239: Your Bookkeeper as a Strategic Ally in Your Business with Gala McCray

Hi there. You’re listening to the Leading Lady podcast. I’m your host, AliceAnne Loftus, and I’m a certified professional coach specializing in leadership and work-life balance. I work with clients to shift their limiting beliefs, insecurities, and self-doubt. This podcast will be filled with tools and strategies to help high-achieving women like you feel connected, empowered, and in the lead of your life, both personally and professionally. Let’s transform your life starting now. Lead yourself, the rest will follow.

AliceAnne: Hi there, leading ladies, and welcome to today’s episode. I am joined by my dear friend and fellow Leading Lady Ambassador, as well as my own bookkeeper, Gala McCray. Gala is the founder and heart behind Two Arrows. It’s a boutique bookkeeping consultancy that empowers service-based businesses to achieve financial clarity and confidence. Based in Houston, Texas, Gala combines over 15 years of experience in bookkeeping, financial advisory, and operational strategy with a client-first approach that redefines how businesses experience their numbers.

An Air Force veteran, Gala brings a disciplined yet compassionate lens to her work. She’s helping clients make informed financial decisions with ease. As an international consultant and trainer, she’s known for breaking down complex financial data into actionable insights, equipping business owners to grow sustainably.

At Two Arrows, Gala and her team provide a high-touch outsourced solution designed to meet the unique needs of ambitious business leaders, blending luxury and numbers with care in every detail. I’ll drop all of her info in the show notes so you can learn more about Gala and Two Arrows, and follow along with her on her social media.

She is an absolute delight to work with. I am so excited to have her on today’s episode, because working with Gala has not only changed the Leading Lady community and the resources that she makes available, but I personally work with her, and she has changed how I do business and how I feel about business and bookkeeping.

So Gala, thanks for joining me today.

Gala: AliceAnne, I’m so happy to be here. I think this is my second time on the show, but my first time as a Leading Lady Ambassador.

AliceAnne: Yeah. I was thinking that. I was like, “What year was it?” It was pre-2020. You joined us when we did Virtual We Lead, but then I also had you as a guest on the podcast.

But Gala and I have known each other for many, many years. We actually met through the Junior League of Annapolis. We were both just bright-eyed, bushy-tailed volunteers wanting to give back to our community, and we bonded through that, and we’ve maintained a friendship. And so it’s been truly an honor to take that friendship and bring it into our professional lives as well.

Gala, you have to be probably the most strategic thinker I have met when it comes to the operations of business and really helping me and other business owners build that confidence around knowing our numbers, even if we’re not the person in the books every day. So thank you for that.

Gala: Yes. I love being able to come in and help business owners, especially those who are serving their community, have a good understanding of what’s going on behind the scenes.

It’s so often that we get caught up in the doing, and that can lead to emotionally being tied to what’s going on, and the numbers will tell a different story. So being able to bring it back to what’s going on in the numbers, bring it to the high-level place that the leaders in the business need to be making decisions from, is something that I like to do.

Bookkeeping as the Foundation for Decision-Making

AliceAnne: Yeah. One of the key points that I hope our listeners gain from today’s episode is how bookkeeping is the foundation for decision-making in our businesses. And you already kind of touched on that, because as business owners, specifically small business owners, most of us went into business because we’re passionate about our craft or our skill or our service that we provide, right?

But we might not have the confidence or the skills to manage our books. And I know for me, in my early years of business, emotion can really be something that takes the wheel in your business, and sometimes that works out for you. Our passion is important in our business, but sometimes it can really take us away from what’s best in our business.

How can bookkeeping help with that?

Gala: So when you dive into bookkeeping and you’re looking at the numbers, the first thing I like to do with clients is make sure that it’s a complete picture. I was working with a great client. We get through the books, we pull out the numbers, and she’s like, “Oh, this major part is missing.”

So I was like, “Let’s go back to the drawing board, make sure it’s in the picture so we can really understand what’s going on, considering all things.” So once you consider all things, you can know how well you’re doing, some things you might need to manage more closely, some things you might need to let go of, and everybody’s picture is different.

A lot of times people will think that their situation is the worst situation, but really, we’re all working through the same thing, and having that picture and being able to look at it gives us the opportunity to break it down into manageable chunks and make actionable decisions that can really move the needle for our business.

Why Our Books Feel So Overwhelming

AliceAnne: Yeah. Obviously, you work with a lot of business owners, and they probably come to you in various stages. Some might be really great, and some maybe not so great, right? And you talk about being able to look at your numbers and it feel manageable. I’m willing to bet that most people come to you, they’re feeling pretty overwhelmed about their books.

