Katherine Pomerantz
Katherine Pomerantz
Money Mentor / Accountant / Bookkeeper / Financial Educator / Coach
Norman, OK
www.bookkeepingartist.com
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WHAT DO YOU DO?
“I’m a money mentor for creatives ready to take their business seriously.”
Originally, I was an actress and the financial struggles of that community inspired me to master money. Now, I’m a licensed tax preparer and I’ve founded a global accounting firm, The Bookkeeping Artist (BKA). I want other creatives to be as excited about money as I am, so I capitalized on my artistic background to create the Chaos Money Framework. This Framework helps creative business owners acquire money know-how, improve their financial habits, and design a finance system that allows sustainable business growth. You can work one-on-one with me to learn the Framework and design an accounting system for your business or hand the reins over to my Chaos Money trained team at BKA where we handle your bookkeeping and tax needs.
WHAT STEPS DID YOU TAKE TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW?
My own entrepreneurship was born of necessity. I was an under-employed actress living in a rural area where paying theaters were few and far between, so I decided take my art part-time and began looking for a second career. I scored zero interviews in almost a year of job searching. By 2016, I was worn out and lucky to make $300 a week. I was slowly realizing that I knew nothing about money. I felt if I could figure that out, then life would get better.
I started studying money for myself, but learned along the way that everyone struggled with money. I realized this was a way I could help the creative community at large, so I completed Ben Robinson’s Bookkeeper Business Launch program. By 2017, I owned a global accounting firm for creative entrepreneurs.
While learning about money helped start my business, a few key personal realizations were what actually helped it to grow. The most important one is that good financial habits are a necessary part of a fulfilling creative life. I could not be self-employed without the habits that help me save money, invest, and survive the hard times. This kind of freedom was absolutely essential to my artistic fulfillment, and I want to help others discover this path too.
How do you stand out in your field?
I’m a creative myself, so I know how we think. I stand out because I can translate finances for creative brains. That’s ultimately what the Chaos Money Framework does. It shows you where your money is and turns that information into a Money Map to help you lead your business. These Money Maps are powerful because they take timely financial data, arrange it in a way that’s easy to understand, and then helps you make decisions about your business’ future. I know I’m biased – but it’s pretty darn cool.
What’s more, my connection with clients goes way beyond accounting. I know that every creative entrepreneur dreams of the impact their work could have. And so that’s the second way I stand out. I’m not concerned about things like tax strategies until I understand the mission of your business, your vision for its future, and your values. That’s where the Chaos Money Framework starts, and I believe all successful strategy grows out of those three things.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON RIGHT NOW?
I’m working on the coaching side of my business, which is growing exponentially. As I’ve helped clients stabilize and grow their businesses, and thus seen them create new jobs for other creatives in their industry, I’ve come to realize the greater impact that financial freedom has. It’s my new mission to help 3 million people kick their money woes and retire comfortably by helping creative business owners with Money Maps. I’m really excited about pursuing speaking opportunities, sharing my expertise and enthusiasm at conferences, on podcasts, in guest articles, etc. Inclusiveness is the name of my game. It’s fun to draw people in and engage them in energetic conversations about what is possible!
WHAT'S YOUR STYLE/PERSPECTIVE/TASTE? DO YOU HAVE A PROJECT THAT REPRESENTS THIS?
To sum up: be proactive! One thing that always stood out to me when I was a full-time artist was how poorly served small business owners are by the accounting industry.
Most accountants wait until the client asks for something, “like how much do I owe in taxes?” or “how much money did I make this year?” Waiting for these requests is not efficient, because the accountant then has to follow up with hundreds of questions to get enough information to answer the client, and if the client’s not organized, then an answer could take weeks to finish. So the information is not timely and most accountants rely not on their own expertise, but on the client’s knowledge to be accurate.
