Want to learn how to get bookkeeping & accounting clients?

Stacy Kildal loved going to conferences to help grow her Bookkeeping practice, Kildal Services LLC, but she saw a glaring problem. All that was talked about was “marketing, marketing, marketing.” 

Stacy knew the importance of landing the best bookkeeping clients, but what about AFTER you got all those clients? It was then, Stacy realized she could expand her influence, her reach, and her practice to help other bookkeepers with their onboarding and workflow.

“Once the client comes, I can show you how to knock it out of the park.”

Since she’s extended her empire beyond just bookkeeping, her business has grown fast. She’s added group Quickbooks training, a massive vault of content for everyday workflow, a podcast, speaking engagements and more.

She’s been recognized as “Top 100 Influential Person in Accounting” as well as a two-time “40 Under 40” Winner by CPA Practice Advisor.
In this interview with David Cristello, Stacy dives deep into:

• • How she got her first clients when she started (and you can too)

• • Her unique way of onboarding new clients to make sure they are the right fit

• • How you can have a business partner WITHOUT giving up equity or control

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

• • Kildal Services, LLC

• • Stacy’s personal site and blog

• • StacyK Academy

• • The QBO Show (Stacy’s podcast)

• • Quickbooks Proadvisor Program

• • Slack

• Hipchat

Stacy Falls in Love with Bookkeeping

Despite now being known as the “QB Queen” and known as one of the most “Influential Quickbooks Advisors” around the world, Stacy Kildal did not start off in bookkeeping. She attended school to become a pharmacist.

It was while taking an accounting class that she discovered her passion for it. One day her professor assigned all ‘odd number questions’ for homework, Stacy went ahead and completed all of the questions, even and odd, and wanted to learn more. Immediately, she ditched the idea of becoming a pharmacist and dove headfirst into bookkeeping and accounting.

It worked perfectly at the start. Her father owned a building company and needed a hand with the bookkeeping. During this time, Stacy worked as an administrator in a plumbing company and started her bookkeeping practice.

The Side Hustle as a Full-Time Employee, Mother & Business Owner:

Stacy realized quickly that working in a small, plumbing company was going to have its limitations in terms of career prospects. She already had kicked off her side hustle as a bookkeeper thanks to an old boss who referred her first employee.

One day while searching for ways to grow her practice faster, she stumbled upon the Quickbooks Proadvisor Program. Quickly, she signed up. It was tough times and had to borrow the registration fee payment from her parents! It opened up a new door of a couple leads a month from business owners looking for bookkeeping help.

For three years, Stacy juggled her side gig and a full-time job. At the same time, she had her daughter which made things more complicated.

The Leap to Full-time:

Stacy was stretched so much. At times, after getting home from work, she’ll have a quick dinner and then still go out to meet clients until 10-11pm at night.

It wasn’t sustainable.

One of her clients asked for more of Stacy’s time during the workday. At that point, she and her husband had to make the decision: “Can we make the leap?”
Stacy’s husband supported her and was onboard. It wasn’t until many years later he would tell her “it was the scariest time of my life.”

Even with a new contract with a client, Stacy still had to “hustle” to get business:

How Stacy got clients when she first started:

• • Got certified on the Quickbooks Proadvisor site. She would get a few leads per month.

• • Every Sunday, she would take the Sunday paper and spend 4-5 hours scouring want ads and calling the businesses offering to help

• • She would attend multiple networking groups

• She would teach at the local community college to get her name out there

It shows, starting a practice can be tough during the first years as you book clients.

“Finding her Jam” and her Groove in the Bookkeeping Space:

Stacy spent time networking at conferences and local events. She would travel across the country to attend many conferences and noticed a trend:

Every conference focused mainly on Marketing your practice and not so much what you do when you get new clients i.e. onboarding, workflow, technical skills etc.

It was then Stacy launched her Academy to help make sure you get clients and keep those clients.
She encourages bookkeepers with her catchphrase “Find your jam!”

What does it mean?

“Figure out what you’re not good at and find someone who does JUST THAT.”

