5 fruitful insights from Bookkeeper Boost Week 2024

Bookkeeper Boost Week has wrapped up for another year, but don’t fret if you missed out! We’ve gathered the highlights from our virtual events, covering everything from pricing strategies to the future of bookkeeping. Here’s what you need to know.

1. Charge what you’re worth

We kicked off the week with our Pricing masterclass, where experts from The 6 Figure Bookkeeper and Eleven Accounts Services shared tips for freshening up your pricing strategy. Whether you’re charging hourly, monthly, or value-based, the key takeaway is to engage with your clients as fellow business owners. Discuss profitability openly, and you’ll find them much more receptive when it comes to your own pricing.

Jo Wood of The 6 Figure Bookkeeper said: “I saw my clients as higher up than me. But I had a mindset shift; I’m a business owner, and they’re a business owner. We can sit at the table opposite each other and have a grown-up conversation.” With valuable data at her fingertips, she recognised that her clients have questions, goals, and worries that she can help address. She continued: “I am really valuable to them, and therefore a pricing conversation is much easier now.”

2. Quick actions for sustainability

Next, we dove into ‘Sow, grow, sustain: cultivate a greener practice’ with Sinclair Whelan Bookkeeping and Your Local Bookkeeper. They explored how to guide your clients toward becoming greener businesses while weighing the pros and cons of various technologies.

One effective tip is to delete unnecessary emails, which can lower CO2 emissions and help you feel more organised— a win-win! Additionally, for frequent orders, such as Amazon purchases, consolidating them into a single monthly bulk order instead of ordering as needed can also make a positive impact.

3. Align your tech stack with your goals

On hump day, we held a workshop - Revitalise your tech stack for smooth efficiency - led by Gem Malek (FreeAgent) and Johann Goree (Engager.app). They discussed how to craft a tech stack that supports your success. A highlight was to ensure your technology aligns with your goals and reflect on why you set up your bookkeeping business - are your current tools and processes helping you to achieve those ambitions?

Johann said: “Whenever I evaluate a piece of tech, I ask myself whether it helps me achieve my goals. Is it going to make me more efficient so I have more spare time? Can I use it anywhere in the world? The purpose of your tech stack is to deliver the business that you wanted to have in the first place.”

4. Sharpen your branding with expert advice

In our session How to squeeze the best out of your brand, Insight 101 and Wild Bookkeeping shared insights on how to communicate your unique value and personality effectively.

Investing in an expert can bring a lot of value when it comes to shaping your brand story. Crafting a strong brand framework from scratch can be a daunting task without prior experience or specialist knowledge!

Penelope Allard of Wild Bookkeeping said: “We’re always telling business owners that while they might think they can do their own bookkeeping, if they input poor data into a software and simply press ‘ok’ without questioning it, they’re likely to get poor data out. So I realised I need to take my own advice and find a branding expert who knows what they’re doing.”

5. Build a business for you

The final session of the week was a live panel - Why we’re bananas about the future of bookkeeping with The 6 Figure Bookkeeper, Institute of Certified Bookkeepers and LMO Bookkeeping. Together they peeled back the layers of the latest emerging trends in the industry. One of the key takeaways was the shifting role of the bookkeeper and their outlook.

Jo Wood of The 6 Figure Bookkeeper shared: “The conversations I’m having with bookkeepers have changed. Businesses are being designed around values and boundaries, and they’re deciding whether to work with someone based on that.”

She’s also noted that bookkeepers are now building a business with an exit strategy in mind: “Regardless of whether they plan to sell it or simply want to step back from day-to-day operations, bookkeepers are shifting the conversation away from data entry and towards future possibilities. This shift enables them to engage in more meaningful discussions with clients about their own ambitions for their businesses.”

We hope these insights give your practice a real boost! Don’t forget, you can watch all the CPD-accredited sessions from Bookkeeper Boost Week and even give FreeAgent a try.