By Linda A. Hunt

My answer none! That’s not entirely true. I enjoy the work that I do and the fact that the majority of the time I get to work and play when I want to. Life/work balance is what they call it and being entrepreneurs we actually have more control over this factor than our counterparts who work for others.

Back in 2003, I was in the process of re-tooling my business and began thinking how nice it would be to work 4-days a week and enjoy a three day weekend, every weekend, without decreasing my current level of revenue! At first I cast the thought off as a “pipe dream” – there is no way I could do that and I came up with all kinds of reasons as to why I could not:

• How will I sustain my current level of revenue?
• What happens if my clients need me that day?
• How will I sustain my current level of revenue?
• What if there is an emergency that my staff just cannot handle?
• How will I sustain my current level of revenue?

 I was letting the repetitive thought “How will I sustain my current level of revenue” dominate my thoughts. Obsessing over this thought kept me thinking inside of the box, making me unable to get out of the way of myself. One afternoon, I was so sick of thinking about this I stood up in my office and started doing the “Hokey Pokey”. That’s right, the song and dance we learned as children – “put your right hand in, take your right hand out…” It was such a silly thing to do that it helped me to break the obsessive thoughts about why I could not work a 4-day week and relax.

For the rest of that afternoon, I enjoyed peace and quiet within my mind. I worked on other things and then the next morning it hit me like a ton of bricks! In order to move to a 4-day work week I had to change my pricing model!

This time I started thinking about pricing from a completely different perspective – how much revenue I wanted to earn that was directly related to my billable hours. At that time I was still performing client work and billing out about 50% of my time. If I wanted to work 4-days a week, I had to evaluate the tasks that I could delegate and those that I could not within my new work week and apply that to my current level of revenue.

Here are the steps that I followed:

1) Determine the number of hours you want to work. You can do this on a weekly, monthly or annual basis.
2) Determine the percentage of those hours that are billable.
3) Determine the percentage of those hours that are not billable.
4) Calculate that number by your current billing rate.
5) Determine the shortfall and make the necessary adjustments. For example, delegate client work to staff, adjust your billing rate, etc.
6) Work your reduced work week!

PS - I bet you will be humming the Hokey Pokey all day long!

By Laurie L. O’Neil

Let’s face it everyone has had that difficult client that they stumbled upon. You know the one I am talking about, the one that makes you cringe when you see the number come up on the caller ID unit. So how do you recognize that vampire-like, energy-sucking client at first sight?

1. Watch for the warning signs. In that initial interview process you may recognize traits you do not like. It could be a behavioral issue, they may be needy, demanding, or just have unrealistic expectations. I recently was out on a sales call with a potential bookkeeping client. He was looking for someone to come on site weekly. He started to dictate to me how he was going to oversee and review everything we did and then told me how to write the proposal to him. In a very nice way, I told him really what he is looking for was an employee. He was not the type of client I was looking for.

2. Watch out for the drama! Let’s face it, all of our clients have drama but the ones who have constant drama are the hardest clients. Learn how to stay out of the drama. I recently terminated a client relationship because of all of the drama. He was an auto repair shop that had two employees embezzle from him. On top of that he had two previous bookkeepers that did not do him justice either; I knew about one of the bookkeepers but did not realize he had gone through two. One of them represented herself as a forensic bookkeeper – there is no such thing! He was being audited by the state as well. We cleaned up the books for his audit, but he just could not get past all the previous stuff that had happened to him to focus on moving forward. I did not want to be part of his drama.

3. Your client’s emergency is not your emergency. These clients can put you into chaos. I received a call the other day from a mechanical engineering company that was looking to get their books cleaned up in a day and wanted me to come in the next day to do it. One of my staff members took the call and nicely told him I book a week out and asked if he wanted to meet me then. It’s your choice whether or not you want to stay in chaos. People will only do what you allow them to do to you.

4. Set boundaries for your clients. When I take on a new client, I immediately set an expectation of when the client will send us the information or when we will be onsite to do the bookkeeping. If the client can not follow these simple rules, fire the client. These clients will run you ragged, with you constantly trying to chase down their information.

As you grow your practice, it is not necessarily the quantity of clients that you are looking for but the quality of clients. The next time you are out on a sales call, stop to really listen to that client and think is this really a client I want to have and do not be afraid to say “NO”.

By Linda A. Hunt

This month, I have been really frustrated – there just does not seem to be enough time in the day to get everything that I need to done. I was becoming irritable and burnt. Then it hit me! I was not maximizing my most precious resource - managing my time and I was allowing those “Time Vampires” back in.

