What Is The Most Effective Way To Market A Bookkeeping & Accounting Business?
Content
- Click Here To Watch My Free Traininghow To Start A Virtual Bookkeeping Business
- Align Yourself With Accountants
- How Do You Start A Small Business As A Bookkeeper?
- Step 2: You Have To Learn Accounting Software
- Ready To Start A Bookkeeping Business?
- How To Get Bookkeeping Clients?
- Learn Their Process For Dealing With Clients
- How To Get Accounting And Bookkeeping Clients: Experts Share 5 Best Tactics
If you know how to position yourself strategically and build an industry-specific profile, Upwork is a really great platform to find the bookkeeping clients that you’re looking for. Secondly, you can start a virtual bookkeeping business with little investment. You just need a laptop, an internet connection, the right bookkeeping software, and a marketing budget to get started. One of the best ways to get people referring your services is to give them value first. Ideally, you’re always getting paid for the services and expertise you provide, but sometimes, you need to kick things off with some pro bono work. If you are active with a local group, offer to handle their accounting tasks. Or volunteer your services for a few hours each week or month at the local Small Business Development Center or similar resource.
With Square Appointments, clients can see your schedule and book times using just their smartphone. They’ll receive friendly reminders via email or text, and you can check your schedule from your phone anytime. Square Appointments is also free for individuals, making it a perfect scheduling solution for bookkeepers. Before choosing a bookkeeper, most people do an online search. Having a customized website that ranks well on Google will bring new traffic to your business and more efficiently convert that traffic to sales.
Yes, I could get login information for all of my clients to their banks and download the files that I need. Or, I can use Hubdoc which automates all of that for me. It’s an investment at $20/mo per client, but I feel like I am saving at least that much of my time by utilizing their system. If I run across a client that utilizes a bank that doesn’t work on Hubdoc, then I simply don’t put them on it.
If you want to find quality bookkeeping clients, you should first define who your ideal clients are. It will be easier and faster for you to find the clients if you know what you are looking for. If you’re on a shoestring marketing budget, human connections are the most powerful way to attract more business. Check in with one or two current or past clients per day. You may also use this same strategy with colleagues, strategic networking partners, and any business connections you have or want to establish. They can have your website live within 24 hours and it’s free for 60 days.
That trade-off is usually freedom – freedom to set your own schedule, freedom to choose who you will work with, freedom to set your own rates. This online profession doesn’t necessarily require any formal training though you certainly need a passion for numbers and a keen eye for detail. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes.
I may have some larger clients who pay me $1,000 a month, some medium clients who pay me $500 a month, and some small clients who pay me $250 a month. On the top of the spreadsheet is a place to insert your annual income goals, and it will break it down into your suggested monthly revenue. You can adjust the yearly amount based on your preference, but, for this example, I’ve chosen to use $100k as a yearly gross income. Become known as a reliable source of expert, up-to-date knowledge around accounting, compliance, best practice, and business hacks. Right now, I’m kicking myself because I honestly have spent $10K on outside marketers and have received about $200 in sales.
Click Here To Watch My Free Traininghow To Start A Virtual Bookkeeping Business
Carry it in your wallet and add to it whenever another person comes to mind. Then strategize about how you can get in front of that person. — Many communities have Chamber of Commerce Chapters that whose purpose is to help develop small businesses in that local community. But all the bookkeeping courses out there are going to teach you how to use the software.
- Not only will this help raise your profile and help you gain more clients but it can be super valuable to your clients too.
- I’m a CPA and I started my career working for a local CPA firm in Atlanta, GA over 15 years ago.
- He has now trained more than 4,000 bookkeepers to handle the finances for busy entrepreneurs and business owners.
- Bob is passionate about empowering organizations through quality bookkeeping services.
- Make sure that all the business information matches exactly with the Google my Business listing.
- However, this is a great way to give clarity to the business owner about how much their time is worth and how it is wasted processing their own bookkeeping.
- There is a lot of competition in the online world and it can be hard to break through the noise and make yourself stand out.
Make sure to take enough time and fill out all these pages with relevant information. Your About page should include a brief description of yourself and a picture of you would be ideal. This will also help search engines to understand and build authority for your website. And I have hired a marketing company to get my name out there. Yes, I know MacBooks cost a lot more than a regular Windows-based computer.
If you look for potential clients on there and message them, you’ll be surprised to see how many others are searching for bookkeeping services. Your family and friends may know business owners who are in need of a bookkeeper, or they are in need of bookkeeping services themselves. Either way, they will be a good source of your first few clients. You can successfully find bookkeeping clients by looking for businesses that are recruiting full-time or part-time bookkeepers. You can usually find these through checking various online job adverts.
Align Yourself With Accountants
Get the Guide on Moving from spreadsheets to software. Are you ready to kick your business into the next gear?
If you don’t have a list of people ready to sign up for your webinar, you’re going to need to do it in conjunction with another type of marketing like PPC to get people to sign up. That makes it potentially expensive and a risky investment so tread carefully when marketing with webinars. Bing Advertising market share Bing has a decent amount of search volume and cheaper clicks than Adwords making it a very good option for PPC advertising. Your mileage may vary by country, but give it a chance if you’re in a location where people search using Bing. Users also tend to be older and wealthier, which may be the perfect combination for your business. While groups for your industry are great for advice and feedback, they won’t drive a ton of clients. The best groups to join to get new clients are for adjacent industries where your clients hang out.
How Do You Start A Small Business As A Bookkeeper?
Not only did I run my last accounting firm on it, but I also run my current business on it. Conversely, without uncovering that pain point, potential clients would likely be more price sensitive. The bad thing about Google and Facebook ads is that they can be super expensive and the traffic you get may not be the traffic that you want.
