Finding Clients For Bookkeepers

All you want is bookkeeping clients, so the first thing that many bookkeepers do is to print up some business cards, put an advert in the local paper and sit back waiting for the phone to ring.

How easy is that!

Then they wonder why the phone is running red hot with clients chasing them with bookkeeping work.

“I’ll put an advert in yellow pages!”, they exclaim.

Here’s an interesting thing about advertising. Companies like Yellow Pages and local newspapers make their money BEFORE you get any response to your advertisement. So they do not really care whether or not you have any success.

When it comes to renew, they tell you that there was nothing wrong with advertising, it’s just that you didn’t word it correctly, or you should pay for a bigger, fancier advertisement.

We’ve never advertised in the local paper or in Yellow Pages, and our business has always flourished.

Then there’s the fliers:
What do you do with junk mail that arrives in your letterbox? Maybe flick through it and then chuck it in the recycling bin

So why is it that anyone else is going to do anything different with your fliers?

What response do you want from your fliers?
Bookkeepers speak to us and can’t understand why their fliers have got no response. Maybe they expect people to treasure their fliers, get them mounted and framed and hung on the wall as a feature of the lounge room

Sorry, it just won’t happen. Show me your flier and chances are I’ll tell you that you’ve been 100% succesful in getting people to do exactly what you’ve asked them to do on your flier – nothing!

On Day Two, Kirsty is working on her mission statement or “elevator speech”. What sets Kirsty above all the other bookkeepers in her area? How can she make her advertising work for her? We discuss that more in our Bookkeepers Marketing Program

Kirsty has been working as a public accountant for a number of years, and has finally decided to quit her job and start her own bookkeeping business.

She’s living in the suburbs and has been used to commuting 90 minutes each way to work every day.

Like many bookkeepers that join our Bookkeepers Marketing Program, she has absolutely no idea what to do next.

Many bookkeepers begin their freelance bookkeeping career by moonlighting. They work fulltime during the day and do some bookkeeping in the evenings or weekends for friends or business associates that they have met along the way.

Jumping from fulltime to no employment can be a shock, not only to the wallet, but also to the routine.

Suddenly you’re sitting at home with all the skills to be a bookkeeper, and you are hit by the realisation that you have to go and find bookkeeping clients. And you want them yesterday.

Today’s task is to get Kirsty started in her quest to find bookkeeping clients. To do that she needs to think about what services she can offer potential clients. Why bother doing this, you ask. After all, bookkeeping is bookkeeping.

True, but what do potential clients think that bookkeepers do? Experience shows that most clients really have no idea what a bookkeeper does, all they know is that they need one.

Rather like a computer. Who really knows what a computer does? Who really cares? All you need to know is that the computer does stuff to save you time and money (hopefully).

That’s more or less what many bookkeeping clients also think. If they get a bookkeeper hopefully they will save the client time and money. The bookkeeping client knows that the bookkeeper will take the client’s financial documents, work some magic and be able to produce reports that the bookkeeper can then give to the accountant to process to keep the tax office happy.

Have a look at websites for bookkeepers and generally you’ll see a “shopping list” of services that the bookkeeper can provide. How much of it actually means anything to clients?

All the client wants to know is “What’s in it for me”. Have a look at your website as an outsider and ask yourself these questions:

1. Does this website clearly identify some solutions to my bookkeeping problems?
2. Do I even understand what this website is talking about?
3. Is it just a heap of accounting / bookkeeping jargon?

Tomorrow we look at the next step of getting Kirsty started with her bookkeeping business

When you start out with your bookkeeping business, have you considered the image that you are projecting?

After all, like it or not, you can only make a first impression once.

That’s right, you can only make a FIRST impression ONCE.

Are You Projecting a Professional Image?
We are amazed by the number of bookkeepers that are telling their clients they a run a professional bookkeeping service, and issue their invoices on an excel spreadsheet or a word document.

We asked one bookkeeper in our Bookkeepers Marketing Program why she was not using her MYOB accounting software for raising invoices.

Her response was that since she didn’t have many clients “it wasn?t worth it”

Since when does projecting a professional image become dependant on “having enough clients”?

How many bookkeeping clients is “enough” to justify using your software package to generate invoices?

Should I be GST Registered?
The ATO rulings regarding the income level of which you are required to register for GST are clear.

Does that mean that you don’t need to register for GST if your income is below the
threshold? Absolutely

Does that mean that you SHOULDN’T register for GST until you reach that threshold? – that’s your decision.

From a marketing perspective, how does it look to your client if you are not GST registered? Maybe they don’t care.

However if they see a bookkeeper that is GST registered and one that is not, they may automatically assume that the bookkeeper that is registered has a stronger business, and a higher turnover.