A “Time Vampire” is anything or anyone that steals your time – a new employee, a talkative client, the telephone, your mother-in-law, broken office equipment, etc. Time is an irreplaceable resource and effective use of your time, more than any other habit, increases your productivity. While it is important to understand how much time you spend on activities that produce a result, it is equally important to identify ways in which your time is stolen from you.

Here are the 6 secrets I use to eliminate “Time Vampires” and maximize my productivity:

1. Create a Daily Routine. I actually do this by the week. I have an excel spreadsheet that lays out what I will work on during the week and when. It includes everything from answering email to the time I will have lunch each day. I do this on broad terms. For example, Monday 10 AM to Noon bookkeeping.

I also schedule in two hours of unscheduled time just to handle those unexpected things that come up.
 
2. Plan Your Phone Calls. Plan your phone calls. Make a brief note of what you want to say and what you want to find out. It saves time for everybody and makes for better communication.

3. Set “Do Not Disturb” Periods. Plan a definite time each day when you conduct a meeting with yourself!

4. Don’t Over-Commit. Beware of over-commitment. Remember you are the only one who can protect your time. Learn how to politely say “no.”

5. Set Deadlines. Set reasonable deadlines for all jobs and stick to them. Available time always gets filled with something!

6. Think, Then Act. Avoid the “Shoot First, Ask Questions Later” phenomenon. Think first, then act. Nothing is so urgent that there is no time to consider the decision-making process.

Hi – it’s Laurie this week. I am just returning from the beach in Rhode Island. If there is anything you will learn about me is I work hard and I play hard. I love the beach and enjoy riding through the country with my Harley. In the past week I have been able to connect with a lot of you. I have enjoyed learning about your practices and finding out more about you. As always, Linda and I love hearing from you so don’t be shy, drop us a line.

In this week’s article, Linda brings up a good question: What Marketing Phase are you in? This brings back so many memories for me. I was the chicken. What are you?

Last night we held the second part of How to Price and Package Your Services. What a fabulous call. It was great speaking with so many of you with and being able to answer your questions live!

Wishing you financial serenity,

Linda & Laurie

Hi – this week it’s me Linda. I am writing to at 30,000 feet somewhere over the middle of the United States. I took a couple days to meet up with some friends, relax and have a good time! I am sorry to say that I do not have any pictures to share with you – I really have to get myself a digital camera!

Before I left for vacation, I had a conversation with one of my subcontractors who had made a request that was not only very strange, it was also in direct violation of their subcontractor agreement with my company. All I had to do was to remind them of the agreement they signed and the situation was resolved. It’s a good thing I have well written agreements with both my clients, employees and subcontractors. All of my agreements contain language that protects me and my firm.

In order to grow our firms we have to leverage ourselves, which means hiring employees and/or subcontractors. When you are ready to take this step, make sure that you are protecting the business and reputation you have already built up. In this week’s article, Laurie talks about some hard earned lessons she learned about working with employees and subcontractors.

Wishing you financial serenity,

Linda & Laurie

In my prior life, I was a controller of a recruiting company. so I have some insight in this area. Asking the right type of questions and finding the right candidate can be challenging. Often we get our personal feelings involved in the hiring process. You like the person but the person may not necessarily have the right skill set for the job. Often we may compromise what we are searching for in a candidate in exchange for an easy fit.

Here are some things that you want to think about before you hire an employee:

1.  Put together a job posting that will capture the interest of a potential employee, flexible hours, benefits, the job requirements.

2.  When recruiting for an employee, have a job description put together. This will have a job summary, duties and responsibilities, complexity of work, experience, skills, and education. This will keep you focused on who you are looking for.

3.  When interviewing have some behavioral type of interview questions. For example: Tell me about a time when your workload was heavy. How did you complete all your work? Remaining calm under extreme pressure is a difficult skill for many people. Tell me about a situation when you were able to do this. These types of questions give you some good insight on how someone could react with your clients. Sometimes people do not know how to answer these questions.

4.  Look for someone who has consistent job experience, spent 4 or more years in one position at some point in their career.

5.  Be sure to check references!!!!

Be firm on what you are searching for in a candidate. Be clear about what you stand for and what your values are in your company. You are searching for someone who shares similar values. Finding good employees will not come easy nor should it. In my last job posting, I phone screened all the resumes and only interviewed who I thought was a perfect fit for the job. This may be time consuming but it will cost you in the long run if you do not take the time.

Copyright © 2008 Linda Hunt and Laurie O’Neil, The Bookkeeper’s Referral Network, Inc.

Hi – this week it’s me Linda.  Last week I had my first coaching call with my new coach and I am so excited to be working with her!  We have entered into a year long private one-on-one coaching program designed specifically around my needs.  She is an extremely talented business woman and I know that what I learn working with her I will be able to take my businesses to new heights and also share with all of you what I learn along the way.