What do you think causes that overwhelm?

Gala: I think sometimes we avoid what’s going on, especially if there’s any level of difficulty or complication. I was just having a conversation with someone very dear to me, and it was about those who think to speak, and then those who speak to think. Sometimes figuring out what’s going on is difficult to do on our own, and as business owners, we find ourselves siloed so often and not really having someone who can talk to us about what’s going on.

But finding someone who is an expert in the area, even if it’s just for a simple consultation, someone like me can come in and encourage you to say, “Hey, you’re on the right track,” or give you the guidance that you need to get back on track, and break down the things that seem overly complicated because you’re in the weeds of it into something that’s more manageable.

So just finding the starting place, and if you’re in the middle, maybe where you need to go next with the bookkeeping, is something that I like to offer. It is complicated when you’re in the middle of it, but once you take a step back, you can see that, hey, there is a process and there is a system that can bring back the order to the situation.

AliceAnne: Yeah. I remember my early days of business, and I was an educator. I came from kindergarten enrichment. I went to school to be a kindergarten teacher. I did not think that I would be owning my own business and having to deal with things like balancing my books and payroll and paying my taxes and things like that.

And I know what overwhelmed me is I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and I didn’t want to make a mistake that could be very costly or even possibly get me out of compliance or get me in trouble with the IRS. And I think it’s very natural for people when something is scary to them that they just don’t wanna look at it, which is kind of counterproductive, because that’s generally when you’re gonna get yourself in trouble, is when you’re not looking at it.

What I love about working with you, and I had done my books for 20 years before I started working with you with Leading Lady. I was new to that platform that I had put Leading Lady on, and you kind of came in the middle. What I loved is that you were able to look at it and kind of make sense of what I already had in place.

And so even though I couldn’t find the starting point, you could, and that immediately gave me that relief of, oh, I don’t have to try and teach myself everything about this. I have, like you said, that expert that can come in, and you could make sense of it pretty quickly because that’s what you do. That’s where you’re an expert. You know what you’re looking for.

And when I’m talking to business owners and we recognize that they need to outsource their bookkeeping because it’s something that they’re not doing themselves, even though they keep trying to tell themselves that they’re gonna do it themselves, the number one thing they say to me is, “I wouldn’t even know where to tell this person to start. I wouldn’t even know.” What would you say to somebody that’s like, “Oh, my books are a mess. I still have to catch up on so much. I wouldn’t even know where to start,” with you?

Support Without Judgment

Gala: The first thing I say is, “I’d love to help you with that. Let’s just take a look and see what’s going on. I can either help you or be a resource to guide you in the right direction.”

There was someone in the group as a whole here lately who had some questions about something, and you told them to come speak with me. I spoke with that person, and I let them know that, “You’re on the right track, and you can do this yourself.” So they’re sort of at the beginning stages of everything, and sometimes it’s just you need that extra boost of confidence, like, hey, you’re doing what you’re supposed to do.

And then sometimes when it’s more than what you can handle on your own, being able to recognize that is key. I love to make sure that people don’t feel badly about that. We’re here to be a resource to one another. We can’t do it all ourselves. And be able to ask those questions without feeling judgment or feeling silly. We’re all running businesses, and that is something that should be applauded in the first place.

So here we are. We’re doing this thing. You might need some help or guidance. Let’s get you on the right track, and then make an educated decision whether this is something you can do yourself or something that you want to bring in support for. So I love to partner with businesses and just be able to give them that nudge if that’s what’s necessary, not oversell them on something that they don’t need…

AliceAnne: Right.

Gala: …or get them on the right track and provide the support that’s necessary to help them be successful in their mission and business.

AliceAnne: Yes. And I appreciate that you talk about how you kind of create this space without judgment, coming from a place of just really wanting to support them, and also applaud them for being in business.

Being in business is hard. It’s hard. I know social media glamorizes it. It looks like everybody out there is an entrepreneur. That’s simply not true. It is hard. As a woman business owner, that percentage is even lower, and then as a woman business owner in the six or seven figures, that is even lower.

So this is hard. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that it’s not hard. And we all come with our own baggage around finances, how we feel about money. There’s a lot of industries that I work with where it’s almost shameful to make money, to be profitable. Hello, educators, caregivers, therapists. Somewhere, some narrative told us that we’re not supposed to be profitable or making a living.

So we all come with that, and what I really love about working with you is you do create a space where we can safely talk about how we feel about money, what our blocks are around money, our fears around money. And I think that’s really important, because this is sensitive. Regardless of how you feel about money, it is a sensitive topic.

