Metrics that Matter

Metrics that Matter

A small-business (and that includes the bookkeeping business) owner’s compensation is generally driven by the value she has created in her business. Yet about 40 percent of a bookkeeper’s time is spent doing non-billable work so she can only bill for 1,200 hours a...
Growing your income

Growing your income

Referrals are the primary way most accountants, bookkeepers and lawyers get new clients. The problem usually is that we have little control over when referrals come in. Most bookkeeping business owners start out the same way as most entrepreneurs: DIY’ing.; wasting...
Become a Geek

Become a Geek

We all know one – the person who is always first to try a new product or service. They can be both illuminating and annoying; they are the ones that tell you about Airbnb or Uber or the latest Apple product before you even knew of the product. Then are the early...
Building Your Business

Building Your Business

Accounting and bookkeeping firms today have more to think about than the accounts or the books. Mostly their time is spent doing the technical work. When there are forces at work that are disruptive, business value is decimated. A bookkeeping business will, in the...
What Do Clients Want

What Do Clients Want

What business owners want from their trusted advisors is very simple: for sure they want the compliance stuff done on time and accurately but what they really want is to run a more successful business. As the ‘first response’ trusted advisor the bookkeeper is well...
The Goldilocks Approach

The Goldilocks Approach

Many bookkeeping firms still face an uphill battle when it comes to pricing their services. Indeed, in our survey of owners of bookkeeping firms conducted in April this year we found that 47 percent were yielding less than $60 an hour after allowing for scope creep...