The

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business


The

Contents

Introduction 3

1. Why Become a Bookkeeper? 4

2. Setting Up Your Business 5

3. What Skills Do I Need? 10

4. What Are the Advantages & Disadvantages? 11

5. Office SpaceHome or Commercial? 12

6. How & Where to Find Clients 13

7. Marketing Ideas 17

8. How Much do I Charge? 21

9. I have ClientsNow What? 25

10. I Need Help! Taking on Staff & Outsourcing 32

Conclusion 35

Useful Contacts 36

Templates 38

Spreadsheet for tracking client billings 39

New Client Enquiry Form 40

Boundaries Contract 44

12 month marketing plan 47

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business


 The

Introduction

The author is an award winning business owner who has over 15

years experience in the industry and has run her own bookkeeping
agency, The Accounts Studio, for over 4 years.

These days more and more people are wanting the freedom,
flexibility and control of being self employed. Whether you are a
mum who is not keen to re-enter the workforce on a full time basis,
or a victim of the recent recession, you may have been doing a
family members books for a while and want to expand your skills
further. Whatever your situation, this book has been compiled as
a comprehensive and informative resource for those wishing to
establish their own bookkeeping businesswhether as a part-time
income generator or a franchiseable company.

This book does not aim to teach you the technical aspects of
bookkeepingfor that you will need to undergo training if you do not
already have experience. Our aim is to pass on our knowledge and
tips of how to build a business.

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business


1
Why Become a Bookkeeper?

The first thing you need to do is establish your reasons behind your
decision and your main motivation. Your reasons might include some
of the following:

Were you always good at maths at school?

Have you been doing a family members books and enjoying it?

It seems to be a job that is easily done from home and fitted

in around the family?

Have you already worked in the finance industry?

Whatever your reason, it is a good idea to be clear at the start what

your long term plans are for your business. Do you just want to
create a casual part-time business that brings in a little extra income,
or do you want to create a successful business model that can be
franchised or sold in a few years time. Often something that might
start off as a part time income generator will grow over the years and
before you know it you are employing staff and have more clients
than you can handle. For that reason even if at this point you think
you only wish to stay small, it is worth spending some time right at
the beginning working on a business plan
and structuring your business in a way
that will give you the most credibility and
professional appearance.

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 2
Setting Up Your Business

Business Name

Try and come up with something catchy and memorable. Think

about the kind of image and feelings you wish to evoke and have a
brainstorming session with friends. Play with combinations of words,
colours, foreign translations of the words you like. Do a google
search for tips on picking a good name. Once you have made a
shortlist, check the Business Name Registrar to see whether anyone
else already has that name registered (www.abr.business.gov.au and
www.search.asic.gov.au).
Try and come up
Next check whether the domain name is availablethere are many
with something
domain hosting companies these days and prices can vary so have
catchy and
a good look aroundtry www.crazydomains.com.au or www.
memorable.
netregistry.com.au. Even though you might not be thinking about
having a website yet, it would be a shame to spend the next few Check whether the
years building a name for yourself only to find someone else is riding domain name is
on your coattails by owning your website URL. The other benefit is available.
that you will have an email address that contains your business name
rather than one linked to a hotmail or gmail account. This all adds to Search the internet
an image of professionalism and can cost as little as $20 per year for for the name you
the domain name registration. have chosen and
see what comes up.
Next search the internet for the name you have chosen and see what
comes upeven though your business name and domain name
checks might have yielded no results, there might still be someone
out there using the name you are after. Once you have decided on
a nameregister it with your states Office of Fair Tradingyou
can download the forms herehttp://www.business.gov.au/
Business+Entry+Point/Business+Topics/Registration+and+licences
/Register+your+business+or+company/Register+your+business+n
ame+in+your+state+or+territory.htm

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business


2 Setting Up Your Business

If the business structure you have chosen is as a sole trader, a

partnership or a trust, and not as a company, then you are required
to register your business name in the state or territory in which you
will operate. But you dont need to register a business name if you
plan to conduct your business under your, or your partners, first
name and surname. The costs of registering a business name vary
from state to state so check with your local office.

GSTTo Register or Not?

If you plan on earning more than $75,000 per year then you must
register to pay the Goods and Services Tax (GST). If you earn less
than this then you can still registeryou will need to charge GST on
all your invoices but you will also be able to claim back the GST on
your expenses too. If you decide to go ahead with this it is good to
get into the habit early of putting aside one-eleventh of everything
you earn into a separate account so that you have the money handy
when BAS time comes.

In order to register for GST just call the

Australian Tax Office on 1300 720 092.If you
wish to apply for an ABN and register for GST at
the same time you can do this onlinehttps://
abr.gov.au/abrweb/default.aspx?pid=90&sid=1&
outcome=2&scripting=true&cookie=true.

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business


 Setting Up Your Business 2
What Are the Costs Involved?

There are always going to be costs involved in setting up a new

business. Below is a summary of basic essential expenses and a
form showing these with space for you to work out a budget on how
much you want to spend.

Essential Costs Essential Costs

Computer Computer
Be wary of buying second hand as you will usually have no idea
of the history of the machine. Get some quotes from your local Desk & office chair
computer stores and also check with Dell online as they often Accounting
have good deals. Decide whether you want to have the flexibility Software
of a laptop rather than a desktop, so that you can take it to
clients if necessary. Anti-virus Software

Stationery and
Desk & office chair
office supplies
Check Ebay, Officeworks, local garage sales for best prices. As
you will be spending a lot of time at the computer, make sure you Association
get a comfy chair and a desk at the right height. Memberships /
Networking
Accounting Software
MYOB and/or Quickbooksyou will find that most people use Advertising /
a mix of the two but with the majority tending towards MYOB. Marketing
Both MYOB and Quickbooks offer a service whereby you can Company Set Up
register with them and pay a monthly fee and in return they will Costs
regularly send you the latest software. This means that it will not
matter which version of eg MYOB your client datafile is in, you Phone / Fax /
will still be able to read and work on it on your computer. MYOB Internet
Professional Partner subscription is currently $41 per month for
this service, with Quickbooks charging a $499 annual fee. With
both these memberships you also get the ability to onsell their
software products with an inbuilt margin for yourself (another
income stream).

