Mark Langendorf
Funeral Director & Co-Owner
Draeger-Langendorf Funeral Home & Crematory
Mount Pleasant, WI
Average call volume: 500 calls/year
Running your funeral home comes with unique challenges, especially when it comes to managing finances.
You have to make sure your accounts are balanced, your cash flow is moving in the right direction, and your bottom line is healthy. All of which takes time that could be spent serving families.
This is the problem Mark Langendorf faced with his own accounting and finances at Draeger-Langendorf Funeral Home & Crematory. That is, until he found a partner he could trust.
“Funeral Directors Life (FDL) has given us peace of mind and a better understanding of our financial position,” Mark said.
Find out how FDL helped Mark streamline reporting, gain financial clarity, and build a partnership that goes far beyond traditional bookkeeping.
We were using FDL’s preneed service when we visited their home office. Until that point, I didn’t realize how many ways FDL could support our funeral home. After our trip, we quickly started using Passare, Claimcheck, and FDL’s accounting service. Now, FDL handles all of our bookkeeping and payroll. They also just recently completed a business valuation for our funeral home.
We had been working with a freelance accountant who managed everything. As our firm grew, it became harder for her to keep up. It reached the point where we didn’t have our quarterly reports, and at the end of the year, we had to scramble to gather a year’s worth of data. Pulling reports from multiple accounts was time-consuming, and there was a lot of stress and inefficiency.
We receive monthly financial reports, which makes our lives so much easier. We can track call volume, director activity, service types, and flag unusual expenses right away. Our financial statements, like net income and the balance sheet, are always up to date, which we appreciate. Instead of waiting weeks for data, we get what we need overnight. It’s saved us a lot of time and headaches.
It was easy! Since the FDL accounting team already had access to our financials, the process was insightful, provided us with a comprehensive market analysis, and a clear understanding of our business's value. Before, I had no idea what our funeral home was truly worth. Now I do. It’s given us peace of mind and a better understanding of our financial position.
It’s been a breath of fresh air. FDL’s accounting team has access to our accounts, and through Passare, they can see our analytics, so I don’t have to gather data manually. Every month, they notify me of any open contracts or unclassified transactions that need to be addressed. And usually, it takes me 15 minutes or less because I have easy access to the data.
In the past, if I wanted data, I had to sift through a whole bunch of numbers. But now, it’s automatic. If I need to see the numbers, I have them. It’s been incredibly easy.
What we have right now is something I’m not willing to lose. Since we use Passare, everything integrates seamlessly, and the FDL accounting team has done a fantastic job. We have a strong workflow, and I wouldn’t want to disrupt that. Plus, I don’t know how another company could prove they’d offer better support. I’ve gotten to know so many people at FDL over the years.
I was in a bad car accident once, which put me in the hospital for several weeks. FDL heard about what happened, and they sent me a card filled with several personal messages from their staff. I just remember thinking, “Wow!” So, it’s not just a business thing. It’s very much on a person level for us, too.
Absolutely. I think that for many funeral professionals, the first thing they consider when signing up for a new service is the cost. I’d tell them to look into FDL’s accounting services because it’s well worth the money. The value is there.