Done By 5’s Michelle Berkley on Taking the Stress Out of Small-Biz Money
Interview by Heather Anderson
Running a business while raising a family is… a lot. For many of us, the money side is where the real anxiety lives: receipts everywhere, tax-time dread, and a low-grade “I hope I’m not messing this up” hum in the background.
That’s exactly where Michelle Berkley, founder of Done By 5, comes in. Based in the Bay Area, Michelle and her team of bookkeepers and online business managers help women founders move from overwhelm and avoidance to clarity, calm, and actual strategy. Done By 5 handles the financials and operational nitty-gritty so you can stay in your visionary lane and still be “done by 5” for family time.
In this conversation, we dig into artists with money baggage, what it really means to be “part bookkeeper, part therapist,” why Profit First changed how she runs her own business, and the one simple practice she wishes every founder would adopt this month.
You’ve said your favorite part of bookkeeping isn’t just balancing numbers — it’s watching a client’s whole energy shift once they finally understand what’s going on. Can you share a story where that happened, and what changed for them?
I have a monthly client named Emerald who’s an artist. We went to high school together, then reconnected at our 20-year reunion. At that point she’d been wanting to offload her bookkeeping for a long time — it just wasn’t her wheelhouse. Art is.
When we started working together, her income was somewhere in the low $40–50K range. Within that first year of us working together, her revenue crossed the $100K mark and has kept ticking up ever since.
The big shift wasn’t just “more income.” It was that she suddenly had permission to open herself up to more shows and opportunities, because she wasn’t constantly worrying, “Am I doing this wrong? Am I going to get slammed at tax time?”
Once she understood how her money was working for her — and had someone watching for red flags and deadlines — she could stay in her zone of genius and let the numbers side support that, instead of sabotage it. That energy shift from “scared and scrambling” to “grounded and growing” is my favorite part of this work.
Many bookkeeping firms operate like machines — but you’ve built Done By 5 to feel human, conversational, and supportive. What made you decide to lead it that way?
Honestly, I just can’t help myself. I’m a helper.
Numbers on a page are never just numbers. They touch pretty much every area of your business and, for a lot of small business owners, your personal life too. So if I’m only doing data entry and dropping a report in your inbox, I’m missing the whole picture.
Because of my background in general admin and business management, I’m always thinking:
What’s actually happening in your day-to-day?
How do these numbers line up with reality?
What story are they telling?
I love taking that extra step — explaining what things mean, giving best-practice advice, helping you connect the dots between “line item on a P&L” and “what you actually want your life to look like.”
I’ve never wanted Done By 5 to be a faceless service where we do a deliverable and disappear. I see myself and my team as an extension of your team, not just a vendor. Over time, my clients become relationships and friendships, and that’s intentional.
You often describe yourself as “part bookkeeper, part therapist.” When a founder feels anxious or embarrassed about their finances, how do you help them turn that stress into clarity and confidence?
Most people don’t come to me when everything is calm and organized. They come when something is on fire.
So first, I want to figure out what’s really going on:
Is it truly the bookkeeping, or is there something happening in your life that’s making it hard to stay on top of things?
Are your systems clunky?
Are you avoiding your numbers because they’re confusing… or because you’re scared of what they’ll say?
We start by building trust and getting that full picture — life, business, systems, all of it. From there, we can create a plan that meets you where you are and makes the handoff easier.
Sometimes that means easing into it: maybe I take over the reconciliations while you handle a small piece you’re comfortable with, or we tweak a system that’s making everything harder than it needs to be. Because my work often overlaps with online business management, I might step in to adjust a workflow or help you clean up a process that’s directly impacting your numbers.
Over time, the goal is that you feel less alone with your finances. You know someone’s watching your back, and you have enough understanding to feel informed instead of ashamed.
“For people who don’t feel savvy with numbers, having someone who both understands the emotional side of money and knows how to pull meaning out of a P&L can be incredibly freeing.”
Your quarterly bookkeeping option has become one of your most popular entry points. What kind of business owner is it designed for, and what’s included in that model?
Quarterly bookkeeping is perfect for the small, service-based business owner with relatively simple books:
A business bank account and maybe one or two credit cards
A manageable number of transactions
No super-complicated loans or payroll layers… yet
Most of the time, these are businesses under about $300K in annual revenue, with zero or a very small team. They’ve been DIYing things and are ready to get help, but monthly support still feels like too big of a leap.