So, creative business owners are being served a double whammy here. First, creatives don’t naturally think like financial experts. We don’t always know how to keep our information straight or what the right questions to ask are. Thus, there are often mistakes in the information we provide accountants. Second, accountants could be helping us acquire this information ahead of time, but instead waste all their hours cleaning up client info because both sides only talk once a year. It’s no wonder tax season is so stressful.
Both sides need to be more proactive. Clients need to understand how their money works and accountants need to relieve the burden of bookkeeping so clients can get fast, accurate financial data.
That’s why my Chaos Money Framework focuses on you – the business owner. If you can understand and control your own money system, then you can get the absolute best tax advice
WE ARE ALL SLASHIES WITH MULTIPLE SKILLS, WHICH ONE DO YOU WISH YOU COULD DO MORE OFTEN?
My profession leads me off into all sorts of tangents, and the one I’d love to hone would be investment strategy. Recently I read about an Australian woman who died, leaving $14 million to charity that her family had no idea about. Growing that much wealth within one lifetime is an incredible feat and the fact she left it all to charity fits right in with the mission, vision, and values focus of my company. I’d love to meet and learn from more investors like her. Since I missed my chance with her, though, I’d also settle for more time to study the old-fashioned way.
WHAT IS FRUSTRATING YOU RIGHT NOW?
It’s frustrating that many creative people still think of money as a villain they cannot conquer. This sounds kind of goofy, but you can use the classic Hero’s Journey here to explain why so many creatives struggle financially.
Too many of us turn money into a villain we have to fight, because we believe money is “evil” or that rich people are “greedy.” Or we blame our failures on competition undercutting us, or clients that don’t want to pay, or the fact that we don’t have enough experience and need the “exposure”, etc. This casts money as a villain in our heroic story, but it’s really hard to live – and even harder to run a business – without money.
The only way to succeed here is to stop fighting with money and instead make it your teammate. This allows you to be the hero you’re meant to be and to fight the real villains keeping your clients and community down. These kinds of heroes champion their financial strategy and thus grow their business in an exciting, stress-free way.
So it’s frustrating when I see others in the creative community giving advice or using language that reinforces money as the bad guy. Money’s totally neutral, and there are things you can do today to improve your health, wealth, and happiness. I want us all to talk about that more.
Thankfully this task doesn’t stay at the bottom of any to-do list. I’m working on building out my coaching and conference efforts because I want to help start those conversations.
IF YOU COULD HIRE SOMEONE FOR $20/HR, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE THEM DO TO MAKE YOUR DAY EASIER?
I’m hiring all the time! My own Money Map tells me why and when I need help.
For example, I already have a great team handling bookkeeping, tax, and CFO tasks. But I’m also expanding my business and I know how easy it is to get lost in the details. So, I need an assistant to help process emails, follow-up and track projects, create proposals, make to-do lists, etc. Then, I’ll need an agent or PR expert to support my speaking opportunities and as my team continues to grow like this, I know I’ll need a business manager. My Money Map helps me create the money I need to sustain this growth and make adjustments if I need to.
LET'S BRING OUT THE TIME MACHINE. WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU COULD HAVE TOLD YOURSELF, WHEN, AND WHY?
The only money advice most of us receive growing up is “get a job”, but a job alone doesn’t ensure financial stability. For example, look at the millions of Americans who have stable jobs but still struggle with debt.
This was my personal experience. After graduating from college, I focused on my career as an actress and director. The work itself started out fulfilling, but not one of my mentors prepared me for the financial challenges of being self-employed. I later found out that they couldn’t have helped much because they themselves struggled with these things, but at the time I just felt like quitting. My work lost a lot of its meaning because I was so stressed about money. I wish I had told myself in high school, while I still had a safety net, that income alone is no measure of financial success. (Reference “The Millionaire Next Door” for some mind-blowing statistics about this. Many American millionaires never make more than $50,000 a year.)
I wish I could tell high school me that it’s important to earn money, but it’s even more important to have a strategy to put that money to work.
Ultimately, I could have pursued my creative career for longer if I had had a better understanding of money and entrepreneurship. Luckily, I get to help others do that now and I don’t regret a thing.