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business


2 Setting Up Your Business

Anti-virus Software
If you are going to be working on other peoples accounts then
you will need to make sure you have all relevant internet security.
If you are buying a computer new then it will normally come with
a year or twos subscription.

Stationery and office suppliesyou will need a selection of office

supplies including calculator, hole punch, ruler, stapler, manilla
folders, sticky notes, pens, etc.

Association Memberships / Networking

If you are planning on taking on a few different clients then it will
be worth your while looking at joining the Australian Bookkeepers
Network (www.austbook.net). Their membership currently costs
$35 inc GST per month and gives you access to a very useful
forum full of advice and where you will quickly
get answers to any odd bookkeeping queries
that you have. Membership will also allow you
to transfer high volume datafiles to clients as
well as use their BAS wizard software in order to
comply with new BAS regulations.

Another association worth considering joining is

the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB). Their
website address is www.icb.org.au.

Once you have joined you can use the

association logo in your email signature, on your
website and on business cards to add to your
credibility.

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business


 Setting Up Your Business 2
Advertising / Marketing
Have a read through the marketing section of the book and use
our 12 month marketing template at the back of the book to plan
and cost out your advertising.

Company Set Up Costs

Depending on whether you choose to start as a sole trader or
a company, these will vary. You will probably however at the
least incur costs for domain name registration, business name
registration, possibly trademark registration, and website hosting.

Phone / Fax / Internet

You may wish to set up a separate phone and fax line for your
business, or you may initially just wish to use your mobile number
for clients. If you go down this path then just remember to answer
your mobile with the name of your business whenever it rings just
in case it is a new client. Alternatively you could look at getting a
separate mobile phone purely for business. There are also these
days fax to email services available whereby you dont actually
need to have a physical fax machine at all!

Cost Budget
Computer
Desk & office chair
Accounting Software
Anti-virus Software
Stationery and office supplies
Association Memberships /
Networking
Advertising / Marketing
Company Set Up Costs
Phone / Fax / Internet

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business


 3
What Skills Do I Need?

You will need to have a good understanding of how accounting

works, as well as preferably have undertaken some MYOB or
Quickbooks training / TAFE course. Whilst some bookkeepers choose
just to teach themselves you will soon find yourself in trouble unless
Bookkeepers you are working on the most basic of bookwork. These days you
need to be detail can do one day courses and they really are well worth doing in order
oriented, organised, to get a good understanding of basic bookkeeping as well as the
logical thinkers and various rules and regulations relating to payroll, GST etc. Each course
methodical. You will focus on a particular aspect of bookkeeping so choose which one
will need patience, will suit you best. Have a chat to Precision Pays www.precisionpays.
attention to detail, com.au who are trained MYOB trainers and hold a variety of MYOB
good analysing courses. They are offering a 10% discount to any students who book
skills, persistence onto one of their courses and reference this book.
and tolerance
for numbers and If you want to take your business more seriously then you are
calculations. advised to complete a Cert IV in Financial Services (Bookkeeping)
this will also be necessary if you wish to offer BAS lodgement
Although these days services to your clients.
accounting software
does a lot of the It is important that you stay up to date with pending and current
work, it is still your legislation governing acceptable bookkeeping practices, as
responsibility to changes are common. One of the easiest ways to do this is to join
ensure the progams a reputable bookkeeping association who will keep you informed
are in place and of any relevant amendments. An example of how important this is
working within is the new legislation that will come into effect very soon regarding
all applicable BAS lodgement. At the time of publication this legislation is currently
guidelines. going through parliament and once passed, will lead to significant
changes in who can and cannot complete a BAS for their client. All
bookkeepers will need to be aware of this and one of the easiest
ways to find out the current situation is to talk to the Australian
Bookkeepers Network for the most up to date information.

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

10
 4
What Are the Advantages & Disadvantages?

There are many advantages to running your own businessflexibility,

set your own hours, work from home, no-one to answer to

But like any job there are always some negativesif you build up
a few different clients then you may find that you have to develop
great time management skills in order to keep on top of all deadlines,
plus be able to easily switch mentally from one persons bookwork to
another without getting confused.

You will probably have to start off visiting clients at their premises
or homes and so need to be able to get on with other people.
Make sure you meet them for the first time at either a cafe or their
commercial address. If you are visiting a new client for the first time
at their home, make sure that you have let someone know where
you are going and done some background checking on them to
ensure your safety. If you are working from a home office make
sure the client does not visit you there until you trust them and are
comfortable with that.

Bookkeeping is quite a focused and insular type of jobyou will find

you are spending a lot of time working on your own, concentrating
on difficult reconciliations and even long periods doing tedious data
entry.

The positives however are many. It is one

business that requires very little working capital
for start up and there is always work available
especially in a recession!

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

11
3
Office SpaceHome or Commercial?

Think about the type of clients you wish to attract and what
impression you wish to give of your business. These days it is easy
to run a business from home but give the illusion of working from a
commercial office space.

Sign up for a live answer service (see Marketing section) and

if you are working from home consider using a PO Box for
correspondence, or alternatively add a Suite number to the front
of your home address e.g. Suite 1, 55 Dalton Road, rather than
just 55 Dalton Road. This will give the impression that you have a
commercial office space rather than a small home office that you
may be sharing with the kids toy room, and no-one will be any the
wiser.

One point to note if you do decide

to operate from home, if you own
your home then you will need to
check with your accountant which
expenses you can claim without
incurring capital gains tax.

