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At Rare Birds, we’re financial professionals with a head for business and an approach grounded in common sense, service and integrity.

We offer consulting services through a flexible, by-the-project business model.  We believe that the best financial strategies and systems will only work if considered as part of a whole, and we’re dedicated to improving the whole through proactive participation, insightful analysis and meaningful systems.

We truly believe that technical competence and interpersonal skills can coexist.  While what we do involves high-level financial and software expertise, our purpose is really to enhance your business and quality of life.

We know that the more successful you are, the more you need someone to help you achieve the bold, ambitious plans that you have for your company.

That’s where we come in.

My name is Kimberley Stevens.  I started Rare Birds in order to make financial expertise available to business owners through a more accessible business model, and utilizing a more holistic approach.

our story

In 2004, I offered to help a friend who was struggling to keep up at work.  His company was not yet large enough to hire a full-time Controller, yet he found himself in need of some heavy lifting in the areas of accounting and business processes.  I discovered that he had quite a list of things that he wanted to explore, reporting that he wanted to see, and new processes that he wanted to implement.  However, his time was largely consumed by focusing on the part of his business that made him the best in his industry.  As I built a relationship of trust with him, I was able to work with him to start crossing things off of the list.  I felt the enormous sense of relief that he experienced in doing so.

As other friends and associates learned what I was doing, they approached me to do similar things for their businesses.  I discovered that most of them had similar lists.  Some even had whole binders!  It was as though medium-sized businesses were starving for high-level financial expertise in a flexible, by-the-project business model…

…so I decided to make a business out of consulting.  That has been a tremendously rewarding experience.

I’ve been privileged to work with fantastic quality people, to influence their futures in a tangible and proactive way, and to celebrate their wins as they achieve the freedom to spread their wings and become a participant in their own lives.  As an example, one of my clients was able to start doing Ironman triathlons every year as a result of my involvement.

Herein lies my reward.  There is no greater satisfaction for me than to be able to use my gifts to build more successful businesses and ultimately a better quality of life for my clients.

how we help

We give you access to professionals who will take the time to listen and learn about your business and what makes it unique. Perhaps you’re not in a position to hire a full-time resource, you have a finance department that’s already tapped out, or you can’t get enough out of the typical structure offered by public accountants.  We can help.

We’re financial strategists.  We love details but we’re also big picture thinkers.  We don’t give advice from afar.  Instead we get involved in your business, working with you onsite to improve your business systems and profits and the quality of life of the people who work there.

We provide a personal approach by working with you in partnership and building relationships with you and your staff.

We will always put your financial systems into context with your business before making recommendations about them.

We tackle those specific projects and complex problems that you don’t have time to address, allowing you to concentrate on what you do best.

We help you gain and maintain momentum on special projects.

We have the patience and expertise to solve problems that others have deemed impossible.

We make small changes that have a big impact.

We help you create a business that works for you.

why “rare birds”?

When you work with us you will get a different approach and experience, so we decided to go out on a limb and name our company something totally different.  “Rare Birds” is an expression that means “a unique or extraordinary individual”, and our hope is that you’ll find working with us refreshingly unique!

our guiding principles

our birds

Kimberley is conscientious and highly organized. Never happy to stand still, she is motivated by challenging, growing and changing environments. She has a gift for understanding and solving extremely complex problems, which means that she sees opportunity in what clients often see as problems.

Prior to starting her consulting business in 2004, Kimberley held positions locally in both public accounting and controllership, and internationally as the Director of Financial Systems for a large supply chain management company. Because of her tenacity and her genuine interest in both people and business, Kimberley has had a tendency to take her positions beyond traditional roles. She continues this trend with Rare Birds. She holds a Chartered Professional Accountant designation, and is committed to lifelong learning.

Kimberley is originally from northern British Columbia, which likely explains her love of the outdoors. She enjoys biking, hiking, camping, snowboarding and Nordic skiing. She also loves to travel, and is currently attempting to learn Spanish. She has a passion for helping the world’s neglected poor, and currently sits on the board for HOPE International Development Agency.

If you think budgets, financial software and complex financial strategies are for the birds and you’d rather spend your valuable time on other things, contact us to learn how we can help!

 

management_consulting

In a business climate where the expectation is to do more with less, we’ve discovered that many businesses are not able to address special projects or proactively manage their business growth.  That’s where we come in.  We love solving problems and tackling special projects.

We are very clear on our role to enhance, not interfere with, successful operations.  We contribute an objectivity and perspective that is grounded in intelligence and common sense, and is balanced with a friendliness and genuine care for our clients.

Our projects are varied depending upon the needs of our clients, but our work includes areas such as:

  • Strategic and business planning
  • New business ventures and investment opportunities
  • Succession planning
  • Business and accounting process review
  • Financial review and analysis
  • Cash-flow advice and modeling
  • Budgeting and forecasting
  • Financing
  • Transitions of financial and managerial staff
  • Training
  • Review of contracts, proposals, disclosure statements, insurance policies and minutes

We also act as a liaison with your outside advisors such as accountants, lawyers, bankers, IT professionals, bookkeepers, strata councils and the Canada Revenue Agency.

Read more about how we help.

Accounting_Software

We have experience with numerous software programs in a number of different industries, and we are comfortable conversing with everyone involved when it comes to accounting software and potential changes. We can review your existing program to tell you whether it is still right for you, and perhaps make a few tweaks to ensure that it can continue to serve you. We can also recommend new software based on your needs.

Although we work primarily with the Microsoft Dynamics product line as a middle-market ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution, we will only recommend that solution if we believe it’s right for you. If it’s not a fit, we will not be shy about recommending other software or service providers. At our clients’ requests, we have also worked with software that we have no experience with. We have not yet encountered a program that we weren’t able to quickly become proficient with.

Having spent a number of years working in the finance world, we understand the day-to-day needs of a business and an accounting department, and we’ll also take the time to understand what makes your business unique. We then combine this knowledge with our technical expertise in order to provide you with workable solutions.

Read more about how we help.

Dynamics Partner:
  • Smarthead

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858 Woodhaven Place, Kelowna, BC, V1W 2A3
phone. 250-878-3667
fax. 778-477-3667
skype. kimberley-stevens