The Successful Bookkeeper Podcast

Workflow. If your systems regarding it aren't great, your whole bookkeeping business suffers. Today, there are plenty of tools in the marketplace that help heal this pain point, but today we'll focus on one - Receipt Bank. What is it? Receipt Bank extracts the key information from your clients' bills, receipts and invoices, removing the need for manual data entry. It then allows you to publish thi...

Over 30,000 bookkeepers. According to the Canadian Revenue Agency, that's how many there are in the Great White North. You can only imagine what the number is in the United States. But, here's the thing, many bookkeepers across North America haven't taken leadership with their client relationships. Many choose to "fit in" by adapting to the software and workflows their customers currently have as...

Desperation. It lives within many business owners who are struggling to make revenue. When the panic heightens, they're likely to accept any clients that walk through the door. But, here's the thing, not all of them are a fit. In fact, by agreeing to help those bad apples, they sometimes end up costing you more in the long run. So, why don't bookkeepers say NO more often? Well, it's likely because...

55 percent. According to our guest, Plooto Co-Founder & CEO, Hamed Abbasi, that's the percentage of North American businesses that still use cheques daily to make payments. In today's advanced technological age, that's hard to believe. Fortunately for bookkeepers, Plooto is a business-to-business payment management platform that makes things easier. During this interview, you'll learn... How P...

The robots are coming! So what? Yes, Artificial Intelligence has and will continue to take away some duties from bookkeepers, but according to our guest who is the founder and chief teacher at the Bookkeeper Business Launch program, the future is something to look forward to and not to be feared. Ben Robinson has helped thousands of people start their own virtual bookkeeping businesses and along t...

She's back! After Pure Bookkeeping co-founder and E-Myth Bookkeeper co-author, Debbie Roberts did such a great job answering bookkeepers' questions in her previous appearance, she has returned to answer some more! During this interview, you'll learn... Her proven strategy to transition from a full-time job to running a bookkeeping business The importance of having a powerful vision to power you th...

Technology. As you've heard, it's quickly taking over some bookkeeping duties and it doesn't appear to be slowing down. However, there's a way to keep your business viable during these interesting times. According to our guest, Evelyn Jacks, who is the founder and president of Knowledge Bureau which is Canada's leading tax and financial services post-secondary educational institute for continuing...

So, you want to grow your business to the next level? As you probably guessed, it's not easy, but it can be done and there are many ways to get there. For our guest, Cheryl Knight of the Balcatta, Australia-based, Carbon Bookkeeping, she partnered with others to form a mega firm where she runs her $1 million dollar business inside a $7 million dollar one. It's a unique situation, but it's one that...

Bookkeepers are everywhere. As a result, prospects have a lot of choice, so what makes you stand out? Why should someone choose you over another bookkeeper? Today's guest, Dorie Clark, who is a branding expert, author and speaker that has worked with Google, Microsoft & Yale University, feels you can get an advantage by becoming a recognized expert. During this informative conversation, you'll...

Experience. Pure Bookkeeping Co-Founder & E-Myth Bookkeeper Co-Author, Debbie Roberts has been in the bookkeeping industry a long time. She's made every mistake possible, but learned from them and eventually documented all her wisdom into systems she would use to successfully run her bookkeeping business. Today, she's on the podcast to answer YOUR questions! During this interview, you'll learn...

Let's face it. Without your team members, you'd likely be drowning in client work right now. But, fortunately, you have great people working with you that believe in you and your company and are providing terrific results. Sometimes, though, things can get busy and, as a business owner, you might forget to let your staff know how grateful you are for their efforts. It's important to acknowledge th...

You don't need to be alone. As a bookkeeper, it's pretty easy to isolate yourself especially if you're a solo practice working from home. For some, they don't even realize how big of a community of bookkeepers there is in the world. Our guest, a marketing and branding expert for bookkeepers, Amy Hooke had no idea. In the early days of her bookkeeping business, she was too busy dealing with terribl...