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12
 6
How & Where to Find Clients

The area you live in and the time of year you set up your business
may dictate how long it takes you to find your first few clients.
Think about when tax returns are due in e.g. Oct/Nov for personal
tax returns, March for Fringe Benefit Returns, April through to May
for company returns. These may be months when you decide to
increase your marketing as demand may be higher.

Consider how many clients you wish to take ondo you only want
to work one day a week, or are you looking for full time work? There
is a great website called http://freelanceswitch.com/rates which
is an hourly rate calculatoryou enter in your expenses and how
many hours you wish to work and it will give you a guide as to what
you need to charge per hour in order to cover your costs. This is a
great little tool to give you an indication as to what you should be
chargingor how many clients you need to get.

Here are some suggestions for sourcing clients:

First define your target marketwhere do they live, work,

eat, read, drive, get their cars fixed etc. How old are they, what
gender, income bracket, do they have kids, work in a particular
type or size of business. What type of office space do they
have and in what locations, what other services do they use?
Use the answers to these questions to target your ideal client.
Only once you have answered these questions will you have a
much better idea of where to track down your clients.

Local newspaper advertisingyou will probably find that you

need to run an ad on the day with the highest readership (eg
Saturday) for several weeks or months at a timeyou might
find one week you get half a dozen calls and then nothing
else for a month. It is worth keeping a small ad running on an

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

13
 6 How & Where to Find Clients

ongoing basis. Consider offering a free half hour consultation

suggestions for to get the readers attention and prompt them to call.
sourcing clients
Flyer drop around local industrial parks and small
First define your businessesremember that 90% of your time should be
target market spent working out the title, and the remainder on the rest of
the flyer. Try to leave as much white space as you can on the
Local newspaper
document. There is some research that suggests you need to
advertising
drop flyers 3 times in a 6 week period in the same letterboxes
Flyer drop around in order to get decent results.
local industrial
parks and small Find out which area near you has the largest percentage
businesses of self employed people either living or working and do a
private PO Box letter drop via Australia Post.
Find out which area
near you has the If you become an MYOB Professional Partner then you
largest percentage will be able to access the MYOB Forum on which other
of self employed bookkeepers will advertise jobs that they are unable to take
people on and which may be in your area.

If you become an Network with Accountants in your area and make sure
MYOB Professional that they have your details should they need any assistance
Partner then you or have any clients needing bookkeepers. You may find this
will be able to works better once you are able to refer clients to them for
access the MYOB accounting services.
Forum
Try and form affiliations with bookkeepers in other areas
Network with
who may come across clients closer to your area which they
Accountants in your
dont wish to service. That way also if you receive enquiries
area
from clients outside your service area, you have someone to
Try and form refer them to. Many established bookkeepers work in this way
affiliations with and have agreed referral fees with each other based on either
bookkeepers in a set fee once the client is secured, or an ongoing percentage
other areas of client billings.

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14
 How & Where to Find Clients 6
Find a nichethink about targeting a particular type of
business e.g. the building industry, restaurants, massage
therapists. Find out the best way to reach this target market
what associations do they belong to, is there an online forum
that they frequent, and do a targeted mailout specifically
tailored to them and their type of business. If you do this, make
sure that you are up to date on any bookkeeping that is specific
to their industry e.g. how to handle tips for restaurant staff, or
how to deal with hicaps payments for massage therapists.

Try and pick the type of clients who will suit your
needsfor example, you could pick an industry
that you have a particular interest in or skill in
e.g. you might have a burning desire to one day
open your own restaurant. Pick up some restaurant
clients and you will gain great insight into what
does and doesnt work in the industry, all of which
will be extremely beneficial should you choose to
change careers later in life.

Think about whether there is a particular type of company

structure you prefer to do bookkeeping for e.g. sole trader,
companies, partnerships, Trusts, self managed Super Funds.

Consider sub-contracting to an existing bookkeeper as a

way of gaining more experience but do not be tempted to
steal their clientsthis will get you a bad name very quickly.
Sub-contracting is a great way to earn money and experience
before going freelanceyou could do this 2 or 3 days a week
and work on your own business the remainder of the time.
It is also a good way to gain insight into how a bookkeeping
agency works.

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

15
 6 How & Where to Find Clients

Word of Mouthput together a campaign to persuade

others to refer business to youyou may want to offer them
suggestions for a discount off your services, or a free cashflow analysis, in
sourcing clients return for any clients they refer who sign up.

Find a niche Networking Eventsdo some research on groups in your

area such as BNI (Business Network International )or your
Think about local Chamber of Commerce. They will hold regular events
whether there is a at which you can network with other business people in your
particular type of area and get your name out there. If there are no decent
company structure networking events in your area, think about starting one! You
you prefer to do could also approach local groups and offer to present to their
bookkeeping for members on Bookkeepinggenerally you will not get paid for
Consider sub- this but it is a good way to pick up clients. Bear in mind with
contracting to an networking that whilst some groups are set up specifically to
existing bookkeeper encourage inter trading, others will have members who will
as a way of gaining expect to network with you for a period of time before even
more experience considering passing any work your way.

Word of Mouth Australian Bookkeepers Network (www.austbook.net)this

is a great association to join and has a very active forum
Networking Events
which includes a section on jobs availablethese are usually
Australian posted by other bookkeepers who cannot take on the extra
Bookkeepers work or who have had enquiries for bookkeepers in other
Network geographical areas.

Subscribe to the Subscribe to the main online job sites such as www.
main online job seek.com.au and www.mycareer.com.auyou can set
sites these up so you get an email alert for any new jobs which
match your requirements and location. There is also a great
website specifically for jobs with flexible work hourswww.
careermums.com.auagain make sure you set up email
alerts.

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

16
 7
Marketing Ideas

Put your company website / logo / contact details on your

car.

Turn your invoice into a sales toolmake sure it shows

your logo, contact details, bank details for payment, plus
think about adding something quirky like a motivational quote
or hot tip on the bottom of the invoice. Maybe print off your
invoices on coloured paper so that they stand out.

