The Successful Bookkeeper Podcast

“The first thing to becoming successful is defining who you want to work with, who is your ideal client?” -Jennie Moore Welcome back to another Successful Bookkeeper Spotlight session with your host, Louie Prosperi. Our lives revolve around conversation, we hope that all of our interactions will be good, but often, this is not the case. Differences of opinion, expectation, and understanding can lead to some really uncomfortable conversations.  Not wanting conflict can often paralyze us, freezing us into doing work or continuing to do work we never agreed to do. Scope creep is going to happen, but what is important is how we deal with it. Allowing our clients to change the scope on a whim is going to cost you thousands of dollars a year, not to mention leave you feeling potentially resentful and burnt out. Jennie Moore, owner of Moore Details, and partnership manager at Ignition is this spotlight episode’s featured guest. She has spent her career helping people have awkward conversations, set boundaries, and learn to articulate their worth. She speaks powerfully about finding the fun in your bookkeeping business, embracing mistakes, and communicating value.  If you are struggling to set the scope at the beginning of your client relationships, feeling unable to express your worth despite helping your clients become more profitable, or would just like to learn how to speak about yourself with more confidence and courage, then this is the episode to shift unhelpful and negative mindsets into positive and courageous ones.  During this interview, you'll learn... The value of owning the awkward conversation to articulate your worth How to embrace a digital mindset in your bookkeeping business The importance of being clear about the scope of your services  Click here to find out more about Jennie. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter. SPECIAL OFFER for Successful Bookkeeper listeners - Get 50% off Ignition Pro or Scale for 3 months! Find out more HERE!
 Time Stamps   01:47 - Jennie talks about her career journey  03:05 - Balancing the personal and professional  05:48 - Influencing product by following our passions  08:28 - Being a part of something you love  10:06 - Learning from our mistakes to create success  15:01 - Out-of-scope work is a profit killer  22:12 - Setting your standards from the start  24:48 - Embracing the digital mindset  29:10 - Finding the right automatized services for your bookkeeping business  35:28 - Owning the awkward conversation 

“This also means diversity of thought, because even if you have a demographically diverse team, but everyone went to the same college and thinks the same way, that’s still not going to be able to leverage and maximize the benefits of diversity.” -Dr. Ella F. Washington Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is more than just taking a course or hiring from particular demographics. It’s about how we want to feel at work and in society, and how we make others feel. Intention is everything and yet many people find themselves afraid of saying the wrong thing, this paralysis then also prevents us from saying the right things. When you are open to the possibilities in other people’s lived experiences, you are far more likely to be able to have the conversations you perhaps didn’t even know you needed to have.  Dr. Ella F. Washington, founder and CEO of Ellavate Solutions, organizational psychologist, author, and DEI culture expert is this episode’s featured guest. Ella speaks about the need for workplaces and workplace cultures to let everyone be their authentic self at work. If everyone isn’t thriving at work, feeling valued, respected, and happy, there is something wrong.  Whether you are an individual, a small bookkeeping business, or a big one, it is inspiring to listen to Ella’s vision for what workplace culture could be. If you want to have these complex conversations but aren’t sure where to start, this is the episode to get you comfortable with what you don’t know. During this interview, you'll learn... The value of building a utopia of inclusion, diversity & equity at work How to understand & challenge biases The importance of intention in building a healthy workplace culture Click here to find out more about Ella. Connect with Ella on LinkedIn and Twitter.  Click here to get your copy of Ella’s new book, The Necessary Journey. Time Stamps   01:36 - Ella talks about her career journey  03:38 - The core of diversity, equity & inclusion  08:39 - Thinking about & challenging our biases  10:52 - Creating great working environments  14:33 - Building a workplace utopia 17:30 - The power of intention in workplace culture  19:14 - The Necessary Journey, stories of client success 23:08 - Considering your whole sphere of influence 26:42 - Ella talks about her book 