She encourages bookkeepers to find their niche and not waste time on things they don’t enjoy or are not good at. Her Academy helps lay out a map for bookkeepers and lets them take the reins and execute on the plan.

Stacy’s Unique Way to On-board ONLY the Clients You Want to Work With:

As Kildal Services grew, Stacy continued, like any entrepreneur, learning as she went. One of the major points she teaches others is On-boarding the Right Clients.
Signing up a new client seemed easy, but six to eight months into the engagement, Stacy realized some would not be a fit. Yet, it’s hard to tell a client you must part ways.

She also learned  and practice the “old way” of doing “Free One-Hour Consultations” would result in:

The client gets free advice and leaves.

She decided to come up with a new way to onboard where she would:

• • Find if they were a right fit right away

• Get paid to do so

This process took many years, but she’s mastered it.

How it works:

1. 1. Start with a “Quick Review” of the books. For this, charge $300.

1. 1. Next, tell the client the different points they need to “clean up.” Since the prospect already paid you the $300, they now have a better chance of just paying you to do the cleanup work.

1. During this, work with the prospect on a “needs analysis” worksheet. Here, you are identifying their major problem points, finding where the “breakdown” occurs. A key question she asks is: “Who owns this part of the process?” If the answer is “No One” it’s a red flag they need help.

Stacy figures out, especially during the “analysis,” if the prospect would be a great fit or not.
Having a Partner WITHOUT “Having” One:

This unique process of onboarding was built by both Stacy and her “outside” partner Shannon. Finding that great partner is essential. Stacy and Shannon work together on clients, but Shannon works for just a percentage of the work.

They both realized they enjoyed running their own practices and didn’t necessarily have to “merge” to be partners. Many believe it’s a “You’re In or Out” scenario, but they both came up with the idea without a conflict.

It works. They both discuss potential clients and whether they’d be a great fit, but both get to still do what they love.

As you grow your practice, remember what Stacy recommends: Work on what you love and are good at, refer to what you aren’t good at to others who specialize in it.

Like Stacy, you’ll see massive growth in your business.

Related Articles:

1. 3 Steps to Landing the Best Bookkeeping Clients
2. The #1 Way To Grow Your Bookkeeping Practice
3. Double Your Bookkeeping Revenue by Cutting 30% of Your Clients & How to Hire the Perfect Partners [Case Study]

Ingrid Edstrom’s first question when making a new hire: “Are you offended by F­bombs?”

Not what you normally hear in an interview as a bookkeeper.

But questions like this actually saved Ingrid’s business in 2013 & 2014 once she realized: ­ Exactly how to hire the right partners. ­ Plus, how to work ONLY with her ideal clients (meaning she cut 30% of her clients in the last 6 months).

Her business, Polymath, has doubled. Now, she has a waiting list of 2­-6 months with small businesses knocking at her door wanting to work with Polymath. Also, starting in 2016, her business is all employee­ owned. She’s hired the right team and keeping them!
In this interview with David, Ingrid walks through

• How she started her company
• The problems (and lessons) she had with hiring staff to grow
• How to raise her rates, grow Polymath, live out its mission of redefining accounting plus doubling her business with fewer clients.

If you want to work with Ingrid, you must first watch her on­boarding video.

You won’t want to miss it: It’s full of puppets and fun. http://polymath.com/new­client­process/
Additional Links:

• The Polymath 
• The Polymath Forum
• TSheets

Starting a business in the middle of a recession:

In 2008, Ingrid worked as a bookkeeper in the manufacturing space. She realized quickly the atmosphere she worked in was unhealthy. More work was piled on her plate coupled with no additional pay.

At one point, she even discovered fraud taking place and told her boss. The boss wanted to hear none of it. So Ingrid quit…

Just like that, Ingrid threw herself into entrepreneurship. The year was 2008. Small businesses were closing, not opening.

Still, Polymath took flight. Ingrid set out to “redefine” the bookkeeping and accounting space.