Have an online presencemake sure you have a website

(preferably with testimonials once you have clients) and that
your email address is xxxx@yourcompanyname rather than a
generic hotmail or yahoo email address. These days you can
get a website for a very low costsee the back of the book
for some links.

Consider giving away a free article / checklist / Tips Sheet

on your site in return for the persons email addressthis
way you can build up a database of potential clients and
consider sending out a monthly or quarterly newsletter. Just
remember the newsletter ruleit should be 80% about the
person reading and 20% about trying to sell to them. Make
sure you include useful advice for the reader.

One way to do this is to set up a google alert on topics

which you would like to include. Go to www.google.
com/alerts and enter in your chosen topicsyou will
then get regular email alerts from Google with articles/
blogs etc relating to this subject. Use these alerts to
source articles to put into your newsletterjust make
sure you refer them back to the original source.

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

17
 7 Marketing Ideas

Marketing Ideas Think about having a uniform of some sortif you have
a logo you could get some polo shirts embroidered with it
Put your company and make sure you wear these with e.g. smart black pants
website / logo / whenever you are going to see clients.
contact details on
your car Business Cardsmake sure you have a well designed and
Turn your invoice good quality business card. You can get these made up very
into a sales tool affordably these days.

Have an online Make an important date schedulelist dates such as when

presence your clients BAS are due, or tax return, when they have to
Consider giving perform stocktake, when quarterly superannuation payments
away a free article are due etcand then send your clients reminders a week or
/ checklist / Tips two before they are due. Simple things like this cost nothing
Sheet on your site but will remind your client of how thorough and useful you are.
in return for the
persons email Have a freecall number and consider using a live answer
address serviceyou can outsource this and have someone answer
your number at any time day or night with your company
Think about having
name and take a message for you. The person calling will
a uniform of some
never know that it is not a real receptionist sitting in your
sort
office that is answering (although if they are answering the
Business Cards phone at midnight then they will probably have a fair idea!).

Make an important Information Packsput together an info pack to give to

date schedule
potential clientsthis might include a business card, some
Have a freecall info on your business and yourself, a copy of your resume,
number and some testimonials, your rates. Whenever someone calls with
consider using a an enquiry make sure you grab their address and mail one out
live answer service to them.

Information Packs

Customer Enquiry
Forms

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

18
 Marketing Ideas 7
Customer Enquiry Formsput together a checklist in a Marketing Ideas
word document that you can use whenever clients call to
enquire about your services. Include things like their contact Form affiliations
details, how they heard about you, what rate you have quoted
with other busi-
nesses in your area
them, what software they are using, whether they have used
a bookkeeper before, what type of service they require, and Tap into large
whether you have set a date for a follow up meeting or call. membership based
Try and organise an obligation free visit with them to go organisations
over what their needs are and whether your business can
Offer a 100% money
help them out. An example of one of these forms is in the
back guarantee
templates section at the back of the book. if the client is
unsatisfied
Form affiliations with other businesses in your area that
your target clients might also use e.g. you could organise a Support a local
cross promotion with a web design company that you each sporting team
offer each others clients a 10% discount upon referral. Also Commit to making 10
consider doing a combined mailout with other organisations cold calls a day and
you could each print on one side of a flyer and share the cost. always try to talk to
the decision maker
Tap into large membership based organisationsthese
may be on or offline organisationsfind some that will have a Run free seminars
high percentage of your target market as their members and Track your
see what advertising options they offer. marketing

Offer a 100% money back guarantee if the client is Look at any

unsatisfiedthis means that you believe in your abilities so additional skills or
much that if a client isnt satisfied you will gladly give them services you can
their money back. Research shows that the percentage of offer clients
people who would take you up on this would be very small. Try not to take on too
many new clients at
Support a local sporting teamthis can be a low cost way
any one time
of reaching many people in your area.
Network

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

19
7 Marketing Ideas

Commit to making 10 cold calls a day and always try to

talk to the decision maker. You could put together a free
offer for them such as a complimentary one hour review of
their business set up or books together with a free report on
suggestions about how you could save them money. Offer
them a discount voucher if they book your services within a
certain period of time.

Run free seminarsput together a one or two hour seminar

in your area on how to battle the recession or put together a
budget.

Track your marketingmake sure you always ask clients

and those enquiring where they heard about you. This way
you can get a really good idea of what is and isnt working.

Look at any additional skills or services you can offer

clientse.g. desk top publishing, secretarial services,
web designyou could learn these skills yourself or form a
partnership with another supplier whereby you get a percentage
of the sale for any work you refer to themthe client is billed by
yourself and you then pay the other supplier. As far as the
client is concerned the work has all been done by your staff.

Try not to take on too many new clients at any one

time to avoid getting overwhelmed.

Networkthere are so many online networking forums

these daysfind a couple that have the type of clients
you are looking for and make regular posts offering tips
and responding to other members enquiries. An example
of a good forum with plenty of small business members is
www.flyingsolo.com.au. They also hold an annual
networking event which is well worth attending.

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20
 8
How Much do I Charge?

Bookkeeper rates vary quite considerably depending on experience.

Those just starting out and wanting to gain experience by perhaps
working for another bookkeeper, would usually charge around $20-25
per hour whereas those with many years experience would be more
likely to charge around $50-70 an hour. Bear in mind also that if you
are operating in a major city then you will most likely be able to charge
higher rates than if you are living in the country or a small town.

Be wary of pricing yourself as though you are desperate to get

or keep a clientthis will not do you any favours, will devalue
the service you are providing and will set a marker for all future
negotiations with that
particular client.
Assume that your clients want to be successful, and as
such it makes sense for them to be advised by other
successful people. Quoting ridiculously low prices will
not project a very professional image. Price work as
though you dont need it.

