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Evan Birch
Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Bench Accounting
Professional Background
Evan Birch is a highly accomplished financial expert with a robust background in accounting and finance. He currently holds the esteemed position of Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Bench Accounting, a leading online bookkeeping service that specializes in providing businesses with efficient and accurate financial reporting. In this role, Evan is responsible for overseeing financial strategy and providing comprehensive analysis that aids in strategic decision-making. His aptitude for creating financial models and forecasts has played a crucial role in helping clients achieve their financial goals while ensuring that Bench Accounting maintains its reputation for excellence.
Prior to his current role as Director, Evan has steadily climbed the ranks at Bench Accounting through various positions including Senior Manager, Finance & Administration, Manager of Finance & IT, and Accountant. Each position has equipped him with valuable experiences and insights into the finance sector, particularly within the accounting industry. His transition from Accountant to managerial roles demonstrates his strong analytical skills and commitment to organizational success. His tenure at Bench Accounting has been marked by innovative practices and initiatives that have improved financial processes and enhanced team collaboration.
Before joining Bench Accounting, Evan began his career as an Accountant at R. B. Enterprises, where he developed foundational accounting skills that would serve him throughout his career. This early experience provided him with a solid understanding of financial operations within a business context, allowing him to build a strong framework of knowledge that he continues to leverage in his current roles.
Education and Achievements
Evan Birch pursued an education at The University of British Columbia (UBC), one of Canada's premier institutions known for its rigorous academic standards and diverse program offerings. At UBC, he studied for a Diploma in Accounting, where he gained essential skills in financial management, taxation, and auditing practices. This program equipped him with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills that are vital in the finance industry.
In addition to his accounting diploma, Evan earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Philosophy from UBC. This unique combination of arts and applied finance education has enabled Evan to approach business challenges with a critical and analytical mindset, allowing for innovative solutions to complex problems. The study of philosophy has also honed his communication skills, making him an effective leader and collaborator in cross-functional teams.
Achievements
Evan’s career is adorned with several commendable achievements. As Director of Financial Planning and Analysis, he has successfully implemented financial strategies that have significantly impacted Bench Accounting's growth and operational efficiency. His innovative forecasting methods and analytical prowess have provided valuable insights that have benefited clients by enhancing financial visibility.
During his tenure as Senior Manager, he demonstrated impressive leadership abilities by mentoring junior staff and fostering a culture of learning within the financial team. His ability to connect complex financial concepts with practical application has made a lasting impact on his colleagues and contributed to a more knowledgeable workforce.
Moreover, Evan Birch has continuously sought to advance his professional skills through ongoing education and professional development opportunities. He remains committed to staying updated on the latest trends and technologies in finance, ensuring that both he and his organization remain at the forefront of the industry.
Evan's impressive blend of practical experience, educational credentials, and leadership abilities makes him a highly regarded figure in the finance and accounting industry. As he continues to excel at Bench Accounting, his commitment to excellence and innovative problem-solving will undoubtedly drive future success and growth for both himself and the organization he serves.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.