Gala: For sure. And being able to create a space where, number one, you know that you’re safe is important, because the stories that we make up in our minds can make us feel that we’re unsafe, we’re out of compliance. We have things that we need to take care of. Whatever may be motivating us in business, we need to reach these things.

We feel like we may not be reaching those things, and being able to bring it into perspective, these are the things that we need to do to get there, is important to me. One of the cornerstones in my business is building a foundation of consistency so you can become more comfortable with the numbers. And the more comfortable you get with the numbers, the more confident you’re gonna be with the numbers, whether it’s adding a new program or taking away a program, taking a month off, making sure the cash is still flowing while you’re away, hiring someone.

All of these things that we at some point in our business may have to make a decision around, I would love for everyone to be able to make a decision from a place of confidence because they know what’s going on in their business financially, versus just winging it and hoping for the best. Just that level of confidence that comes from getting familiar with things, that’s my goal when I work with someone.

Partnering With Your Bookkeeper as a Strategic Ally

AliceAnne: Yeah. I love that, and that takes us into our next point of partnering with a bookkeeper as a strategic ally. When you talk about making those informed decisions, that allows us to be strategic in our business. That was the first time I had really experienced that. Not that I have worked with a lot of bookkeepers, but people often think bookkeeping is just making sure your books are reconciled, making sure that things are filed correctly in your chart of accounts, making sure the documents are ready to go.

You blew my mind when we started talking about really understanding the cash flow and what programs I needed to look at, how much specific programs were costing me. I’d never had a partner in my business help me with that, never. Those are all the things that I had to kind of figure out on my own.

And again, when you’re looking at money, and I have a little bit of a fear mindset around money, I’m always worried that there’s not enough or I’m gonna run out, you know? Or I’m giving away too much. Having you as my bookkeeper sit with me and really ask me questions about that and show me the data, remove the emotion from it and show me the data, really helped me work strategically in my business around my finances.

Gala: Thank you for saying that. I love that I was able to provide that for you. And sometimes when I think about looking at the numbers, it seems very transactional. Someone comes, they want someone to be their bookkeeper. They’re like, “I’m not a numbers person, just do it.” I like to sort of change that narrative to: the numbers are a fundamental part of your business. Let’s make sure they’re working for you.

And the numbers are telling a story whether you’re looking at them or not, so just bringing it to the forefront, making sure that you’re aware of what’s going on with the numbers so then you can lead and make the decisions on your own. You have the team that’s there to support you, and me as your bookkeeper, I’m rooting for you, and I just want to make sure that you know that this information is there for you, and that you can use it to do whatever you will.

I don’t come in and tell you what you need to do. I just make sure you’re aware so that you can make the decisions from an informed place, and I think that’s what’s needed. I mean, it’s like we’re changing the world one set of books at a time by making sure that it’s not some overbearing person with the green visor and some dimly lit notebook and light telling you that you should’ve done something differently 10 months ago.

No, I want to come in and partner with you and make sure that you know and you feel in control of what’s going on in your business.

AliceAnne: Yeah. I think it’s powerful. I mean, I’m a person of transparency, and bringing you on with Leading Lady last year and having that strategic partner and somebody that I could talk to and say, “Hey, if I do these programs, this is the revenue that it brings in, but this is how much it’s gonna cost me.” And then you just asked very pointed questions, like, “Well, what if you did this?”

And seeing how that literally blew my business up… Just that one little shift, I was able to really tap into this potential of business. I loved that. I really appreciated that. It was not something that I was expecting from your services, and it changed how I look at my coaching business.

But Gala, it also changed how I look at my preschool businesses. The things that I was learning from you in Leading Lady, it’s not like, oh, that only applied to Leading Lady. I started applying this to my other business budget, my family budget, how I’m helping my young adult children see things. You know me, I’m a woman of strategy, so the fact that I wasn’t doing that in my books… Our listeners can’t see my face, but if they could see my face, it’s kind of like a, “What the heck, AliceAnne? Why, how did I miss that?”

That’s truly empowering, and I think that you really walk the walk of empowering business owners to feel confident and informed in their numbers so they can do what’s best for their business.

Gala: And that’s what it’s all about. That really warms my heart to hear you say that. It’s like you’re learning the principles so then you can go and apply them wherever you are.

I’m gonna share something that’s gonna… Some people may think I’m crazy, but I’m not a human calculator. I’m a bookkeeper, and my little boy, he’s eight, he loves numbers. He’s like, “Mom, what’s 2,500 times…” some crazy number, and I’m looking at him like, “Oh my gosh, that’s just not what I do.”

