The Successful Bookkeeper Podcast

Feeling sluggish by the end of the day? It could be what you're eating! Even the busiest workaholics can have a healthier diet. Like many bookkeeper business owners, Nagina Abdullah is no stranger to a busy schedule. Working as a consultant for Fortune 500 and 100 medical companies while also being a mother of two children, she found herself struggling to keep energized and healthy. She discovered that eating metabolism-boosting foods and spices helped her maintain a higher level of energy throughout the workday. During this interview, you'll learn... Why changing your eating habits is foundational to a healthy lifestyle Food tips for staying energized: more health-boosting spices, tasty veggies, good carbs & good fats How your mindset can make or break your health journey To connect with Nagina on LinkedIn, go here. Visit her website to download a free copy of her recipe eBook, 7 Spicy Recipes to Melt Off 7 Lbs. To download Sweet Spice Cheat Sheet, go here. Time Stamps 1:28 - Nagina's career journey: how a change in diet helped her balance a demanding career with being a mom of two 8:27 - The health-boosting power of spices: how adding them to your diet can help you lose weight 11:04 - Tips for eating more tasty veggies 14:44 - Nagina outlines her healthy eating framework: The Tested and Perfected Fat Burning Food Framework 19:52 - Time-saving cooking tips 22:45 - Her website masalabody.com and free recipe ebook, 7 Spicy Recipes to Melt Off 7 Lbs 25:21 - How an all-or-nothing mindset can be harmful for your health journey

Efficiency and time management. For any bookkeeping business owner, these are MUST HAVES, so it's important to find a workflow software that delivers. This week's guest is a small business systems and procedures expert in Australia with more than 15 years experience working in the bookkeeping industry, so she knows all about workflow software and how it can help your business. Jacqui Cubis has also been a Pure Bookkeeping (PB) licensee for over nine years and is a hugely active member in the PB community. During this interview, you'll learn... How workflow software can help your business grow What lessons Jacqui learned when starting her own enterprise What apps she leverages in her businesses Get in touch with Jacqui at jacqui.support@evolutionaryworkflow.com. Connect with her on LinkedIn here. Learn more about her business, Evolutionary Workflow visit this link. To explore Pure Bookkeeping, visit PureBookkeeping.com. Time Stamps 2:19 - Jacqui's career journey and how Pure Bookkeeping helped her bookkeeping business grow 7:17 - Outsourcing work off shore and its challenges 10:30 - How integrating workflow software Karbon into her business has helped her businesses thrive 19:40 - Lessons learned from starting her own business 22:31 - How Jacqui discovered Pure Bookkeeping 28:00 - Apps that Jacqui uses most in her businesses (Karbon, Practice Protect, TSheets, Practice Ignition, etc)

What's below the tip of the cultural iceberg? According to this week's guest, understanding and appreciating cultural differences means seeing beyond what is obvious. Laura Kriska is an expert on cross-cultural relations with more than thirty years experience on helping to create more inclusive and productive workplaces. She is also the author of The Business of We which provides tools to close the Us versus Them culture gap in workplaces. As bookkeepers, we know that building relationships with our clients and staff is incredibly important. Practicing inclusion means tuning into the subtleties and invisible data and finding ways to bridge any gaps. During this interview, you'll learn... Why inclusion is a powerful tool for leaders How to see invisible cultural data How to practice inclusion Learn more about Laura on her website. To connect with her on LinkedIn, click here. To buy her book, The Business of We, visit this link. To take the Us Versus Them Self-Assessment go here. Time Stamps: 1:35 - Laura's career journey in Japan & navigating cultural differences 5:56 - How to see invisible data using the WE-building superpower 11:43 - How to foster a more inclusive environment 23:32 - Understanding Us vs. Them dynamics 30:36 - The fear of branching out & how to squash it 35:24 - Laura's book, The Business of We & the Us vs Them self-assessment

"It was the community that came with Pure Bookkeeping. And from that community, it was the resources that became available to me that, I believe, pushed this business to where it is already in such a short time." This week's guest is a Pure Bookkeeping licensee from Melbourne, Australia where she is the owner of her own bookkeeping business (Zilch Bookwork), a romance novelist and even a qualified hairdresser. Helen Konstan shares her bookkeeping journey with us and explains how Pure Bookkeeping has supported and fast-tracked Zilch Bookwork's growth. During this interview, you'll learn... How the Pure Bookkeeping community helped grow her business Why caring & compassionate bookkeepers are more successful Why you should value your time as a bookkeeper & how to price accordingly You can find out more about Helen and Zilch Bookwork here. To connect with her on LinkedIn, click this link. To explore Pure Bookkeeping, check out purebookkeeping.com. Time Stamps 1:57 - Helen's journey: from working at her family business to owning her own 4:30 - Starting her business Zilch Bookkeeping 9:10 - How Pure Bookkeeping has impacted her business 14:31 - The Pure Bookkeeping community & how it has helped her business grow 17:13 - Business before & after implementing the Pure Bookkeeping system 22:03 - Bookkeeper or Data Integrity Specialist? 26:15 - Key to success: being caring 31:34 - Valuing your time as a bookkeeper & making sure the price is right

