibilities, and I developed a passion to organize these peripheral aspects that foster a healthy relationship with their finances.
My experience has culminated in an understanding that:
📌 Being extremely busy and working long hours doesn’t necessarily create meaningful work for the client or myself. The Workflow Seams business model only takes on clients that can be fully supported by our services. Those that can’t be onboarded may find immediate help through our digital products and tools - these are the tools and systems we use with our clients.
📌 To cultivate effective and meaningful work, our company and the client have to be seriously committed and interested for the best outcome. To do our part in this agreement, Workflow Seams will not take on clients the need standard after-the-fact bookkeeping services or one-off tax return prep. Most of the transaction data entry for after-the-fact bookkeeping can be automated at this point and there are countless services to choose from. For both businesses and individuals (and families), Workflow Seams operates as your CFO and project manager, among other roles. We still do the bookkeeping and tax prep, but these are two pieces in a much larger system.
What about pricing?
First, lets explain our client “types”:
- Annual - exclusively tax preparation clients. Includes trust and estate tax work, legacy clients that we love and will continue to support, or highly complex and involved tax prep and tax planning clients.
- Fees start at $1k per return.
- Monthly - These clients receive the services described on our home page.
- Fees start at $1k/month with an initial set up fee that can be as low as a single monthly fee to all monthly fees included in the reporting period and catch up period starting from the beginning of the calendar year. In nearly all cases the set up fee represents more than two months, this additional fee is discounted. However, the discount is dependent on the scope of work and variables mentioned below.
- Fees are dependent on # of monthly transactions, # of accounts and balances to track, type of assets, # of tax returns and schedules, and timeline of simplifying or improving the systems to report all pre-mentioned fee variables.
Do you accept clients with foreign investments and foreign activity?
Yes, but thats a loaded question. We first have to determine whether we’re dealing with Inbound or Outbound foreign tax reporting requirements.
- Outbound == US taxpayers doing business abroad.
- Inbound == Foreign taxpayers doing business in the US.
While we have experience and resources to deal with both types, in most situations, its best that both types seek specialized foreign tax support. The area is complex with many layers of reporting requirements and dependent on tax treaties that vary with each country, and the penalties associated with returns - errors, omissions, and other screw ups - are serious.
We will seriously consider clients with Outbound tax reporting requirements, assuming that information for tax returns are readily available, easy to come by and ALL foreign transactions and assets are disclosed before signing on.
What exactly are the digital products for sale?
Notion templates! (there is also one google sheets product)
If you don’t have a Notion account, you can sign up for one here. Its free!
Once you have an account and purchase the template, you’ll receive a link to the product. With that link you’ll be able to “duplicate” the page into your own Notion workspace.
What is Notion?
Notion is a tool that you can use for journaling, taking notes, managing tasks and responsibilities in your life, creating a “second brain”, and managing a business. It so flexible and customizable that its hard to properly describe!
Workflow Seams operates almost entirely in Notion, creates client portals, project management, and almost all other software used in operations feeds some sort of information into Notion to centralize useful data for management.
Notion is a document creator, organization tool, highly customizable and flexible wiki, and a business collaboration platform, all centered around databases. We can build calculators, reporting, and budgeting tools in these databases. And we do!