Whilst most bookkeepers

will charge an hourly rate, there are others who charge by package
pricingbreaking down their clients into quarterly, monthly and
weekly and offering 3 levels (or more) of service with different
benefits and bonuses. To do this you would need to have a good
understanding of how much work is involved with each client to
make sure that you do not lose out when calculating prices.

You should do a bit of research in your area by ringing around a few

bookkeepers and asking them their rates. Some may not be willing to
divulge so you may need to call those in a location similar to where
you will be operating, but not close enough for you to be a competitor.

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21
8 How Much do I Charge?

Many bookkeepers will charge a different rate depending on how

much work the client will be generating. If you are going to be
working for them for 2-3 days every week then you may wish to
charge them a lower rate than someone whose books you will only
work on every quarter.

Also consider what services you will be offering and whether you
want to charge different rates for different optionseg:

Basic data entry / bookkeeping,

Cashflow / budgeting,
Payroll,
Financial Statement Preparation,
BAS Fee,
Business Plans / Business Analysis,
Accounting Software Training & Installation,
Troubleshooting,
Tax Returns.

You might decide to specialise in one of these

areas and form a niche market that wayit
is also worth remembering that most clients
will be happy to pay more for a specialistfor
troubleshooting you can often charge around
$100 per hour. It is quite common practice
these days to charge varying rates in this
way but obviously you will need to make sure
that you have the relevant knowledge and
experience to offer these services.

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

22
 How Much do I Charge? 8
According to research in BRW Magazine, the top five areas in which
business owners acknowledge they need help are:

Budgeting and cashflow forecasting

Financial performance diagnosis
Retirement and succession planning
Strategic business planning the top five
Systems and processes areas in which
business owners
Consider offering assistance in these areas as a value-add to your acknowledge they
clients. need help

When offering your services, do not just provide the client with a Budgeting
long list of what you are offeringtry instead to talk to your client and cashflow
in terms of what is in it for themhow can you save them money forecasting
and grow their business. Give examples such as we saved client Financial
XYZ $3,000 by performing an analysis of his current suppliers. Try performance
and summarise your additional services under Growth, Profit, Cash, diagnosis
Asset Projection and Succession Planning. The use of case studies
Retirement and
and testimonials will get a better response from potential clients.
succession planning
Decide also whether you will charge for travel time for clients outside Strategic business
a particular geographical area, and what time blocks you will be planning
billing ine.g. if you spent an hour and 5 minutes on a job and are
Systems and
billing in 15 minute increments, then you will charge the client for an
processes
hour and 15 minutes.

It is also advisable to have a minimum call out chargeyou dont

want to be driving half an hour to see a client for what turns out to be
only half an hour of work. Most bookkeepers will have a minimum 2
or 3 hour call out charge. Make sure you put all these things into your
letter of engagement so that the client is aware from the beginning.

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

23
8 How Much do I Charge?

Decide on the frequency of billing to your clientswill you invoice

them weekly or monthly? With new clients it is not unusual to ask
for a deposit up front especially if it is for a large job. Make sure you
let your clients know your billing and payment terms in advance and
clarify them in your letter of engagement.

When you are more established you may want to put your rates up.
The best way to do this is on an annual basis e.g. 1st January of each
year and the norm is usually to increase by $5 per hour. Start quoting
any new clients your increased rate from this date, and make sure
that you have given at least a couple of months notice of the rise to
existing clientsyou could tell them that as a valued existing client
you are maintaining their current rate for xx months at which point
it will also increase. Do a google search on price increase letter
or template or increase rates letter and you will find some great
examples of how to word your price rise in the best possible way. Tell
them that you are expanding your operations and training in order to
serve them better, that there has been no increase for x years, and
that as a result there will be a slight adjustment in your prices. Assure
them that you are still staying very competitive and that your quality
is unbeatable.

You could separate your clients

into your bread & butter clients,
and those who are dispensable.
Put the rates up first of the
clients who you can afford to
loose and judge their reaction
before approaching your best
clients.

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 9
I have ClientsNow What?

The ideal client is usually one whose work you can do from the
comfort of your own home (offsite). Make sure that you dont turn
down clients when starting out who cant offer you this as you will
find that initially most of your clients will want you to work at their
premises until they trust you. Some clients it will never be possible
to turn into offsite clients due to their company structure and the
fact that they may have many
staff who use their accounting
software on a daily basis, or You may have to work onsite for several years before
they may just want to keep the client agrees to allow you to take their datafile
control of their files. home with you or log in remotely to their computer
system.
If you do have a client who is
happy for you to work offsite
there are a number of ways of doing this:

They email you their datafile and provide you with all their
paperwork for a given period. You enter and reconcile and
return the updated datafile to them.

You keep their datafile on your premises, they send you

paperwork only on a regular basis and you provide them with
various management reports so that they can track how their
business is going.

The datafile is kept on the clients computer and you log in

remotely so that you are actually seeing their desktop on your
computer screen. There are many ways to set this up and one
of the easiest is with www.logmein.comyou download the
software free of charge onto the clients computer, then login
via the website from your computer using your username and
password.

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25
 9 I have ClientsNow What?

Once you have a new client, ascertain how often they wish to see
you and what type of work they will be asking you to do.

Weekly Clientsnegotiate with the client whether you will

be seeing them on a particular day each weekthis is best
rather than swapping days from one week to the next which

type of work can become a planning nightmare. Organise what time you will
arrive and work until ensuring you allow yourself enough travel
Weekly Clients time.