“If you’re forcing yourself to do those tasks you don’t enjoy doing and you’re not good at, please start delegating!” -Kristy Yoder  Happy New Year and welcome to the first episode of 2023! Running a bookkeeping business can be overwhelming, especially at this time of year, so much needs to get done and it can often feel like we are the only ones capable of doing it right. Problems start to arise in our businesses when everything that needs our attention, only gets a portion of our effort. Delegation is key in business. What tasks can you source to other people, so you have more time to focus on your passion? Remember, clients don’t stay with your service just because you do their books, they stay because they recognize a passion in you for something they struggle to do. Maybe it’s time to start recognizing those passions in others, and how they might help you to build and scale your bookkeeping business to new heights. Our first guest of the year is the founder and CEO of Smart Virtual Assistants, and host of the Master Delegator podcast, Kristy Yoder. She found her passion in helping people learn to delegate the things they aren’t good at, so they can focus on the things they are. This episode is a masterclass full of useful tips to find and train the right people for you. If you are having trouble letting go of the need to do everything, aren’t sure of how to train a VA, or are afraid you’ll be stuck with employees that don’t make your life easier, this is the episode to help you overcome those fears! During this interview, you'll learn... The value of building strong & trusting relationships with your virtual assistant How to hire a great VA The importance of delegating tasks to focus on your passions  Click here to find out more about Kristy. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook. Click here to listen to the Master Delegator Podcast. Time Stamps   01:39 - Kristy talks about her career journey  04:35 - The importance of delegating work  07:22 - Barriers to proper delegation  11:15 - Common mistakes when hiring a VA 16:45 - Great operating procedures empower great businesses 18:22 - Learning to love the tasks clients hate 21:02 - Tips to help you hire a great VA for your bookkeeping business 25:50 - How Smart Virtual Assistants can help you 28:55 - The best way to end bad relationships  31:26 - The Master Delegator Podcast

It is almost the end of 2022 and wow, do we have an incredible episode for you to finish off the year!   In our special Year in Review show, Michael talks to a panel of terrific guests about the ups and downs of the industry this past year. Our returning Year in Review guests are Julie Watson, founder of Bookkeeping Relief, Jessica Fox, owner of Florida Virtual Bookkeeper, Teresa Slack, co-founder of Financly, and Katrina Aarsman, CEO of Pure Bookkeeping Australia. Our guests reflect on their biggest surprises of 2022, tell heartwarming stories of success, navigate the complexity of growing businesses in an ever-changing and challenging market, and discuss the future trends facing us in 2023. Whether 2022 has been a year of success or a year of challenge for you, there is something for everyone in this episode. From fears around inflation and staffing, to the success that can come from taking on a more advisory role with your clients to help them build strong and profitable businesses. Our guests speak powerfully about the struggles they have witnessed this year, and yet still leave us feeling uplifted and ready to face the challenges of 2023. There are so many incredible nuggets of wisdom in this episode, so grab your headphones, a cup of tea and settle in!  We are so grateful to all of our wonderful listeners who have joined us this year. YOU make this show possible. Thank you and HAPPY NEW YEAR! During this interview, you'll learn... The value of learning from failure to build a successful bookkeeping business How to navigate the changes & challenges of the industry The importance of getting your long-term strategy right & knowing when to pivot Find out more about our guests: Katrina Aarsman Julie Watson Jessica Fox  Teresa Slack Time Stamps   01:23 - Michael introduces this episode’s special guests 02:22 - The panel talks about their biggest surprises of 2022   08:35 - Knowledge building; the impact of virtual & in-person events  12:45 - The challenges & setbacks of 2022 21:31 - How do we navigate these complex changes & challenges? 27:45 - This year’s heartwarming stories of client success  37:24 - The heartbreaks of 2022  50:23 - Strategies for growth: what didn’t work this year 01:03:06 - Strategies for growth: what really worked this year 01:13:29 - Industry trends heading into 2023 01:21:23 - Our guests talk about their big focus for 2023 This episode is sponsored by our good friends at BILL! BILL helps automate finances for hundreds of thousands of small to midsize businesses so they can easily and quickly pay bills, collect payments, and manage employee expenses. With BILL, your clients—and you—will get greater visibility and control and more time to spend on the important stuff.  To learn more and get 10% off for your clients visit Bill.com/successfulbookkeeper.