But understanding the principles and making sure that my clients understand the principles behind the numbers is what empowers them to be able to go forward and do the things and apply it to all the different areas of life. So thank you so much for sharing how you were able to apply it, not only to what’s going on in the books that I keep for you, but beyond there, because that’s really what it’s about, empowering you.

The Impact of Financial Clarity on Business Growth

AliceAnne: Yeah, which takes us to our closing point, that the impact of financial clarity is exponentially important in business growth. Total game changer when you have financial clarity. I actually am often surprised by how many business owners I talk with that can’t tell me what their numbers are. They don’t know how much they made, they don’t know how much they can pay themselves, they don’t know how much they spend every month on their business.

I’m not judging them, but I do wonder how stressful that must be when trying to grow your business without really knowing where you are or where you’re going. So can you share with us a little bit of how you help business owners with that financial clarity?

Gala: I love that you’re calling it financial clarity, because we can have the idea of what’s going on in our business, and then when we look at the numbers, it tells us a different story.

So adding the financial clarity, here we are, we’re recording this as we’re ending one year, going into another year. How many of us are already spending money for the new year? And we haven’t earned that money yet. It hasn’t come in yet, but it’s going to impact the time that’s coming in the future. So I like to look at not only the bookkeeping as a historical record of what’s already happened, but also tap into the budget.

How are you planning for your money? What do you want to do with your business? What is it gonna cost you to do that? Jenn Osterhouse and I talk a lot about the marketing side of things, and how you’re either planning to nurture the clients that you’re working with right now, or you’re trying to bring more clients in, and what you’re gonna do and how you’re gonna finance that. It makes a difference.

So looking at what you’re budgeting for when it comes to marketing, when it comes to running programs, when it comes to offering services or producing products, that’s something that we have to look at in the budgeting side of things.

Then the cash flow. How are you spending your money? What are those one-off things that are coming up? You have your operational income or your expenses that are coming from how you are running your business, and then you have the intangible things that are also costing your business. Being aware of that stuff and being able to tap in and understand what’s happening when, what’s rolling over from one month to the other, what kind of liabilities you might have in the business and how that affects your day-to-day, those are things that I like to look at with clients.

And then the bookkeeping itself, staying on top of it, staying consistent with it, and being able to apply what’s going on historically to how you wanna do things in the future. Just creating that full picture so you have all the clarity that you need to go forward and be great. That’s sort of how I look at it, and that’s how I strategize with my clients.

AliceAnne: Yeah. It’s beautiful. Being on the receiving end of that, again, even if you are somebody who thinks like that, having a partner that can help you and be a sounding board to kind of flesh it all out with, that’s been invaluable to me.

It’s Never Too Late to Reach Out

AliceAnne: So what words of wisdom or any parting advice would you like to give our listeners today?

Gala: I would love to encourage someone that wherever your books are or not, it’s not too far gone, it’s not too late to tap into a resource. Whatever situation you may have coming up that may be a little bit daunting, talk to someone about it.

I’d love to be that one that you talk to. But even if it’s not me, find someone who you trust and would like to have a conversation with. And if you currently have a bookkeeper or an accountant and you guys don’t have a good relationship, know that there are other resources out there for you to tap into, and just spend the time, have the conversation.

I just had a conversation with someone recently. They were thinking about stepping away from their bookkeeper, and in our conversation we were able to realize that maybe it was just some communication that needed to increase between the bookkeeper and the client. And now they’re going into the new year with a renewed relationship and able to walk the way that they want to in their relationship, client and bookkeeper.

So just knowing that there’s resources out there and that you can have those conversations, and if you have any questions about what those conversations need to look like, I’m here to support you with that as well.

AliceAnne: Yeah, I love that. And bookkeeping does not have to be big and scary. It really doesn’t. Your finances do not have to be so overwhelming that you don’t even look at them. We are not meant to do this alone. You are not meant to be the expert of every aspect of running a business. Like Gala said, there’s resource and support for that, and sometimes it’s just reaching out and asking a question.

Like her example, she might tell you, “You know what? You’re doing great. Keep up doing what you’re doing.” She might say, “Hey, here’s just a couple areas where we can get you back on track.” Or you might come to the conclusion, “You know what? This is just not where I find joy in my business, and I would like to outsource this.”

Wherever you are in that, just be informed so that you can move forward confidently. Gala, thank you so much for joining us today and for being such a tremendous resource, offering so much value to the Leading Lady community. I am so grateful for you, and I look forward to all that you’re gonna share in 2025 for our community.

Gala: Thank you.

AliceAnne: Until next time, take the lead.

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