Monthly or Quarterly Monthly or Quarterly clientsas for weekly clients but make
clients a note in your diary to contact them a couple of weeks before

Put together a letter they are due a visit in order to schedule in a time.

of engagement for
Put together a letter of engagement for your client settling
your client settling
out your terms and pricing, schedule of work and rules
out your terms and
of payment. Go over this with them and get them to sign in
pricing, schedule of
agreement. Leave one copy with them and place another in
work and rules of
your office on file. This document will come in useful if you
payment
ever need to resolve disputes with a client, and to make sure
Once you have that they are aware of all your terms and conditions.
worked on the new
clients books a Once you have worked on the new clients books a couple

couple of times, of times, start typing up some procedure notes and a client

start typing up profile. This will include what version of software they are

some procedure using, whether they have any payroll, key tasks that you need

notes and a client to do, plus detailed notes on how to carry out their work and

profile any parculiarities of that particular client and their work. This
is particularly useful if you do not see the client very often and
need a reminder before your next visit of what is involved. It is
also a great habit to get into from the beginning as down the
track you might want to take on sub contractors or employees
and outsource this particular job to them. Having detailed notes
on how to service the client will make handover much easier.

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 I have ClientsNow What? 9
You should also compile a set of checklists for all the type of work
main tasks involved in running your business in order to
streamline your procedures as much as possible. Whilst this You should also
may not be so important when you are just starting out, it will compile a set of
prove indispensable when you start growing. checklists for all the
main tasks involved
Make sure you have a good system in place for tracking in running your
your billable hours. Some people use their accounting business
software to do thisthe only problem with this is that you
Make sure you have
would need to keep your datafile open whilst working on
a good system in
clients work in order to record this properly. Alternatively put
place for tracking
together a template like the one at the back of this book and
your billable hours
use this to record your daily billings.
Put together a
Put together a checklist for your clients of the source checklist for your
documents you will need from them on each visit. This clients of the source
will avoid wasting time and money if a client is running to documents you will
deadline with the tax office and you find you are missing a need from them on
bunch of bank statements. each visit
Try and set up a client base so that you are not financially Try and set up
dependent on just one client. If possible, try and avoid a client base
more than 40% of your regular income coming from just one so that you are
customerwhilst they may seem like the most reliable and not financially
loyal client, you never know what is round the corner and it is dependent on just
wise to protect yourself just in case. one client

Be accepting also of the fact that you may initially have Be accepting also
to deal with all sorts of clientssome may have a pristine of the fact that you
set of books ready to hand over, whilst others may have may initially have to
shoeboxes full of receipts. deal with all sorts
of clients

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

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9 I have ClientsNow What?

Clarify with your clients what their preference is regarding

payment authorisations. Some clients may want to give you
access to their banking passwords or give you authority to
sign cheques, handing over all responsibility to you to pay the
bills. You will need to decide whether you are happy to take
this on and discuss with each client.

Make sure you set clear boundaries and hours for your
clients and yourself. When you start off it is all too easy
to be available 24/7, fitting in urgent work at midnight, and
answering calls at 8am on a Sunday morning. The problem
with this is that once you start letting your clients treat you
this way, they will quickly become used to it and abuse your
time. If you havent set clear boundaries from the start and
find yourself in this situation, draw up a contract for your
clients clearly stating hours of business.

You could include a new rate schedule saying

that you are happy to do out of hrs work but it
will be billable at a much higher rate. You can
always tell your clients that you have had to
draw the contract up because another client
has been abusing your time. They dont have to
know it is because of them.

Make sure you have thought about any potential disputes

that could arise with clients, and that you have come up
with contingency plans and know how you would deal with
them. You can cover yourself for a lot of potential problems
by making your terms very clear in your letter of engagement.

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 I have ClientsNow What? 9
Decide how you are going to handle each clients type of work
paperwork. If you are working at their offices then generally
the datafile and all paperwork will remain with them. For Clarify with your
offsite clients, discuss where the paperwork will be filed. If clients what their
you are going to keep paperwork in your office, make sure preference is
you have a good filing system set up for each client, and regarding payment
when you get a backlog of filing, organise to send back to the authorisations
client for them to archive. Make sure you set
clear boundaries
If you are going to hold a clients datafile on your
and hours for your
computer, make sure you have a foolproof back up system
clients and yourself
in place in case of computer breakdown. You can either
purchase an external hard drive and set up weekly or daily Make sure you have
back up schedules, or another alternative is to use an external thought about any
back up provider. Secure Internet Storage Solutions Pty potential disputes
Ltd (www. secure-iss.com) are one such company who will that could arise
provide this service for a very reasonable cost. The back up with clients
data is held offsite in encrypted format and can be backed up
Decide how you
daily at set times.
are going to handle
As you work with your new client, look for ways in which each clients
you might be able to offer them added valuethis may paperwork
be offering them additional services such as providing them make sure you have
with regular business reports each month, or reviewing their a foolproof back up
supplier pricing. It may be other services such as suggesting system in place in
a good web designer to them if you know they are looking for case of computer
one. Anything that can make you more useful to the client will breakdown
help to cement their loyalty.
As you work with
your new client,
look for ways in
which you might be
able to offer them
added value

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 9 I have ClientsNow What?

Build up a relationship with your clients accountant. If

you have any queries which you are not sure how to handle,
check with the accountant what entries he would rather you
type of work make. Check also in what state he wants the end of year
datafile handed oversome accountants will want everything
Build up a
reconciled, even clearing accounts, whereas others will prefer
relationship with
to do certain reconciliations themselves.
your clients
accountant If your clients datafile is handed over to their accountant
If your clients for end of year, one of several scenarios will take place
datafile is handed the accountant may log in to the datafile himself and make
over to their any adjusting entries, alternatively he may get a copy of the
accountant for datailfe but then send you the journal entries to be entered
end of year, one of in the live datafile. Another option is that the datafile may
several scenarios be sent to the accountant and you may not be able to make
will take place any entries until he has finished year end and returned the
adjusted file to you. Make sure you are clear which applies to
Debt collection each of your clients.
Insurance
Debt collection. What do you do if your clients dont pay
Dont forget to up? You will need to put together some templates of letters
check your own and reminders to send out so that you are prepared. Most
budgets and of the accounting software packages these days will have
cashflows templates that you can use or customise. Keep regular track
of your payables and make sure you start chasing debts as
You should consider
soon as they start looking suspect. A good initial approach is
applying to be able
to contact the client and explain that whilst you would love to
to lodge your BAS
be able to offer them extended trading terms, you are a small
online
business just like them and unfortunately are not able to do
so.