For example, if a small business in your list just added lots of new employees, you could reach out and offer to help with their new payroll needs. As an accountant or financial advisor, you are likely very skilled at what you do. You know how to advise businesses on complex financial issues, can churn through filing tax returns faster than a speeding bullet, and can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Freelancer, and similar platforms allow you to bid on job postings. Sign up for an account and look for potential posts that match your expertise. It might take just a few days to find clients on freelance sites. Now, growing your business’ online presence is more important than ever.
Also, talk to your clients and see what other businesses they’re working with to complete related tasks. Never underestimate the power of online business listings, especially if your accounting firm is a local business for your area.
Step 2: You Have To Learn Accounting Software
CPA Suzanne Conrad realized that ‘bugging’ people can actually work out to be mutually beneficial when she landed a four-figure contract with someone who was about to miss their IRS deadlines. In this case and many others, following up was the key both to providing real help to the client and to getting more revenue for the accounting firm.
You can start earning early as a virtual bookkeeper and create multiple sources of income by partnering with various companies, individuals, and freelancers. You can choose the tool that best fits your bookkeeping services needs. If you’re going to start working as a full-time bookkeeper single-handedly, you can choose to form a sole proprietorship. https://www.bookstime.com/ However, you’ll be liable for all business debts and lawsuits as a sole proprietor. Clients will value you considerably more if you know how to use accounting software. Software technologies simplify online bookkeeping, allowing you to work more effectively. How can you provide an added personal touch to make your clients smile?
- If so, that means that someone else’s tasks get set aside — and are you prepared for you to be on either side of the circumstance?
- For example, accounting firms who handle tax returns might take advantage of tax seasons to send follow-ups and reminders to past clients or prospects who haven’t taken the leap yet.
- And that doesn’t mean they’re stuck up or don’t want to hear about you; they just don’t want to do extra work and translate what you’re saying into what it can do for them.
- As a result, take the time to examine both your client’s and the project’s nature.
- It doesn’t matter if you’re creating the next Facebook or becoming a freelance bookkeeper, the beginning stages are challenging.
Tyson is a graduate of Brigham Young University, the father of 5, and enjoys spending time with his family. Knowing your potential client’s motivating factors behind changing accountants could be the most important piece of information you need to ensure your firm meets the client’s expectations. The client onboarding template is the perfect place to find out what you need to know. Few people realize that a good accountant can help them manage debt as well. If your potential client has debt, let them know you can help them negotiate with creditors and develop a plan to reduce it. According to Robert Half’s Finance & Accounting survey, there is nothing accountants love more about their jobs than solving problems.
Ready To Start A Bookkeeping Business?
Make sure you have an active social media presence and use it to promote your business. You can also use social media to build relationships with potential clients and create a network of contacts. Small business bookkeeping is a completely different world. And, I feel like you have a huge asset in your experience now.
That’s when I realized 99 percent of the information in our industry was worthless, so I decided to take a different route and blaze my own trail. Also, during the interviewing process, it’s important candidates perform a Skills and Speed test to determine if they have the ability to do the job to your standards. As for recruiting top quality bookkeepers, you’ll need a proven system which picks out the most extraordinary candidates and weeds out the bottom feeders. So, many clients want to hire you, but you’re only one person. Always think of additional income streams which can add more value for your clients. Without you, many of them would be in financial trouble.
For many bookkeepers, the applicable certifications are from AIPB Certified Bookkeeper and NACPB Certified Professional Bookkeeper. After that, there are other courses, certifications, and tools that can be useful, and these often are dependent on what a bookkeeper wants to specialize in. Adding this question to your accounting and bookkeeping checklist will help you build a personal connection and make you more memorable than other accountants who just stick to the basics. Once the basic business accounting client questions are out of the way, let things become more personal to engage them even further. Digging into their business challenges — the problems that keep them up at night — will help you build rapport and find more ways to provide value and deliver the results they want.
If so, that’s the perfect opportunity for you to grab a link. You may think that offering services to everybody will land you more clients, but in many cases that’s the wrong mentality. Specializing in one industry can actually be far more lucrative in the long run. Depending on your industry and niche, there are ‘marketplaces’ that connect businesses with the right How do bookkeepers get clients clients. I’m hesitant to say marketplace because it’s more a matchmaking service, where the intermediary finds the perfect fit between the lead and the business. Freelancer marketplaces can be great places to find new clients. You can find people looking for a variety of work including marketing, design, accounting, bookkeeping, writing and everything in between.
When it comes to financial services, ‘financial advisor’ receives a whopping 1 million annual searches. So, it’s great news if your potential client realizes your value as both an accountant and a financial advisor. Some of the apps might be different, but if your prospective virtual bookkeeping service can cover these five bases, then there is a good chance you’re covered. This is the “ecosystem” that I use to run my virtual bookkeeping service. With these five apps alone I can manage every aspect of my clients’ needs. It can be difficult to trust a virtual service with your books, and even harder to know which service to choose. To help ease the process, I’ll show you how I run my virtual bookkeeping service and explain what to look for in these services, so you can make the best decision possible.
Here is a list of our partners and here’s how we make money. This is a great way to gauge if you’re charging enough per hour for the bookkeeping work you are doing.
A study by Accounting Today asked small businesses what they look for in an accountant. 78% of small businesses responded that it’s very important that their accountant can act as a trusted advisor. They ranked this as more important than being affordable or responsive.
Your network will grow and some of these local businesses and small business owner contacts will turn into new clients eventually. Collect business cards from every new business owner you meet. The next day, hop on to LinkedIn, sort through them, and connect with all business owners you met and send a personalized message. To get to know who’s out there, there’s no better way than attending local networking events to collect some business cards.