IF YOU COULD TALK TO AN EXPERT TO GAIN MORE INSIGHT ON SOMETHING, WHAT WOULD IT BE ABOUT?
Why pick just one? Seriously, I dream about attending the Forbes 400 Philanthropy Summit. Every year billionaires or near-billionaires come together at this conference to leverage their resources and try to change the world. I’d love to attend, or at least interview some of the attendees for a book about money mindsets.
But I’d love to learn from any creative business owner who’s doing something different, like Dan Abbate, the founder of the for-profit theater model, Gorilla Tango Theater, or Gabbie Hanna who launched an unconventional music career from Vine, or infamous celebrities like Jay-Z, who bragged about and then successfully became the first billionaire rapper by promoting his own products and investments in his music videos.
There’s no one right way to achieve success, and I love working with creatives, ‘cos we’ll continue to surprise you.
WHAT KIND OF OPPORTUNITIES/PROJECTS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
I’m building a network of talented and driven clients, business friends, and referral partners and I’m interested in any project that helps you change the way you think and feel about money. I’m willing to travel and my virtual firm allows me to be anywhere in the world. Whether you want to interview me, hire me to help clean up your business finances, or have some other project in mind – please reach out to katherine@bookkeepingartist.com.
DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL JOB/CLIENT/COLLABORATION.
I love working with creatives turned business owners. There are so many imaginative, and passionate people who are artistically exceptional thanks to their talent, upbringing, and training. Maybe you’re a solopreneur now, but you have a dream about taking your creativity a step further and becoming entrepreneur. Or maybe you already have your own business, and the financial side is messy because you didn’t go to business school. I’ll let you in on a secret – many business owners look successful on the outside, but behind the scenes have trouble with cash. One of my most rewarding jobs was with a solopreneur, a photographer, who took a full-time day job because she didn’t believe in her art. We worked together for six weeks, and a year later she had earned over $100,000 through her photography “side hustle” and had expanded this business into two states. Or I think of my creative client who grew a seven-figure digital business by herself. She eventually came to me because she made a million dollars in one product launch, but was so disorganized she couldn’t pay her employees that month. She’s a perfect example of someone who’d already taken the big steps in their career, but lacked the business training to make it sustainable. These are the types of clients of love working with. I designed financial systems for both women, and they’re both still doing great.
WHAT IS YOUR HOURLY RATE, RETAINER, OR SALARY RANGE?
Basically, I want you to learn and live the Chaos Money Framework. I have two services to make that happen. The Chaos Money Studio is a one-on-one offering to help you become a business leader. I teach you the Chaos Money Framework, we get to be messy and creative together, and we together we build a financial system that’s customized for your business. The goal of the Chaos Money Studio is for you to have an accounting system you understand and control, but ultimately one that’s automated and easy to hand off to someone else when the time comes. That’s where my firm, The Bookkeeping Artist, can help. BKA acts as accounting department for your small businesses. We use the Chaos Money Framework to provide ongoing bookkeeping and accounting services within an environment of continuous accountability and strategic planning. But every client and every business is unique! So it’s best to reach out to me to find out how I can help you.
HOW SHOULD SOMEONE APPROACH YOU ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER?
Email works best for me. I always do my best to respond within 48 hours.
Please put your contact information and the reason you’re reaching out in your initial email.
Potential clients will then be emailed some in-take questions and instructions to schedule their intro call. These calls are free and gives you the opportunity to experience how the Chaos Money Framework can help before you sign up.
Other invitations or collaborators will be emailed within 48 hours for more details.
HOW DO YOU STAY CREATIVE?
I use any excuse to stay connected to other creatives. So, I read, sing, listen to music and dance, watch movies, visit art galleries, and attend plays. I also meditate, exercise regularly, and spend at least an hour outside every day (weather permitting). More formally, I write and make video content about money (let me know if you’d like to feature some).
This member profile was originally published in May 2020.