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 I have ClientsNow What? 9
Insurance. You should strongly consider taking out
professional indemnity and public liability insurance in order
to cover you against any potential claims of negligence by a
client. Once the new BAS legislation comes into effect (Tax
Agent Services Actexpected to become law some time in
2010) it will become compulsory for any bookkeeper wishing
to offer BAS services to have full insurance cover.

Whilst you are concentrating on keeping track of your

clients business, dont forget to check your own budgets
and cashflows. Carry out regular analysis of your turnover
and who your most profitable clients are, and set yourself
some key performance indicators (KPIs).

Once you have some established clients and if you

are offering BAS services in compliance with the new
regulations, you should consider applying to be able to
lodge your BAS online. For most of your clients this means
you will be able to offer them an extra 2 weeks on their BAS
lodgement due date. You can sign up to lodge either via the
Australian Tax Office Electronic Commerce Interface (ECI) or
the ATO Business Portal. To use the ECI application you need
a digital certificate. Apply for a free certificate at www.ato.
gov.au/onlineservices. Visit the
following website http://eci.ato.
gov.au/Download/Index.htm to
download your ECI Application
or call the ATO on 1300 139 373.
Alternatively you can use the ATO
Business Portalhave a look
at both this and ECI and check
which is better suited to your
needs. For further information
about the portal call 13 28 66.

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10
I Need Help! Taking on Staff & Outsourcing

One day you will suddenly realise that you have been in business for
a couple of years and are constantly working all day and night (and
weekends) just to try and stay on top of your workload. At this point
you really need to look at getting someone in to help out both to cope
with the workload and to allow you to concentrate your attention on
money making activities rather than day to day client data entry.

One of the biggest questions will be whether to

take on the staff first or get the extra work first.
The general consensus is to have casual staff
lined up before you take on the extra work
especially if you are personally working at full
capacity and will not be able to deal with the
additional workload on your own.

If you are thinking about taking on staff, write down all the tasks you
currently do for your clients, and see what you are able and happy
to delegate. You may want to just hand over general data entry to
start off with, or the low value work for your lowest value clients.
There are always plenty of people looking for part time work so just
take someone on a few hours a week to start off with. Advertise for
a casual bookkeeper or assistant in your local paper and on local
job sites making sure you specify what qualifications and level of
experience you are looking for. You can also try contacting your
local TAFE or educational institute to see if they have any students
looking for work. Make sure you have some shortlist criteria and ask
the candidates to take a typing test (www.typingtest.com). It is also
advisable to do a skills test analysis by asking them to do some test
entries on your accounting software so that you can get an idea of
their accuracy and speed.

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 I Need Help! Taking on Staff & Outsourcing 10
Once all reference checks have been completed, draw up a letter of
offer and confidentiality agreement. Your letter of offer should include
dress code, details of performance reviews and payment rate and
terms. It is standard procedure to pay sub contractors 7-14 days
after invoice. Think about whether you want to put in place a trial
period of 2 or 3 months to give you a chance to test out your new
staff member.

You will need to decide whether you take someone on as an

employee or a contractor. If you opt for an employee, you will be
expected to pay superannuation as well as wage tax, and will need
to be clear as to your responsibilities regarding any annual leave and
termination. If you take on a contractor they will need to provide you
with an invoice and a valid ABN number. Depending on how many Make sure you keep
hours they work for you, and how many other clients they have, you in regular contact
may however still be legally obliged to pay them as an employee. with your client in
To find out whether your contractor classes as an employee use the order to maintain
ATO Contractor Tool found at this websitehttp://www.ato.gov.au/ your personal
businesses/content.asp?doc=/content/00095062.htm. relationship with
them, and set the
You will now need to decide how to allocate work to your sub relationship up
contractor. Will you be sending them out to clients onsite or just so that the client
have them working with you in the office on remote files? Set up always discusses
some templates for time billing, job sheets and task checklists. their business with
If your sub contractor will be going onsite to visit clients, make you and not your
sure you go with them the first couple of times to show them how staff.
everything is done and introduce them to the client. Make sure you
keep in regular contact with your client in order to maintain your
personal relationship with them, and set the relationship up so that
the client always discusses their business with you and not your
staff. You want the client to remain loyal to you. This will reduce
the risk of staff leaving and taking your clients with them. You may
consider still visiting that particular client once a month to check
bank reconciliations and to keep your face known, or set up regular

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10 I Need Help! Taking on Staff & Outsourcing

meetings with the client to review the performance of your staff and
any problems they may be having. This should be done in person
rather than over the phone so you are better able to gauge the
clients true opinion. Consider also whether to set up passwords so
that your employee can only access certain parts of your clients
datafile. Ensure your staff are always keeping you informed on what
is happening with the client. Create a client portfolio that your staff
are required to bring back to your office on a regular basis so that
you can review and keep up to date.

Whether your assistant is onsite or offsite, make

sure that you have checks in place to ensure
the standard of their work. It is advisable for
example to always do the bank reconciliations
yourself so that you can pick up on any
mistakes that have been made.

Have a chat with your sub contractor and find out what motivational
factors are important to theme.g. money, training, promotion etc.
You dont want to spend time training someone up only for them to
leave a few months later if the job is not fulfilling their expectations.

You might find that you go through a few staff to begin with whilst
you get used to the best way to hire someone, and develop a clearer
understanding of what you are looking for in an assistant. Once you
have managed to find some reliable and accurate staff though, your
business will grow in leaps and bounds.