She saw so many small businesses struggling with: ­

• Cashflow ­
• Proper and compliant bookkeeping ­
• Owners working “in” their businesses not “on” their businesses 

She had no clue how to be an entrepreneur, but she wanted to make a difference.

Slow Transformations:

For the first two years of Polymath, Ingrid worked alone, relying on referrals from friends and scraping together savings to keep the business going.

In 2010, she found Business Networking International (BNI). She says joining groups like this transformed her business. Being around these other professionals, all from different backgrounds, gave her insights and motivation to start pushing Polymath to the next level. Her big fear as an early entrepreneur was “being called a fake.” It slowed her down at first. Her new contacts at BNI helped her face her fear.

What did they recommend?

Raise her rates!

Raising her rates would force herself to take herself and Polymath more seriously. Ingrid hesitated, but threw caution to the wind and started charging more for her expertise.

Business started growing… fast! She needed help.

First Hiring Mistakes = Losing Money:

In early 2012, Ingrid hired her first employee, a friend.

[“Don’t ever hire friends” ­ Ingrid Edstrom]

For two years, Ingrid went through the hardships of hiring ALL the wrong people.

“I gave everyone too many chances. There’s a fine line between nurturing someone vs. enabling someone who isn’t ready to learn and grow.”

She was losing money fast. The people she hired simply saw what she loved “as a job.”  She needed people who had the same, burning passion for bookkeeping as she did.

“Someone out there loves to do what you hate doing.”

Hire the people who have the same passion for what you are solving, Ingrid recommends.

How to Hire the Right Talent:

Ingrid found PredictableSuccess.com and learned she needed the right culture if she was going to double her business. She threw out the standard “interview” questions and started getting personal:

“How comfortable are you with the f­bomb?” became a common icebreaker question.

She looked for people who would all click with each other, who loved doing what they do, plus had a ton of fun. Culture was the key missing piece.

“They must have a hungry mind and willingness to grow…They must eat double­ entry accounting for breakfast!”

Ingrid found Vanessa, the first piece of her solid team, and her hiring process has worked ever since.

The Mission of Polymath:

When growing a company, Ingrid recommends having a clear-­cut vision and mission. For example, the vision of Polymath is to make the world a better place, built on a foundation of thriving small businesses. They do that in three ways through their mission:

1. Nurture and educate businesses on the importance of a healthy team.
2. Show businesses the importance of connections in the space. Plus, provide those connections themselves to increase success and profit.
3. Redefine the accounting industry. To train other businesses to help other businesses.

Polymath is only so big, but they want the message to grow.

“We want to make the world a better place.”

Ingrid knows clients are nervous to talk to their accountants and she works everyday to bridge the gap between client and accountant.

How to Double Revenues by Cutting 30% of Client Base:

Everything was on track as tax season for 2015 started to approach. But, Ingrid saw an issue. Her time was being taken up by the same clients, many of which she didn’t particularly enjoy working with.

Bad clients can hurt the team you’ve been looking to build. On top of that, many of the clients she enjoyed working with were being left aside.

She noticed another trend: Those who were taking up all her time did not like paying her fees. They asked for discounts or “freebies.” The ones who were not being helped were happy to pay Ingrid’s fees.

Something had to change.

At the end of 2015 and beginning of 2016, Ingrid sent out an email to 30% of her clients. Cordially, she told them how much she appreciated their business, but Polymath is going in a different direction. She referred them all to new bookkeepers and held on to the clients she enjoyed. 30% of her clients were gone overnight.

The results?

Within a few months, business doubled. Along with cutting out clients she didn’t want to work with, she attended conferences, including “Scaling New Heights”, and learned: ­

• How to find and speak to her ideal clients ­
• How Value ­Pricing allows you to raise your rates ­
• How “Discounting” only hurts your business and client’s trust

These lessons helped Polymath continue to grow rapidly. If you want to work with Ingrid today, there is a 2­-6 month waiting list plus, you have to fill out an application. She then decides if you are a good fit to work with Polymath or not.

With a better hiring process and now a better client­ selection process, Ingrid continues to build Polymath and could hire more staff this year due to growth.