Similarly we’ve seen bookkeepers getting lovely “fluffy” pink feminine business cards with a free clipart image to further “pretty up” their cards.

What does that project to a prospective client?
Does it project an image of professionalism, or rather the archetypal stay-at-home-mum wanna-be bookkeeper who’s doing hubby’s books and a few other mates for some extra income?

Maybe they want to project that image, and play at being a bookkeeper.

Have a look at your invoice templates? Do they project a professional bookkeeping image?

Have a look at your business cards / stationery ? Do they project the image of a professional bookkeeping service?

Have a look at your website? Does it project a professional image and give your potential bookeeping clients confidence in your services?

Have a look at your business attire? Does you project a professional image in your dress code, or look like you do bookkeeping as a hobby? Some bookkeepers don’t care how they dress, and turn up to clients looking scruff, and then wonder why the clients are concerned about their attention to detail

When you start out with your bookkeeping business, look closely at the image that you are projecting,

Ask any accountants, or any experienced professional bookkeepers, and they’ll tell you : “There’s bookkeepers and there’s bookkeepers”

And since 1st March 2010 [in Australia], “there’s bookkeepers, and there’s bookkeepers and there’s bookkeepers!”

What does that mean?
Until 1st March 2010, anyone in Australia could start a bookkeeping business and call themselves a bookkeeper. Who knows what experience they had, or how profficient they were!

The Federal Treasury, the Australian Taxation Office, and a number of organisations loosely representing bookkepers all got together and decided that every bookkeeper who chooses to work as a contractor needs to have a Cert IV (Financial Services – Bookkeeping) to be legally entitled to lodge a Business Activity Statement on behalf of their clients.

That is, of course, the minimum requirement – there’s some other hoops you have to jump through to become a registered BAS Agent – including “being of sound mind” – whatever that means. Sometimes we think we must be crazy to want to process the paperwork of some clients – so does that mean we are not “of sound mind”?

Having a qualification, and being a registered BAS agent is just the start of the journey towards a successful bookkeeping business

Finding bookkeeping clients is the next step

Keeping bookkeeping clients, knowing what to charge your clients, keeping your clients happy and finding more bookkeeping clients are more steps towards building a successful bookeeping business

Every freelance independant bookkeeper needs bookkeeping clients!

It’s always interesting meeting a small business owner who’s just decided to take the plunge and outsource their bookkeeping.

When it comes to having a handle on their finances, many small business owners just don’t know what they don’t know!!

By that, they just have no idea about having a system for their bookkeeping or getting their finances in order. It’s amazing how some businesses survive in such a state of disorder

That’s where you come in. As bookkeepers we can help the client by making suggestions to improve or even establish a bookkeeping system.

The first step may be something as straightforward as suggesting that they should consider opening a seperate bank account for their business rather than using their personal bank account.

You may need to set them up with a simple system of manila folders for bank statements unpaid / paid bills etc

There’s some clients that seem to take years to grasp the fact that by them spending a couple of extra minutes on completing their documentation correctly before they file it, they’ll end up saving so much money on bookkeeping fees.

When they final realise that you’ve been working to save them money, they’ll thank you (perhaps with a sheepish grin)!

It’s moments like that when your bookkeeping clients understand that they that need you more than you need them!

One bookkeeper who started on our Bookkeepers Marketing Program last week picked up her first client yesterday, and was so excited!!

She had been very nervous in anticpation of the first meeting with the client, and emailed us yesterday saying she’s got her first bookkeeping client.

Why should we be surprised? We are not – you see, it’s not difficult with the right preparation!

What other result would you be expecting?

After all, the purpose of the client meeting was to seal the deal, and she did. That’s all it takes!

The most important step in starting your bookkeeping business is not to focus on how many clients you have right now, but how many clients you will have in the future.

The mindset of a bookkeeper can make such a difference to the growth of their business. You learn more about this in our Bookkeepers Marketing Program

Are you projecting an image of a professional bookkeeper?

We are amazed by the number of bookkeepers that are telling their clients they a run a professional bookkeeping service, and issue their invoices on an excel spreadsheet or a word document.

We asked a bookkeeper why she was not using her MYOB accounting software for raising invoices – her response was that since she didn’t have many clients “it wasn’t worth it”

Since when does projecting a professional image become dependant on “having enough clients” – and how many is “enough” to justify using your software package to generate invoices?

From a marketing perspective, how does it look to your client if you present them with invoices like that? Maybe they don’t care. To others it would raise some concerns – How come the bookkeeper’s not using MYOB to generate their invoices? Why would our bookkeeper be double handling those invoices?

Is this the same approach that the bookkeeper is taking to our business?

Similarly we’ve seen a number of female bookkeepers getting lovely “fluffy” pink feminine business cards with a free clipart image to further “pretty up” their cards.

