Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is a Daily Money Manager?
  2. What is a Professional Daily Money Manager?
  3. Do you have to come to my home to do my bill paying?
  4. Will I need to get a power of attorney for you to handle my parent’s finances?
  5. How much does a service like this cost?
  6. Can you teach me how to do online banking and bill pay?
  7. How do I know that my information is secure with you?
  8. Do I have to agree to ongoing services, or can you just step in and handle things occasionally when I am out of town?
  9. I need someone to handle my elderly father’s finances, but I am concerned about how he would feel to have a “stranger” taking over. What do you suggest?
  10. My elderly mother is in Atlanta, but I live on the west coast. How will you keep me informed about what is going on with her finances?
  11. Do you have experience with settling an estate?
  12. What kinds of services do you offer for businesses?
  13. What kinds of reports do you prepare for your business clients?
  14. What happens if I have a special situation that is outside your area of expertise?
  15. My finances are such a mess that I don’t know where to start. What do I need to do before you can help me?
  16. Are you certified as a financial planner? Can you help us with investing and planning for retirement?
  17. What is a Certified Management Accountant?
  18. What is a Certified Treasury Professional?
  19. Can you help with managing health insurance filing and reconciliation?
  20. Do you handle employee benefits and payroll?

 

  1. What is a Daily Money Manager?
    A Daily Money Manager (DMM) provides business assistance to clients who have difficulty managing their personal monetary affairs, whether due to age or illness, multiple or conflicting priorities, geographic distance, or busy work or travel schedules. This assistance may include
    • Monitoring accounts and paying bills
    • Handling financial correspondence
    • Resolving problems
    • Serving as a liaison to other professionals, such as bankers, attorneys, and CPAs

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  2. What is a Professional Daily Money Manager?
    A Professional Daily Money Manager (PDMM®) has achieved an advanced level of experience (1500 paid hours) has passed a rigorous certification exam, and has met requirements for continuing professional education.
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  3. Do you have to come to my home to do my bill paying?
    This depends on our specific agreement. I have clients for whom I work entirely in their homes, and clients for whom I pay bills online from my home office.
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  4. Will I need to get a power of attorney for you to handle my parent’s finances?
    I’m normally able to handle your parent’s finances without the need for power of attorney and actually prefer not to be given power of attorney unless absolutely necessary. For example, I might prepare checks for payment but have your parent sign the checks. Or I might access the payment account online and initiate payments electronically as well as download bank account information to review and track spending and income in Quicken. When I need to obtain information from an attorney, CPA, financial planner, or physician, it’s usually sufficient for the person who has the actual power of attorney to contact the relevant professional and give approval for the necessary information to be provided to me.
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  5. How much does a service like this cost?
    I charge on an hourly basis. You'll find that my fee is significantly less than that of most CPAs, financial planners, or attorneys, but the services I perform allow all of those professionals to focus on only the specialized work for which they are trained, licensed, and compensated. Through my experience working with attorneys, CPAs, and financial planners, I’m also able to quickly anticipate and respond to requests for information so that any important matters can be addressed and resolved promptly.
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  6. Can you teach me how to do online banking and bill pay?
    Absolutely! I love to train people to use these wonderful tools, as well as train them on using financial software such as Quicken and QuickBooks that makes keeping up with income, spending and assets so much easier.
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  7. How do I know that my information is secure with you?
    I believe there are three components necessary to making you feel that your information is secure with me: confidentiality; ethics; technical competence.
    1. As my client, you must specifically authorize me to provide information about you or your finances to others, unless it’s a situation where I am legally bound to provide this information.
    2. The two professional organizations to which I belong – the American Association of Daily Money Managers and the Institute of Management Accountants – both require and promote the highest ethical standards as a condition of membership. Of even more importance are my own high ethical standards that guide my daily personal and professional life.
    3. Any sensitive information is secured either by electronic (passwords) or physical (locked cabinets/security system) means. I also utilize an online backup system to ensure that data I maintain for you electronically is not lost in the event of a fire or other disaster.