Ingrid’s advice to you: Ask yourself “Where do you hold yourself back?” Take responsibility for your current situation and change it. You only become an expert through failure. The old saying still runs through her head “Most experts fail more than novices try…”

Building your practice will have many struggles and failures. Ingrid says: “It’s okay.”

Debbie Kilsheimer, Owner of Behind the Scenes Financial Services, will tell you right away that accounting work is all about optimizing your time with your clients. By focusing on delivering the quality over the quantity of your time, you can show your clients how they too can win in their business. This is how Debbie, the Quickbooks Pro Advisor Revamped The Billable Hour.

In this latest Grow Your Firm podcast, Debbie shares what she believes are the keys to your success that leads to your clients’ success:

• Thinking proactively and not reactively
• A guide to profitability
• How time is a profit center
• Improving the client relationship
• …and so much more!

How To Contact Debbie

• Proadvisor: http://proadvisor.intuit.com/quickbooks-help/debra-kilsheimer
• Debbie’s LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiekilz
• Behind the Scenes Financial Services: http://www.bsfsllc.com
• Debbie’s Email: BSFSDEB@Gmail.com
• Call or text at: 1 (386) 852-5755

Debbie’s Background

Debbie Kilsheimer is a seasoned professional who has been doing accounting and tax work since her early days of helping her dad file tax returns for his clients. She is the owner of Behind the Scenes Financial Services located in Port Orange, Florida and is an Advanced Certified ProAdvisor with QuickBooks.

Debbie enjoys helping her clients in their accounting education and needs. “I like talking to people. I like making a difference in people’s lives.”

So naturally, she received her degree in accounting. She entered into the CPA world…and hated it!

“It was the most boring job in the world,” Debbie recalls. She was efficient at getting the work done. Yet in an office that embraces the billable hours model, she was encouraged to “stretch a job forever” and to document every action she was doing.

In addition, the firm dynamics were focused more on their internal workings and less about how much they could help their clients win in their business.

So she quit.

“Thinking Proactively and Not Reactively”

Debbie moved into accounting sales and then joined a small accounting firm started by someone who is now her husband. They were able to grow their firm to what it is today: Behind the Scenes Financial Services.

In helping clients win in their business, Debbie believes the approach is determining what they can do proactively and not reactively.

For example, working on an audit. To Debbie, completing an audit is like looking at the world backward.

Instead, she wants business owners to look forward for what they can do this year and beyond to make their business profitable and win in their business.

Debbie always felt that accounting indicates where you are at the moment as a business. It is the “history of life…a scrapbook” and in looking at their business past, clients can better predict their business future. Then they can make the tweaks and changes now to enhance their business later.

“Drill these question into your clients’ heads. Where are we now? Where do we want to be?   What did we do right and what we did wrong? It’s all about accounting.”

When advising her clients, she sits down with them to review their income statements and other financial metrics, explaining concepts and implications in “plain English.”

Clients like her approach. She suggests, “Let’s change these drivers to see impact to your bottom line.”

One of her very first clients hired her for CFO services as they were approaching bankruptcy. With her help, they were able to sell their business 4 years later for $40 million.

“They finally got a handle to make changes to their accounting structure and a handle on expenses.”
Advising clients is all about getting them to profitability and not about the best ways to achieve tax savings, Debbie believes. “The goal is to have them make a lot of money.” Actually paying a tax indicates that the clients have made profits in the year, she explains.

Debbie’s Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Clients to Profitability:

1. Help clients determine how much they need to spend to get them to their bottom line.

• Make a minimum goal, a mid-range goal, and an “outrageous goal”

2. Help clients determine how much they will need to sell to reach these goals.

• Spend the money to get the equipment, technology, and utility-based tools necessary to do it. Plan for business development now.

3. Encourage clients to be productive and not just busy.

• Have them empower themselves. They are in charge of the way they win in their business.

“Time is a Profit Center”

Debbie challenges her clients to think of their ROI, and in doing so, she has them focus on time-saver efficiencies that lead to profitability increases.
“Time is a profit center,” Debbie said.

