Danielle Pacheco was nervous when she launched Checks and Balances Bookkeeping, two months ago.

“I am a reserved person,” she said. “I am not used to being out there.”

But she was looking for a new challenge, and another revenue stream during these challenging times.

A friend in an accounting firm, pointed her towards her first clients. Looking through her new clients’ books, she found some entries in the wrong place, and miscalculations. She was in her element.

“I love that moment once I add all the numbers and put them where they go, and I’ve got it,” she said. “I have taught myself a lot of things, too. That excites me.”

Things went well with her first clients, and her confidence grew.

Now, she is pushing her business on social media in an effort to attract more clients.

“It seems to be working,” she said. “I am getting messages from potential clients.”

One of her advantages is that she has a great deal of customer service experience. She grew up helping her parents, Big Paul and Sherry Pacheco, in the family business, Auto Express on Addendum Lane in Pembroke.

“I was born to the business,” Ms Pacheco said.

She started helping around the shop at 13, but it was always the bookkeeping she was attracted to.

“I love math,” she said. In primary school, she remembers counting everything, even the stairs, every time she went up or down them.

At 16, her family finally let her help with the bookkeeping.

“It was a lot to do, of course,” she said, “but I loved the challenge. All I’ve ever wanted to do was make my parents proud. So, I kept pushing to prove that I would be able to take care of things.”

She went to Gibbs College in Rhode Island, to learn bookkeeping and business skills, always with the aim of eventually running Auto Express.

“I never thought I would start my own business,” she said. “I did not really have the confidence.”

When she graduated from college and finally did take over, she found the books in a bit of a state.

“I had to sort things out and figure out everything,” she said. “I put together all the people who owed and got payments collected, and so forth,” she said. “I put in new ways of doing things.”

Today, her father comes in half days. Things run smoothly, so she sometimes finds herself with time on her hands. She works on Checks and Balances for about two hours every day, in between tasks at Auto Express.

When she launched Checks and Balances, she chose a flamingo as her logo, for no particular reason, other than that she likes the flashy, pink birds.

Her target demographic for Checks and Balances is small businesses.

“It helps to be a friendly face and to make things more simple for people who don’t really understand,” she said.

And she said at $40 an hour she is a good deal cheaper than the large accounting firms, that are out of reach for many small businesses.

She is balancing the running of two businesses with raising an eight-month-old daughter, and 13 year old son. She also has two older daughters.

“My partner is very supportive,” Ms Pacheco said.

She uses QuickBooks accounting software.

“That is what I am proficient in,” she said. “I feel like most places now use QuickBooks, because it has been around for so long.”

As the business begins to heat up, she is proud that she stepped outside of her comfort zone to form Checks and Balances.

“I am finally doing something for myself, instead of just following in the family business,” Ms Pacheco said.

She said it would be nice to run Checks and Balances full time, but that would be a long time down the road.

For more information see Checks and Balances Bookkeeping on Facebook or e-mail

checksandbalancesbookkeeping@outlook.com