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  8. Do I have to agree to ongoing services, or can you just step in and handle things occasionally when I am out of town?
    Again, it’s whatever is agreed upon in a particular situation. I will be sure to tell you, however, if I believe that an arrangement is neither efficient nor cost-effective. As an example, if you leave town every four months and ask that I come in and balance four months of bank statements and sort and file four months of bills and other correspondence, it might ultimately be more cost-effective for you if I keep up with these tasks on a more frequent and regular basis.
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  9. I need someone to handle my elderly father’s finances, but I am concerned about how he would feel to have a “stranger” taking over.  What do you suggest?
    This is when I rely on the “child” to determine how best to approach the parent and what the details of the particular situation are. Perhaps there are bills that are not being paid on time, or your father has been ill and you’ve gotten the impression that he is overwhelmed keeping up with everything he used to manage without a second thought. You might let your father know that you would like to get him some help; and, if he appears receptive, then we can meet together initially for you to introduce me and the three of us can discuss what services are needed.
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  10. My elderly mother is in Atlanta, but I live on the west coast.  How will you keep me informed about what is going on with her finances?
    This is a perfect case for using Quicken and online banking resources. Even if I help your mother pay bills manually, I recommend that I be authorized to download information from her bank accounts to provide you and her with detailed income and expense reports at least monthly. This also allows me to quickly identify any changes in income or spending and alert you both. Quicken allows for a budget to be set and maintained, and can also consolidate balance information from investment accounts so I can provide you both with a full financial picture at any time.
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  11. Do you have experience with settling an estate?
    Yes, and this is a particularly good example of employing a team of professionals in the most efficient manner. The attorney in charge of settling the estate needs a great deal of information and a number of tasks performed related to the settlement, but often doesn’t have staff available to assist, or if she does, that staff generally commands a much higher hourly rate than I charge. In addition, if I’ve been working with the decedent’s finances prior to his death, it makes sense for me to continue to help the family with matters related to the settlement of the estate. I know from experience that it’s a huge burden to have to perform all the tasks needed when a loved one dies when there are so many personal and emotional issues to deal with.
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  12. What kinds of services do you offer for businesses?
    I’m able to set up and/or maintain accounting software in QuickBooks. I can invoice customers and pay bills in addition to downloading bank and credit card activity, and ensure that accounts are reconciled on a monthly basis and transactions are properly accounted for. I can then provide the QuickBooks file directly to the CPA charged with preparing taxes, minimizing the time the business owner has to spend on the finances at the expense of building the business. I can maintain customer and vendor files, and make calls either to collect late payments or resolve questions on billing.  I also have experience using Peachtree Accounting software, and am able to update accounting records onsite.  At this time I am not able to provide support for Peachtree remotely, however, because of licensing restrictions.
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  13. What kinds of reports do you prepare for your business clients?
    Most commonly, I provide monthly income and expense and bank register reports, as well as income by customer. I also provide reporting for invoices that are outstanding and may require a call to request payment. I also have clients for whom I prepare Georgia Sales Tax returns.
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  14. What happens if I have a special situation that is outside your area of expertise?
    The most common situations are those that require a CPA, an attorney, or an investment or insurance professional. I will inform you immediately that I won’t be able to assist and I can provide referrals to any of those professionals if needed.
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  15. My finances are such a mess that I don’t know where to start.  What do I need to do before you can help me?
    Remember the answer to the question about how to eat an elephant – one bite at a time! Together we will make a list of everything we think is needed and rank according to what’s causing the most pain. Then we will start down the list and chip away. And I use “we” because often, you and I will choose to divide tasks to ensure that you are using me in the most cost-efficient manner possible.
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  16. Are you certified as a financial planner? Can you help us with investing and planning for retirement?
    I’m neither certified as a financial planner, nor do I provide investment advice. However, I can help you gather information such as income and spending history and prepare a financial statement that will be invaluable in your discussion with financial planners or investment advisors.
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  17. What is a Certified Management Accountant?
    A Certified Management Accountant (CMA®) is similar to a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) but works within a company rather than as an outside accountant. I passed a certification exam and am required to obtain continuing professional education each year to maintain my certificate. More important, my focus is not just on taxes or static financial reports, but on ensuring that you have the information necessary to really manage your finances and make decisions among alternatives, either for a small business owner, a child looking out for a parent, or a couple working toward retirement.
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  18. What is a Certified Treasury Professional?
    The Certified Treasury Professional (CTP®) certification requires passing a rigorous exam along with extensive practical experience in treasury management plus continuing education for recertification for all areas that are vital to the daily operations of any business: accounts payable; invoicing and collection; management and performance reporting; bank account reconcilement; cash forecasting; electronic payment initiation; daily information about bank balances and posted transactions.
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  19. Can you help with managing health insurance filing and reconciliation?
    Yes.
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  20. Do you handle employee benefits and payroll?
    I do not handle these two areas, but in most cases I can provide a referral for you. The reason is that these are highly specialized areas and involve extensive state and Federal requirements, especially regarding taxes and compliance. You will find that it is more cost effective for you to work directly with one of the excellent companies who specialize in these areas.
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