Time savers can be apps and technology. Embrace software and other time-saving technologies such as Jetpack Workflow. Help clients use these tools to analyze and interpret their business.

“Spend the money to free up time. Think of a better faster, easier way, and take the time to learn it. Just don’t do things because that’s the way it’s always been done,” urges Debbie.

Maximize business and maximize life. In this thinking, Debbie is a strong advocate to end the billable hours model and quickly turned into becoming a Quickbooks Pro Advisor who revamped the billable hour.

Stop wasting time just to bill the client more. Charge the fixed fee for services rendered, determining a price that is mutually agreeable and fair.
Find ways to be efficient in your own work, and with that extra time saved, use it to win more clients, perform more services, and earn more revenue.

Tips For Improving Client Relationships

Here are a few simple tips from Debbie to foster your relationships with your clients and keep them for the long term.

1. Remember people’s names.

“Your name is the most beautiful thing anybody hears. If you remember people’s names, it makes people feel important.” Introduce yourself and ask for their name.   If you forget – ask again. Look for their name on their badge at a conference. Saying to yourself and others that you have difficulty remembering names is just doing yourself a disservice. “It’s a confirmation bias…you become your own truth…It is a Mindset perspective: Reinforce and overcome it.”

2. Make people feel good

“It’s how good you make people feel. Talk to them.” Find out where they are in their business and where they want to go. Make a difference in people’s lives through accounting. Make it easy for clients to call to ask questions. Debbie reminds accountants that they are not the “not the accounting police or IRS.” Teach clients. Help clients. “Don’t get annoyed…or make them feel stupid.” If you miss their call, be responsive, acknowledge it, and follow up. Lastly, be sure to admit mistakes you may have made and rectify them as soon as possible.

3. Ask the WHY question

The first question Debbie always asks her clients is “why?” Why did they start their business? Why do they do what they do? Why do they want to win in their business? Find out their “Why Statement.” She believes that she is there to help her clients run their businesses, to interpret their results and to offer suggestions on how to make better financial decisions. But you cannot help your clients if you don’t know why they do what they do.

Do your work smartly and enjoy the time you spend with your clients. You have better control over your time while you are helping your clients improve and achieve their own goals. This is exactly how a Quickbooks Pro Advisor revamped the billable hour and finally made it work for her firm.

A happy team yields a happy client and that’s good for business.  Just ask Two Roads President Chad Ridner who has built this bookkeeping and tax advisory shop into the Firm of the Future. We also dive into the 3 Crucial steps to building an effective accounting team built to last.      

On this episode of Growing Your Firm podcast, Chad shares his views on

• Finding Your Business Opportunity
• A Great Way to Grow You Team
• Why Communication is Key
• 3 Crucial Steps to Building an Effective Accounting Team
• and so much more…

Website:  www.TwoRoadsCo.com
Twitter:  @ChadRidner  or @TwoRoadsCo  

Finding Your Business Opportunity

Five years ago, Chad joined the bookkeeping firm, Two Roads, based in Knoxville TN.  They believed that a big business opportunity was to serve the needs of business owners by helping them manage their finances and taxes.  

These particular, targeted business owners run companies typically in the restaurant, retail, or medical fields.  Generally, they have not been savvy bookkeepers or they do not want to spend time analyzing the details of the books and turning their attention away from their core business.       

It was easier said than done, and that’s where the importance of your team matters.   

Building a bookkeeping firm from a business perspective is “not easy to do,” says Chad.  You have to wear different hats.  While you are performing accurate bookkeeping and tax service work for your clients, you still have to sell, manage, and grow the business.   

In the first year or two of launching Two Roads, business was a “whirlwind” according to Chad.  The firm took any client they could.  Over time though, the firm got better, more confident, and comfortable with who they are.  

From there, they decided to refine their industry focus to the areas where they were best suited to deliver value.  

And they chose only the clients who had the better personality fits with their firm.  Two Roads had to be the right fit for the client, and the client had to be the right fit for Two Roads.  That is why Chad refers to their clients as “partners”.