What does that project to a prospective client? Does it project an image of professionalism, or rather the archetypal stay-at-home-mum wanna-be bookkeeper who’s doing hubby’s books and a few other mates for some extra income?

Maybe they want to project that image, and play at being a bookkeeper

Have a look at your invoice templates – do they project an image of a professional bookkeeper?

Have a look at your business cards / stationery – do they project a professional image?

Have a look at your website – does it project a professional image?

Have a look at your business attire – does it project a professional image?

Do you need some new bookkeeping clients in Perth’s northern suburbs, Western Australia? If you are an experienced bookkeeper skilled in using both MYOB and Quickbooks accounting software, then contact Us HERE

Do you need bookkeeping clients in Perth’s Northern Suburbs?

We’ve successfully been helping freelance bookkeepers starting their bookkeeping businesses around Stirling and Warwick, and they have reached capacity

We only work with selected bookkeepers in finding them clients, negotiating the contracts and organising the appointments – all you need do is show up and do the bookkeeping work

This is a limited opportunity and is suitable only for experienced bookkeepers who are prepared to go on-site. Contact Us HERE

Without any clients, a service industry business is not really in business. Bookkeepers, whether they like it or not, are in the service industry, and thus need bookeeping clients to service

Every day we are asked “Secrets to Finding Bookkeeping Clients”. 99% of bookkeepers seeking help in sourcing new clients for their bookkeeping business ask us the same questions.

Can You Find Me Some Bookkeeping Clients? – YES

Can we find them clients for their bookkeeping business? Yes, we can.

We have helped many bookkeepers “kick start” their bookkeeping business, and have compiled a book that answers many of the questions you have about getting started, finding clients etc

There’s also answers to questions that you haven’t even thought of yet

By reading the book you’ll learn of some innovative strategies to help your business move forward, and gain an understanding of what’s involved. You’ll also get an understanding of how we think and our approach as a start to help you with your bookkeeping business

Details about the book can be found HERE

Do You Really Want Our Help?

By having a quick chat to bookkeepers looking for new bookkeeping clients, we can generally very quickly ascertain why they are having trouble sourcing new clients for their book-keeping business.

We picked up a bookkeeping client that’s returned over $200,000

Learning how to be a bookkeeper is very different from having to talk to potential clients. There’s the right way to say something and the wrong way to say something. How you speak to a potential client is important.

How you answer the questions that they ask you is also very important.

Bookkeepers who are serious about seeking help in finding bookkeeping clients will make sure that they secure a copy of our Ebook “Secrets to Finding Bookkeeping Clients”. Details about the book can be found HERE

“Oh, I’m too busy to read your book!”, we were told by one bookkeeper. Really? Then if she’s that busy, how come she’s asking us how to find bookkeeping clients?

“Just answer my question!”, said another. We have already done that, many times, and compiled the answers in our Ebook “Secrets to Finding Bookkeeping Clients”. Details about the book can be found HERE

Why is it such a big deal? Well, a few years ago we picked up a client that’s been worth over $200,000 to us! How would you feel if you were the bookkeeper that missed out on that contract because you handled the initial client meeting in the wrong manner?

Why is it that clients think that knowing how much a bookkeeper charges, will help them determine whether to employ that bookkeeper?

It seems as crazy as phoning up a restaurant and asking the price of a main meal. Do many people shop around restaurants based on how much they charge for a main meal?

Yes, of course they do. Fast Food Restaurants have built their whole business model based on price and fast service.

You can go to an upmarket restaurant and pay $30 for a hamburger, chips and soft drink – and get a “similar meal” from a fast food restaurant for a 75% saving

How does that tell you how much bookkeepers charge? Well, it doesn’t.

So many times clients will phone us up and ask “How much do you charge for bookkeeping?”

Our goal is to solve the client’s problem, and save them time and money

Many bookkeepers will answer them, and then hope to hear backfrom the client. Our goal is somewhat different, and takes some thinking “outside the box”

Why has the client phoned us? Because they want a bookkeeper! Simple as that.

So our goal is to solve the client’s problem, and save them time and money. They want a bookkeeping service, they contact us. We are a book-keeping service, so before they hang up, we’ve booked them in, secured a time, got their address, and saved them having to phone up any other bookkeepers

How do we do that

After answering the same questions over and over about starting a book-keeping business, we compiled a book that answers many of the questions you have about getting started, finding bookeeping clients etc

There’s also answers to questions that you haven’t even thought of yet

As you read this book you will learn of some innovative strategies to help your business move forward, and gain an understanding of what’s involved.

You’ll also get an understanding of how we think and our approach as a start to help you with your bookkeeping business

Details about the book can be found at HERE

Regards

Jenny Newgate
BookkeepingTeam Pty Ltd