Here’s what’s typically included:
A full review of your chart of accounts with recommendations — expanding or consolidating categories so your reports actually make sense for your business
Quarterly bank and credit card reconciliations
A complete set of financial statements at the end of each quarter
Ongoing best-practice advice and access for questions, even between reconciliations
It’s a really approachable way to stop the “I’ll do it later” spiral and get caught up and current, without moving straight into a higher-touch monthly package.
You work with a wide range of clients — from early-stage founders still figuring out QuickBooks to companies with entire teams and payrolls. What kind of revenue range do you typically support, and how does your approach shift as clients grow?
Revenue-wise, my clients range from around $50K per year on the low end to about $19 million on the high end.
The sweet spot, where a lot of my clients land, is somewhere in the $250K–$5 million range. At that level, you’ve usually outgrown DIY, but you don’t have a full in-house finance department. That’s where Done By 5 can step in as a powerful partner.
For smaller, simpler businesses (often under $300K), quarterly bookkeeping or a lean monthly package is usually enough. Sometimes, like with the artist I mentioned, they prefer monthly even if they’re smaller, because it gives them peace of mind and better visibility.
Once we get into the $1M+ range, I tend to build custom bookkeeping and management packages. At that point you might have:
Payroll
Loans or lines of credit
Vehicles or equipment
More complex systems and teams
In those cases, we often layer in things like:
Accounts payable and receivable
Renewing business licenses and permits
Light operations and admin tasks that tie into the financials
Think of Done By 5 as your virtual office manager + bookkeeper for those larger clients — we’re holding the operational and financial threads together so you can focus on leading.
A lot of small business owners are still DIYing their numbers. What’s the top thing you’d tell someone to do this week to get out of overwhelm and start feeling in control?
Set up a monthly admin day — and actually protect it.
Choose a day of the month that feels doable (a Monday or Friday works well for a lot of people), and make a recurring appointment with yourself. During that time, you:
Tackle bookkeeping or catch up on your bookkeeping software
Clean out your inbox a bit
Organize your digital files
Handle those “ugh, later” business tasks that never feel urgent enough
If I’d set up a monthly admin day when I first started my own business, it would’ve saved me so many headaches. Instead of letting things pile up until it’s a tax emergency or a full-body panic, you’re just nibbling away at the work consistently.
Even if you end up hiring a bookkeeper later, this rhythm is still helpful. When I work with clients, I’ll often use that monthly admin day as the time to assign or review their “homework” on top of what my team is doing in the background.
Bookkeeping can feel intimidating for founders who don’t “speak numbers.” What’s one way you make it more approachable — and even empowering?
I always start with three things:
What’s stressing you out?
Where are you right now?
Where do you want to go?
When I know those answers, I can translate the numbers into something that actually matters to you.
Maybe we create a custom report that tracks exactly what you care about — a specific revenue goal, or a cost you’re trying to reduce. Maybe we use your financials to show you, “Hey, you can absolutely afford this hire,” or “If we cut this category by X%, you can give yourself a raise.”
For people who don’t feel savvy with numbers, having someone who both understands the emotional side of money and knows how to pull meaning out of a P&L can be incredibly freeing. You stop feeling like your books are this mysterious thing happening to you, and start to see them as a tool you can use.
Transparency is a big value for you. You’re open about wanting clients to actually understand their numbers instead of outsourcing blindly. Why does that education piece matter so much?
Because the same reports can mean very different things depending on the person and the business.
Yes, every business has a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet. But how you leverage those depends on your industry, your offers, your goals, and your capacity.
When you understand:
What each section of your financials actually means
How it connects to what you do day-to-day
How different offers or price points change the picture
you’re suddenly able to make much better decisions.
It’s the difference between “My accountant said I should…” and “I know this is the right move because I understand how it affects my bottom line.”
To me, it’s not enough to say, “Don’t worry, I’ve got it.” I want you to feel like an empowered CEO who can look at your numbers and say, “Okay, I get what’s happening and why — and here’s what we’re going to do next.”
You mentioned you’re a fan of the Profit First method. For those who haven’t heard of it, what does that mean and how do you use it in your own business?
Profit First is a simple but powerful approach to managing your money. The core idea is: you intentionally build profit in from the beginning, instead of treating it as an accidental leftover.