Soon enough their business results improved that led to additional business from referrals and introductions.  

To service business clients, both locally and throughout the US remotely, the firm hired, over time, a dedicated team of 11 bookkeepers and CPAs who work directly with clients.   

As they have added people to the team, their business complexity grows.  So many things have changed for Chad as he notes. The business six months ago was different from the business three years ago.  “We are constantly learning and changing, he says.  The key to success, he believes, is being flexible, fluid and ready to adopt whatever is new.  

The team identifies client pain points and then devises solutions.  “It can be groundbreaking,” Chad notes.  Delivering great service to clients is predicated on speaking the language of their respective industries.

Growing Your Team

Like choosing the right clients and the right industries, choosing the right team members is equally important.  

For Chad’s team to be effective in their job, they need to enjoy their work, their clients, and their teammates.  

Team culture is the “driver” for Two Roads.  Chad believes that if the firm takes “great care of the team and is treated as though they are number one, they, in turn, are going to treat partners as they are number one.”  So a happy team yields a happy client.   

“I think so often in our profession, team members really aren’t team members, they are really just numbers.  And they work for big companies, they work lots of hours, there is not a lot of work life balance…They are seen as a commodity.” Chad says.  

“We really believe that our team members matter…that our voice matters.”

So how do you choose the right members for your team?  

Chad says that the company looks for not just a personality fit but also good technical skills needed to perform business deliverables.  

And technical skills are important, particularly when you are a growing firm like Chad’s.  

To fit in well within the company culture, members of the team have an independent approach to the way they operate, are happy helping small businesses, and are technically competent in accounting concepts and software.  

In identifying top candidates, Two Roads developed their own hiring process that evaluates behavior, personality, and technicals.  Their process involves three general steps.

Candidates must pass each step before they can move on to the next one.   

3 Crucial Steps to Building an Effective Accounting Team

Step 1:  Competency test that assesses accounting knowledge  
Step 2:  QuickBooks test that assesses software knowledge
Step 3:  Four individual, face-to-face interviews.   

In these interviews, candidates are assessed on their customer service experience, their idea of culture, and additional technical concepts.  Candidates are presented with real scenarios with team members that test their reactions and their response times.  Candidates are even assessed on their email styles.  
“Subtle things become a big deal,” Chad believes and it is with that statement he has learned the tricks to building an effective accounting team that actually lasts.  

Communication Is Key

Two Roads has grown today to 18 professionals.  The office structure is flat and has team leaders in charge of overseeing areas such as technology, onboarding, tax, and accounting.  

They are trying not to become overwhelmed with doing it all.  Bookkeepers are doing general day-to-day accounting while Chad and team leaders help lead sales.

“We are trying to fit people in their strengths and where they perform best,” notes Chad.  “We focus on greatest strengths instead of being all things to all people.”

Chad believes leading a team is less about managing and more about offering guidance.  “The position of leadership is really about serving those.”  He thinks, “Everyone is a leader in their own right, and everyone’s voice matters.”  And this approach creates a happy working environment.    

Since the team embraces a remote working arrangement, on-going communication, and even over-communication, with one another is very important to be able to maintain the camaraderie of the firm.  

Good, frequent communication often provides input and perspectives.  

Weekly team meetings are productive.  Weekly email newsletters are useful.  The team shares updates and advice and input such as big wins, new clients,

business tips, payroll events, deadlines, tax updates, software considerations, administration notes, holiday schedules, and training opportunities.  Members are highlighted for solving problems or going “above and beyond” to help.

“We don’t see each other but once a month, so those weekly interactions are helpful to feel engaged.”

For Chad, communication is the focus with clients externally and with each other internally.  When the team is abreast of the latest news, real-time developments, and considerations, Chad knows that it creates an appreciative and happy staff.  Communication is a valuable business tactic.   “When they feel cared for, they’ll be with you for a long time.”

Related Articles:

1. Get Your Accounting Team To Buy-In To Your Ideas and New Technology
2. How To Create The Perfect Accounting Firm
3. 5 steps on how to onboard your accounting staff