Do you feel a sense of control over where your time is going? Are you aligning your time with the things that you care about and the things you want to be doing? These are questions Cherylanne Skolnicki, a leading work-life balance expert and coach, suggests we think about when it comes to work-life integration. For busy bookkeeping business owners, juggling work commitments and personal/family responsibilities are common worries. Cherylanne's passion is to support working women to live their happiest, most fulfilling lives by helping them find ways of experiencing well-being. She is the founder of The Brilliant Balance Company and a sought-after speaker and podcast host who has endless wisdom to share when it comes to finding your work-life balance. During this interview you'll learn… Why it's important to tune into what you really want in your personal & professional life How to set yourself up for success by being realistic when setting deadlines How to use productivity & time management to build the life you want To learn more about Cherylanne, visit Brilliant-Balance.com. Connect with her on LinkedIn. Tune into her podcast. Time Stamps: 02:07 – Cherylanne's career journey – from corporate ladder climber to successful entrepreneur 09:43 – How to define balance 13:14 – The dangers of over-promising & how to manage timelines better 22:00 – Time management & family – the importance of making time for what matters most 30:39 – The heart of work-life balance: productivity

No system or software is perfect, so expect to have hiccups. But, that shouldn't discourage you from exploring the right solutions for you. Kerri Bouffard has embraced apps and technology which have made a big difference in her bookkeeping business. She's the owner of Add Vantage Bookkeeping, a Xero specialist and Pure Bookkeeping licensee. She's also the owner of Thunderhead Innovations which offers premium concierge services to make her clients' transition to cloud accounting a smooth experience. During part 2 of this interview series, you'll learn... The advantage of focusing on one app & being an expert on it How to swiftly switch to XERO & the importance of learning its SOPs Why business owners need an app stack You can find out more about Kerri here. To learn about Add-Vantage Bookkeeping, check this out. To explore Thunderhead Innovations, click here. To connect with Kerri on LinkedIn, here's her profile page.

It's not easy to run a startup bookkeeping business. Just ask this week's guest. During that time, Kerri Bouffard was raising small children and trying to get clients, so it was hard. But, she kept at it and eventually her company, Add-Vantage Bookkeeping became viable. Today, she is a Xero expert and Pure Bookkeeping licensee who is appreciative of the lessons she learned back in her startup days. During part one of this two-part interview series, you'll learn... The various obstacles you'll face as a startup & how to overcome them How using a casual approach can help secure clients How having systems can benefit your bookkeeping business To learn more about Kerri, go here. To find out about her company, click this link.

Feeling valued. It's important. Not only for you, but as a bookkeeping business owner, you need to make your clients feel valued by the way you take care of them and their problems. That's according to this week's guest who is a world-class expert on women's leadership and best-selling co-author of How Women Rise. Sally Helgesen's mission has always been to help women recognize, articulate and act on their greatest strengths. She helps thousands of them reach greater heights and enjoy more satisfying careers. During this interview, you'll learn... Why it's important to know your strengths & clearly articulate them as a business owner The significance of knowing your internal barriers & the 12 habits that hold successful people back To focus on what you're contributing versus managing perception You can find out more about Sally at her website, SallyHelgesen.com. To connect with her on LinkedIn, go here. To buy her book, How Women Rise, click this link. This episode is sponsored by our friends at SweetProcess. To begin your free 28-day trial visit SweetProcess.com/successfulbookkeeper today.

This is a special episode. It was originally broadcasted at the Accounting & Finance Show Americas virtual conference where Michael Palmer interviewed, Mike Michalowicz, who is the author of Profit First and his latest book, Get Different: Marketing That Can't Be Ignored! Mike passionately believes that the only thing a prospect knows about your business, until they do business with you, is your marketing. So, make it good. During this interview, you'll learn... Tips on how to market your bookkeeping business differently How to stand out from the crowd How to overcome fear of failure To pre-order, Get Different: Marketing That Can't Be Ignored! and get free resources, go here. To learn more about Mike, visit his website. To become a Profit First Professional, explore this link. This episode is sponsored by our friends at SweetProcess. To begin your free 28-day trial visit SweetProcess.com/successfulbookkeeper today.

We live in interesting times. With the world battling a pandemic, it has caused many bookkeepers, who are parents, to adjust to a new normal that includes homeschooling their children while managing their business. It's tough, but it can be done. Just ask this week's guest, Paola Gleghorn, who is the owner of Splendid Bookkeeping and a mother of 5 young kids. She found a way to succeed and will provide you some insight to help you as well. During this interview, you'll learn... How to balance homeschooling your kids & managing your business How commitment & a proper mindset can help you attract more clients Tips on overcoming procrastination, fear of failure & doubts To learn more about Paola, visit this link. To connect with her on LinkedIn, go here. This episode is sponsored by our friends at SweetProcess. To begin your free 28-day trial visit SweetProcess.com/successfulbookkeeper today.