Web-based accounting service provider AccountingDepartment.com has found a new way to manage and motivate its remote employees this season.

The virtual accounting provider had fresh New York bagels and pizza delivered to its staff of 50 virtual bookkeepers who work at remote locations around the country. The food was delivered February 1, following one of the busiest seasons for accounting departments in the U.S.

For several years, the Pompton Lakes, N.J.-based company has organized pizza deliveries to its far-flung employees to thank them for their hard work. But this presented a challenge when some bookkeepers in remote locations couldn't get pizza deliveries.

HR director Lisa Archetti had the idea to ship bagels to them via FedEx instead. “The little things mean a lot,” she said in a statement. “The bagel deliveries represented the way we’ll go the extra mile to make our employees in the most remote areas of the country feel connected. Everybody, no matter where they live, is part of our team and every employee is important to us.”

AccountingDepartment.com co-founder Bill Gerber noted, “When you find the right people, you have to nurture them in order to keep them."

Annual pizza and bagel deliveries are one way the firm tells its employees they are valued. The virtual firm said it received a flood of emails, Facebook posts and "thank you" calls from grateful employees.

One of them came from bookkeeper Julie Anders. “Thank you for the wonderful bagels,” she emailed. “I've always wondered what the hype was about fresh New York bagels. Now I know! They are delicious.”