“We all are really good at one or two things, but we can all do maybe 20-100 things, and sometimes as entrepreneurs, I think we get caught up in the ‘I have to do it all.’” -Nikki Rausch Pressure is a great motivator, but too much can damage the quality of our work and cause us to burn out. When we hold onto the belief that we are the only person that can achieve the right results for our clients, we end up with much less time to actually focus on the key things they hired us for in the first place. Clients want to work with experts, but that expert doesn’t have to be you. It is okay to share clients with your team, not because they aren’t as worthy of your attention, but because you have trained and trusted your team to deliver the best possible outcome for your clients and your business.   Nikki Rausch, who is the CEO of Sales Maven, a podcaster and author, is this episode’s featured guest. Nikki is a firm believer that none of us achieve success alone, and that our genius and skills are diluted when we spread ourselves too thinly. That is why we must hire people to do the things we can’t, we must build teams of people that complement and make each other stronger.  If you are struggling to scale your bookkeeping business, feeling too thinly spread, or struggling to prioritize the best outcomes for your clients, then this is the episode to get you thinking more clearly about what building your dream team could really do for your business. During this interview, you'll learn... The value of building a skilled team in your bookkeeping business How to stop underselling yourself to clients The importance of understanding what kind of relationship your clients want Click this link to find out more about Nikki. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook. Click here to listen to Nikki's past Successful Bookkeeper podcast appearance. Check out this Sales Maven podcast episode regarding how to sell clients on working with your team. Get Nikki’s free download for TSBK listeners. Time Stamps   01:24 - Nikki talks about her experiences since her last guest appearance 02:21 - The importance of having a team in your business   04:58 - Selling clients on working with your team 10:14 - How to stop underselling yourself  18:21 - Building the right relationship with your clients 24:44 - Dealing with & adapting to crisis & change  30:10 - Telling the story of your business  34:00 - Motivating your team  36:01 - Connecting with Nikki  This episode is sponsored by our good friends at BILL! BILL helps automate finances for hundreds of thousands of small to midsize businesses so they can easily and quickly pay bills, collect payments, and manage employee expenses. With BILL, your clients—and you—will get greater visibility and control and more time to spend on the important stuff.  To learn more and get 10% off for your clients visit Bill.com/successfulbookkeeper.

“If you can answer the questions that are being asked to people that don’t even know what their questions are to begin with, then you have created a name. People will say you’ve gotta come and see what he’s doing for us.” -Michael Alliman    In part 2 of the interview with Michael, he digs into the importance, power, and potential that can be unlocked when businesses find and focus on their niche.   All too often, we think that in order to be successful we have to do as much business as possible with anyone that will have us. But this spread-out and scatter gunned approach keeps us only being good at surface-level skills.   When you find your niche, you’ll move away from the surface and create a depth of experience that will see new clients seeking you out. Letting go of the short-term earning potential of taking every client is scary, but you’ll never have the kind of business that is scalable and successful, if you can't offer niched skills and services, rather than generic ones that are available everywhere.   Michael speaks from experience that the demand for quality skills will enable you to command quality prices. And when you have your niche, you’ll be able to help your clients build their dreams, not just balance last month's books.   During this interview, you'll learn... The value of finding your niche How to effectively sell your expertise, so clients seek you out The importance of building the kind of company you would want to work for To find out more about Michael, click here.    Connect with him on LinkedIn.  Time Stamps        01:37 - Helping others to understand your value 10:30 - When you niche clients, they will find you 14:30 - Figuring out niche trends 16:50 - Selling your experience & enjoying it 18:44 - Custom building narrative reports 23:18 - Building the kind of company you’d like to work for 25:30 - How to get in touch with Michael

“I’m not the expert in real estate, that's why I hire you. It doesn’t make any sense for me to learn it just to buy one house, as it doesn’t make any sense for you to learn accounting just to get your own numbers in order.” -Michael Alliman   Creating, owning, and running our own business is really challenging. So many things need our attention that it can often feel overwhelming, like we can’t get our heads above the water. The desire becomes to keep throwing ourselves at problems, rather than take a deep breath, dive beneath the surface, and find a place of calm and wider perspective to help us resolve them.   In this first part of a two-part interview, Michael Alliman, owner of Alliman Business Group and Reconcile bookkeeping, talks about overcoming the things you think are holding you back to find your own rhythm of success.   Michael speaks inspirationally about the way he has taken his ADHD diagnosis and turned it into a hyper-focused superpower that enables him to dial into detail in a way that has become a great selling point to clients. He also speaks about the need to stop setting unrealistic goals and punishing ourselves when we can’t meet them.   If you are facing difficulties in your life or business and are struggling to change your mindset from one of fearing your complexity to one that embraces it, this is the episode for you!   During this interview, you'll learn... The value of embracing what your differences bring to the world How to shift your mindset away from fear & toward success The importance of getting focused on what it is you do well To find out more about Michael, click here.   Connect with him on LinkedIn. Time Stamps   01:42 - Michael talks about his career journey 06:25 - Creating a company you’d like to work for 09:19 - Overcoming the challenges of business 14:04 - Learning to recognize what difficulties have to teach us 18:40 - Embracing the value of difference

