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.

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.