Predictable and repeatable. It might sound boring, but when it comes to creating systems, that's what you want in order to ensure you and your staff create the same positive result over and over again. Your marketing is no different. Today's guest, John Jantsch, the author of the popular book, Duct Tape Marketing , has some tips on how you can fine tune your marketing efforts. During this intervie...

What if you fail? That question has crossed the minds of many bookkeepers when first starting their businesses. It's perfectly normal and it's something that our return guest, Debbie Roberts asked herself in the beginning. She was concerned that if her bookkeeping services weren't good, her reputation would be damaged and that would affect her business. It scared her that, as a small business owne...

Are you introverted? If so, you're not alone. Many bookkeepers are. But, what if there were ways to be more at ease around people and have win-win partnerships with them? Today's guest, Siobhan Harrop-Scott of Harrop Scott & Associates Ltd., has some ideas that just might help. Through her bookkeeping business, she's developed hundreds of connections and has become a terrific leader for her st...

Prospects. How do they hear about your bookkeeping business? Do you do in-person networking? Do you advertise in local media? Do you solely use referrals? Our guest, Katrina Aarsman, who is from Melbourne, Australia and is the owner of Bookkeepers HQ where she mentors bookkeepers, has some strategies that you can add to your marketing basket. During this interview, you'll learn... How joining busi...

Investing. For your bookkeeping business to be successful, you'll need to invest money into products, programs, systems and tools to ensure your operation has all the resources it needs to deliver great service to your clients. This reality is one our guest, Peter Broberg of Monitor Bookkeeping Services based in Perth, Australia, accepted and has never looked back. During this interview, you'll le...

Starting out is always scary. There are so many unknowns which makes it incredibly easy to stay in your comfort zone and not take any chances. Our special return guest today, the lovely and talented, Debbie Roberts of Pure Bookkeeping, remembers what those times were like. Fortunately, with the help of her longtime business coach and co-founder of PB, Peter Cook, she overcame those fears and reali...

Hiring mistakes. Unfortunately, many bookkeeping business owners make them. Those poor decisions likely cause emotional and financial stress in addition to the large amount of time used to mop up the bookkeeping messes of those you thought could do the job. One man who has cracked the code on how to hire great and loyal staff is our guest today, Bob Wang. He is the owner of Legacy Advantage which...

Who do you want to work with? If you answered, "EVERYONE." That could likely cost you. Many bookkeepers don't have a clear niche of clients they focus on and, as a result, they likely accept any new customers that walk through the door. Unfortunately, that thinking can attract potentially bad clients who are not a fit. By not taking the time to identify what type of client would be ideal from a fi...

Be of service. Usually, you'd think helping your bookkeeping clients would be enough. But, if you want to be truly valuable and generate countless referrals, it pays to be on the good side of accountants as well. Today's guest, Lynne Moore, who is the owner of LAM Consulting, has mastered the art of attracting the best referrals by being of great value to accountants and her clients. By assisting...

Have you made this important decision? Many bookkeepers haven't. The decision in question is whether you want your bookkeeping business to make lifestyle income where you trade your time for dollars to hopefully earn $100,000 to $200,000 per year... Or... You want to grow your business by creating teachable and repeatable systems so it can run without you and eventually be sold to a third party fo...

The classroom. It was once the main destination where people consumed educational information, but in today's online world, things have changed and bookkeepers are slowly becoming more open to learning in new ways. Managing Director of K2E Canada Inc. and IPBC board member, Alan Salmon recently conducted a survey that measured how bookkeepers and accountants learn. It was sent to 10,000 contacts a...

Are you looking for clients? If you're just starting your bookkeeping business then you might be. If you're already up and running then maybe you'd like to add some more business. A way to do it other than spending thousands of dollars on marketing is to get referrals. How do you do that? Our returning guest, Melissa Lenos of King Accounting Solutions, knows how to master this fine art. She never...

Chaos. No one likes that in their bookkeeping business. But, when you don't have a trusted process or system in place for staff to follow which details how your operation works, a tornado of destruction will likely ensue. This could happen because clear instructions are not given on how things get done, so others will come up with their own solutions which can lead to disaster including some angry...