In my business, I run a Profit First-style setup with multiple bank accounts:
One for taxes
One for profit
One for owner pay/payroll
One for operating expenses
And so on
When income comes in, my bank automatically splits it into those accounts based on percentages I’ve set. That way, I’m always:
Saving for taxes
Paying myself
Building profit
Keeping operating expenses in check
I still look at my P&L and other reports, of course, but even a quick glance at my bank balances tells me a lot. It makes it much easier to spot pinch points and adjust quickly.
I’m not “officially” certified in Profit First — but I love the philosophy and encourage my clients to adopt some version of it when it fits. It’s one of the simplest ways I’ve seen to turn all these abstract money intentions into something concrete and consistent.
What’s one misconception about bookkeeping or financial management that you wish every small business owner could let go of?
The idea that you either:
“Don’t make enough yet” to track your numbers, or
“Don’t make enough yet” to get help
I say that as someone who, early on, also didn’t track her own books the way she should have. When I started my business 20 years ago, I was doing more virtual and personal assistant work and didn’t treat myself like a “real” business.
If I had just invested in basic bookkeeping software or even a solid spreadsheet from the beginning, I would have saved myself so much money, time, and stress.
If you truly can’t afford a bookkeeper yet, that’s okay — but then your job is to:
Get something in place to track your income and expenses
Learn the basic terms (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow)
Educate yourself bit by bit — even if that’s one video at a time
As the founder and CEO, it might not be your job to do all the bookkeeping forever, but it is your job to understand your numbers. That’s non-negotiable if you want a sustainable business.
You’ve seen so many entrepreneurs move from reactive to proactive once they truly understand their cash flow. What mindset shift makes that possible — and how do you know when a client has crossed that bridge?
Most clients start in a place of stress and damage control. There are fires everywhere: past-due bills, messy books, tax-time panic.
In the first few months, our conversations are often about putting those fires out — catching up, fixing systems, getting clarity on what’s actually going on.
After we’ve worked together for about six months or so, there’s usually a moment where the tone changes. Clients stop asking, “Is this going to get me in trouble?” and start asking things like:
“If I hire this person, how does that affect things?”
“Would it make sense to invest in this program or piece of equipment?”
“What would it take for me to pay myself X?”
That’s when I know they’ve crossed the bridge.
We’re no longer just cleaning up the past — we’re using the numbers to make strategic, future-focused decisions. It’s such a powerful shift, because once you’re out of constant crisis mode, you actually have the bandwidth to grow, experiment, and build something that supports your life instead of draining it.
For readers who are ready to start taking their books seriously but don’t know where to begin, what’s the best first step — and what can they expect when they reach out to Done By 5?
The best first step is simple: book a call.
I offer a free initial call for anyone who’s curious. On that call, we talk through:
What’s going on in your business right now
Where the stress points are
What your goals are
What’s already working
Sometimes we realize we’re a great fit, and sometimes we discover you need a few foundational pieces in place first. Either way, my goal is that you leave that call with clarity and a direction — whether that’s working with Done By 5 now, or a plan for what to tackle so we can work together later.
If we are a fit, here’s what happens next:
Custom Proposal
I send a proposal based on what we talked about — quarterly, monthly, or a custom package, depending on your size and needs. You can ask questions, adjust, or sign right away. Contracts are baked in, so it’s streamlined when you’re ready.Info Gathering (the “hardest” part)
We get access to what we need: logins, statements, current bookkeeping files, etc. Often we start peeking at your books during or right after that initial call so there are no surprises later.Cleanup & Onboarding
We resolve any fires, clean up the books, refine your chart of accounts, and set you up in a way that makes sense for your business.Ongoing Rhythm
From there, we move into your ongoing cadence — quarterly, monthly, or more bespoke support. You get regular reports, best-practice guidance, and a partner you can reach out to when life or business throws you a curveball.
If you’re sitting there with a knot in your stomach thinking, “I don’t even know where to start,” I promise you’re exactly the kind of person I work with all the time. You don’t have to have it all together before you raise your hand.
Book a free consultation with Done By 5 to talk through your situation and options.
Learn more about Done By 5’s bookkeeping and online business management services.
Grab Michelle’s free “Not To-Do List” to start delegating the right tasks off your plate.
Read Michelle’s blog for practical money and systems tips you can implement in under an hour.
Connect with Michelle Berkley on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram.
You can also find her on The M List, The Mamahood’s searchable database of mom-recommended resources, or connect and collaborate with Michelle inside The Club membership for women Founders.