It is really important that we nurture ourselves and seek out and find the resources we need that will help us achieve success – whether that be coaching, self study courses or hiring employees.   We cannot do it all by ourselves nor should we!  In this week’s article, Laurie talks about how to find good employees.

Wishing you financial serenity,

Linda & Laurie

We got so many great responses to our question “What is Your Biggest Question About Making Money as a Bookkeeper?”  Below is a breakdown of the most frequently asked questions.

• How Do I Price and Package My Services - 63%

• How to Collect a Retainer - 13%

• How to Pay Your Staff Including Benefits - 12%

• How to Increase Your Customer Base – 12%

Here’s our answer to YOUR biggest question:  How do I price and package my services?

Setting fees is probably one of the toughest areas.  Many of us struggle trying to determine whether or not it is better to charge an hourly rate or a flat fee.   We then struggle with knowing whether or not we are pricing ourselves to high or too low.  Here are our general thoughts on setting fees:

  • Fees are to be based on value, not the task.

  • Never use only time as the basis for your value.

  • Don’t stop with what the client wants.  Find out what the client needs.

  • Provide at least 3 options every time:  the choice of “yeses”

  • Ensure your client is aware of your full range of services.

  • Fees have nothing to do with supply and demand, only value.

I need to increase my customer base.  Naveen 

Hi Naveen,
Setting aside dedicated time for marketing each week is crucial for growing your customer base.  It is so easy to get wrapped up in the detail of doing the work for our clients that we sometimes forget that we are business owners to and the responsibility for growing our business rests upon our shoulders.

I would pick a day of the week that is quiet, for me it is Wednesday and spend at least a half day dedicated to marketing.  Your marketing efforts can include identifying a networking group you could join, sending out letters to colleagues letting them know about your services; sending out introductory letters to CPA firms.  The important thing is to spend time marketing.

I had one more thought, ask your current clients if they know of anyone who is need of your services – business owners always know other business owners.

May 30, 2008

Showing your client that you care is one of the most important things you can do to keep your clients happy and ensure longevity in your working relationship. Being a freelance bookkeeper we are privy to private, personal information very quickly, often times during the very first meeting with a client.

In our society, most people make decisions based upon emotion. When I began looking for my first home, I interviewed several real estate agents to determine if we were the right fit for one another. Out of all the agents that I interviewed only one sent me a personal note, thanking me for my time and considering them to represent me. To this day receiving that note sticks out in my mind. Why? Because it demonstrated that this real estate agent was interested in working with me and obtaining my business. She got my business.

Business owners feel the same way about their businesses and when they hire a bookkeeper, they are revealing personal information and trusting that bookkeeper. When someone is so deeply and emotionally invested, it is normal that they expect everyone to feel and act in accordance with the way they are feeling. They want to work with people who demonstrate care, respect and expertise in their field.

Being a freelance bookkeeper your clients know on some level that you are working with other businesses and that is okay with them as long as they feel important, cared for and are one of your priorities.  Here are a few things you can do to ensure they feel this way.

• Planning. The first thing I and my staff do when we obtain a new client is to create a calendar with all of the important dates that will affect this account. For example, pay dates, when monthly reports are due, estimated tax payments etc. This will provides me and my staff with a visual and keep key due dates associated with this client fresh in our minds. We refer to the calendar each time we perform processing for this account.

• Systemization. The next thing we do is work with the client to create a standard process that each of us will follow as it relates to their account. For example, we go over with them in detail what materials we will need to perform the services they have hired us for and when those materials are needed. Over the first couple of weeks working with the new account, we will check in with them periodically to see if they have any questions and how they are doing with the process.

• Build Trust. Say what you do. Do what you say. It’s that simple to develop the trust of your client. If you say you are going to do something and cannot meet the original deadline, call your client and let them know. Don’t assume they are too busy to notice.
Communication. Be in frequent communication with your client and let them know what is going on. I do not mean call or email them with every minute detail. I do mean, leave a courtesy message or send an email checking in with them and a broad overview of how things are going at your end. Being in frequent communication with your client not only lets your client know that their bookkeeping is being handled it keeps the door open for when you need to make an adjustment in their overall process.

• Acknowledgement. Being a freelance bookkeeper we have a front row seat to what is happening with our client. Be sure to acknowledge important accomplishments and achievements – both personal and professional. It demonstrates that not only are you paying attention, you care and wish to share in their triumphs.

Showing you care about your clients takes only a few minutes and the return on your investment is priceless. Make it a point this week to call at least two of your clients and let them know you care.