“You need to surround yourself from an inclusion standpoint, with people who fill in the gaps and complement the skills you don’t have so that you don’t have those blind spots.” -Carice Anderson   Building a business is never easy, and yet we often make it so much harder for ourselves by believing we can’t be truly successful unless we are the ones doing everything. This kind of thinking only leaves us with skill and knowledge gaps we didn’t even know we had.   Being intelligent alone isn't enough. There will always be things we are drawn to and things we don’t like doing. What matters is the ability to recognize when we have gaps and fill them with people who complement the skills we lack.   Carice Anderson, a workplace diversity and inclusion expert and author, is this episode’s featured guest. She has spent her career working to understand why even after achieving so much academically, there were still so many gaps that could only be filled by the experiences of others.   She speaks powerfully about the need to build connections between people. To work on your relationships with others, not just in them. To think in the long term about people, not just in the short term to meet a deadline or push a product.   If you are trying to go it alone and finding that maybe you don’t even know what questions you should be asking, this is the episode to get you thinking about how a mindset shift might open up a world of possibility.   During this interview, you'll learn... The value of taking ownership of your client’s problems How to work on your relationships, not just in them The importance of creating a support network for success To find out more about Carice, click here.   Connect with her on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook   You can buy Carice’s book here.   Time Stamps       01:42 - Carice talks about her career journey 03:52 - Learning to adapt when things don’t go your way 08:10 - Overcoming personal obstacles 11:13 - Carice talks about her book 15:28 - Working on your relationships, not in them 18:55 - Tips for building healthy relationships 25:40 - Introversion vs extraversion; creating connections in a different way 28:20 - Ownership, taking responsibility & initiative 33:35 - No one becomes a success alone, it takes a community 36:40 - Learning more about Carice

“With Anchor, you work and then you get paid by default and your client needs to actively do something in order for you not to get paid.” - Omry Man  It’s well-known that comfort and convenience rule everything we do. People and especially clients are always looking for simpler and more effective ways to handle their business. We have all had clients that aren’t good at paying us on time, not because they are bad people, but because their priorities and attention are directed elsewhere. Omry Man, co-founder of Anchor, is this episode’s featured guest. He recognized a gap in the market, a gap created by the friction between bookkeepers and their clients. Anchor is an autonomous billing solution that sets out payment relationships from the get-go, and automates the entire process. So, you never have to wait on a bill again. If you are struggling to get clients to pay on time, are feeling strained around repeatedly asking for payment, or are even too scared to push for the money you are owed for fear of losing a client, this is the episode for you.  During this interview, you'll learn... The value of being consistent with your clients How automation reduces friction in relationships The importance of streamlining your services to focus on your bookkeeping business  Click here to find out more about Anchor. BLACK FRIDAY SALE OFFER: Anyone signing up or booking an Anchor demo during November, who bills over 50 monthly invoices, is eligible for $500 in Anchor credits to use in their first 3 months in Anchor. Visit this link for more details! Connect with Omry and Anchor on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Time Stamps 01:48 - Omry talks about his career journey  03:55 - Overcoming bad experiences with clients  09:10 - The real reason your clients aren’t paying on time 13:20 - Using automation to reduce friction   17:20 - How Anchor works for you & your client 20:14 - The right metrics to measure  26:20 - Getting connected with Anchor 

“There will always be chaos. There will always be change. You will always be dealing with fires in your life, and it’s really about how you respond to the chaos that will determine your success or failure.” -Elisa Schmitz   The way we think becomes the way we act. If our thoughts are riddled with self-doubt and fear, we are never going to get to the place of success we dream about. Life is full of change and chaos, and there will always be another fire to put out. What separates successful people and businesses from the unsuccessful, is how they learn to adapt and respond to the chaos.   Often our lack of self-belief comes from doing things differently from other people in our industry. Yet it is those very differences that allow us to offer unique strengths and perspectives no one but us could.   Elisa Schmitz, founder and CEO of 30seconds.com, and author of the new book, Become The Fire, is this episode’s featured guest. Elisa has spent her career helping people embrace failure as a tool for learning and teaching them to shift their mindsets from ones based on fear to abundance and growth.   If you feel like you are pushing against the tide, unsure where to start or how to let go of the fears that have long protected you then this is the episode to pull you into the fire and so you can start to truly realize your personal and professional dreams.   During this interview, you'll learn... The value of practicing resilience in your personal & professional lives How to transfer your mindset from fear to abundance The importance of embracing chaos & change  To find out more about Elisa, click this link.   Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter. Click here to learn more about her new book.   Time Stamps         02:07 - Elisa talks about her career journey 04:44 - The birth of 30Seconds.com 07:52 - Riding the business owner rollercoaster 09:33 - Learning to embrace the chaos 12:27 - Seizing your moment when it comes 15:25 - Practicing a resilience mindset 22:42 - Elisa’s strategies for success 27:48 - Making friends with your fear of change 32:34 - Where to find Elisa’s new book