Jobs have become more profitable because all costs and expenses are entered into Clients & Profits, instead of being overlook and unbilled. Steve now prints detailed financial reports from Clients & Profits to prove this, comparing profits to costs for each of his clients. "We had some broad stroke ideas about our profitability before, but not like now," Steve says.

The Quicken/Microsoft Works jumble skipped accounts payable altogether, so Steve used to write checks to allocate the funds, then tuck them away until the bills came due. Now, he lets Clients & Profits automatically cut checks for unpaid vendor invoices when they come due using the "auto-allocate" feature, which saves hours of unbillable time. With more features being put to use every day, Steve is getting things automated so he can get back to being creative. "I try to avoid accounting because it 's not my first love," Steve says, but until things are self-running he'll be filling the critical position of Chief Number Guy.

Great creative and a used coffee maker

The shop does strictly creative project work, with no intention of ever becoming a full-service agency.

In addition to web work, the shop takes on broadcast, print, outdoor, direct mail, publications, and business-to-business marketing projects. In fact, the Creative Department is the proud owner of a Best of Show Addy for broadcast work for Cincinnati's Americana amusement park. They garnered national impact for the Cincinnati Zoo's 90 Second Naturalist radio program and accompanying educational literature, which is now used by teachers nationwide. Outdoor efforts include an irreverent campaign for a Cincinnati radio station that pokes fun at a hospital 's investigation for alleged clandestine radiation experiments. And while dry cleaners were feeling the weight of an industry-wide decline in business, client A-One Fine Dry Cleaning watched their sales climb with the Creative Department's print and direct mail campaign.

And all that without AEs. Or beancounters. "We're a bunch of creatives without adult supervision," Steve says. And if anyone ever misses catering to a shifty-eyed boss, they can adopt the shops Virtual CEO, a moody suit modeled after digital pets (check it out). But so far, they're handling their growing business without a suit. Just good creative, a used coffee maker, and Clients & Profits.