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 The

Conclusion

I hope that this book has been of help to you and has given you
some useful tips on how to set up and grow your business. Please
visit our website www.theideasbook.com.au and leave us some
feedback on the contact page, and also have a look at the other e-
guides we have on offer. If you have any questions please also drop
us a line at admin@theideasbook.com.au

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The

Useful Contacts

Websites

Want to get a website for your business but on a limited budget?

Try one of these:

www.getacoder.com
www.elance.com
www.guru.com
www.limeexchange.com
www.smartyhost.com.au (owned by MYOB)

Hourly Rate Calculator

http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/

Remote Access for Offsite Clients

www.logmein.com

Bookkeeping Associations

www.austbook.netAustralian Bookkeepers Network

www.icb.org.auThe Institute of Certified Bookkeepers

Offsite Back Up of Data

www.secure-iss.com

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 The

Useful Contacts

MYOB Training& Courses

www.precisionpays.com.au Offering 10% discounts to all

readers

Personalised Tax Calendar

http://www.ato.gov.au/businesses/content.asp?doc=/
Content/00148826.htm

Superannuation Helpline

Tel: 13 10 20

Office of Industrial Relations

http://www.industrialrelations.nsw.gov.au/Home.html

Tax Tables

http://www.ato.gov.au/taxtables

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The

Templates

Please find to follow some basic templates which you can use or
customise to get you started:

Spreadsheet for tracking client billings

New Client Enquiry Form

Boundaries Contract

12 month marketing plan

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

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 The

Spreadsheet for tracking client billings

Date Start Finish Total Customer Details Staff Invoiced

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

39
The

New Client Enquiry Form

Date: / /

Company:

Contact:

Address:

Phone: Fax:

Mobile: Email:

Where did you hear about us? (Source)

What is your Australian Business Number

Rate Quoted No Employees

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

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 The

New Client Enquiry Form

Services Required

Bookkeeping
Training, Consulting, Set up
Payroll no. of employees

Have you used a Bookkeeper before?

Yes
No

Frequency

Weekly
Monthly
Quarterly
Day of week for Payroll

Location

On site
Off site

Package

MYOB
Quickbooks
Version

Are You Registered for GST

Yes
No

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The

New Client Enquiry Form

Do you lodge your BAS

Monthly
Quarterly
Yearly

Do you pay tax on

Accruals basis
Cash basis

Are you Registered for PAYG Withholding

Yes
No

Are you Registered for PAYG Installment

Yes
No

Is your business set up as a

Sole Trader
Partnership
Company
Trust

Appointment for Initial Consultation

Date

Time

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

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 The

New Client Enquiry Form

Comments

Build a Brilliant Bookkeeping Business

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The

Boundaries Contract

TERMS & CONDITIONSTEMPLATE SAMPLE ONLY

1. Normal working hours are 9am 5pm Monday to Friday. Any work that is
specifically requested by the client to be performed outside of these hours will be
charged at an additional rate as per the rate schedule. NOTEthis does not apply
if I have chosen of my own accord to complete work outside normal working hours.
Please try and keep all contact within normal working hours. Any work related calls
taken after 5pm or on weekends will be charged as per attached rate sheet.

2. Any charges incurred by myself as a result of bounced cheques will be billed to the
relevant client.

3. Set times are put aside each week in order to complete your work. For CLIENT X
these days are Wednesdays and Fridays. Folders from CLIENT X need to be with
me by early Wednesday morning and early Friday morning each week.

4. My mobile number is only to be given out to supplier/customers or other staff

members upon prior discussion and agreement by myself. In the event that a
supplier/customer is given my telephone number, they are to be informed that I
am contactable on specific days onlyi.e. for CLIENT X this is Wednesdays and
Fridays. The current situation is that I am receiving calls on a daily basis. This is
unfair and disruptive to the client I am working with on that particular day.

5. If you need to contact me on a day other than the allocated work days, please either
email me on xxxxxxxx or send me a text message. I will get back to you as soon as
possible.

6. In the event that I am unable to complete your work on an allocated day due to my
own circumstances, there will be no charge made.

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 The

Boundaries Contract

7. If I am unable to complete your work on the allocated day due to an event that is the
responsibility of CLIENT X, a minimum charge of 5 hrs will be made. This includes
but is not limited to such events as database corruption, client computer or access
failure, power failure at site of client, theft of client computer.

In this situation I will make every effort to organise alternate work with other clients.
If alternative work is arranged then CLIENT X will only be charged if I am unable to
complete a minimum of 5 hours work for the replacement client.

8. Please give a minimum of 14 days notice of cancellation of use of my services.

9. Reimbursement of Reasonable Expenses. All clients will be billed for all reasonable
out of pocket expenses (including but not limited to airfares, accommodation, tolls,
telephone call and faxes made from home office, stamps and postage) incurred by
myself in providing the Contracted Services.

10. I agree to maintain the secrecy and confidentiality of any information of CLIENT X.

Signed Date

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The

Boundaries Contract

RATE SCHEDULESAMPLE TEMPLATE

Hourly Rates Weekly Clients Monthly/Qtly Clients

Bookkeeping/Data Entry

Travel time

Troubleshooting

On-Site Training

Preparation of BAS

For monthly/quarterly clients please note that a minimum charge out time of two (2)
hours shall apply on each occasion that I attend your business or other nominated
premises.
I charge a fixed hourly rate, charged from the time that I arrive at your premises or
commence work away from your office.

Other Fees & Charges

After Hours Bookkeeping $

Evening or Weekend $ per hour with a

Calls minimum charge of $

All prices are GST exclusive.

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 The

12 month marketing plan

Month Related Locations to Type of Media Ideas for Media Secured Press
Events target to Target Releases
January School
Holidays
February Valentines
Day
March International
Womens Day
April Easter
School Hols
May Mothers Day
June
July School hols
August
September Fathers Day
October
November
December Christmas nationwide eg schools e.g. Top 10 Tips
New Year Local papers
School hols

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