TL;DR
I hope you caught the demo we had of the new AI-native bookkeeping platform called Digits.
It is impressive in its own right.
But the zip-zap-zoom wizardry isn’t what excites me most about Digits.
See, looking back, the moments that brought the most energy and growth to my bookkeeping journey were the ones where I chose to do things a little bit differently.
For me, that has looked like niching in FreshBooks, doing my 1-to-many group coaching “Office Hours” program for my clients, making tutorials for my firm’s YouTube Channel, etc. Those are things that come to mind that make my firm different from the normal mode.
Breaking away from the standard path has given me room to experiment, enjoy my work more, and build something unique.
Being different doesn’t always mean niching. It can mean spotting the part of your background, personality, or skill set that gives you an edge, and leaning into it. Economists call this your competitive advantage.
That’s what makes your business fun, sustainable, memorable, and ideally most profitable.
I think a way to find your own competitive advantage is to ask yourself some of these questions:
Where do I have the most fun in my business?
What type of work feels almost effortless to me?
Where can time slip away because I’m enjoying what I’m doing?
What parts of my background give me unique skills or perspective?
What tasks on my to-do list do I gravitate towards when my list is long?
So let me encourage you: it’s okay to build a bookkeeping business that looks different.
Side note: Don’t be “different” with the actual bookkeeping. Accounting rules exist for a reason!
And maybe the way you decide to be different is to be an early-adopter and become the world’s #1 expert in the Digits software.
Digits is different. A different general ledger. An AI-native general ledger, not a traditional ledger with AI bolted on.
Thankfully, accounting is accounting, right? The debits and credits stay the same no matter which GL you use. All it takes is putting in the time and reps to master the tool and see where it takes you. I truly believe that some folks will have the chance to build wildly profitable firms by niching down deep and becoming a “Digits” firm.
If you already have a certain industry niche or some clients that you think might be a good fit for Digits, you’ll start by clicking that “Become A Partner” button (totally free). And then I would just jump on a call with their accountant team and pepper them with questions about your exact use cases. Lean on your partner rep like crazy in the early days.
Click that graphic. 👇
Deals Deals Deals
💰 Tickets for Wave-Seattle will increase on Sept 30 because sales tax kicks in on this type of purchase in Washington State. I bought a ticket to this event. Will I see you there?
💰 There are four stops left in the next couple of weeks on this tour of one-day accounting conferences called Advisory Amplified. Will they be near you? I saw that you could use a code ONPAY for a discount.
💰 Tyler Otto from The Un-Accountable Podcast is launching a program called Firm Foundation and it is 75% off for the first 50 people (guinea pigs) that sign up. He tells me half of those discounted spots are filled. Use code 50PIGGY.
💰 Akadian Accounting Education has bundled its Bookkeeping Fast Track and Fast & Easy QBO courses for a significant discount*.
Please always send me any news of deals that you hear of that others might benefit from.
Be There or Be Square
Items with a “+” are hosted by me. All these events can be viewed and registered for in the DESCRIPTIONS of each event on the Bookkeeping Side Hustle Calendar.
📅+October 1: I saw that Mariette Martinez is hosting a free "Q4 Intentional Goal Setting” event. I’ve invited her to come teach our community about goal setting later this year, but for now, this session with her would be a great kickstart if you are ready to set and hit some big goals!
📅+October 2: Identifying and Attracting YOUR Ideal Client. Melissa Miller Furgeson’s workshop will give you tools to help you find the clients that are right for you. RSVP in the FB group.
📅+October 7: Behind The Hustle: Ellen Oliver. Come hear from an everyday bookkeeping entrepreneur about how she built her business. Watch on YouTube and see the whole playlist HERE.
📅 October 27-29: Intuit Connect. Join other bookkeepers and accountants in Las Vegas for this premier conference. AND there is still time to throw your name into the hat for a FREE ticket from Uncat - just fill out this form.
Featured Posts
🌶️ So I shared a post to generate discussion about being a IRS VITA volunteer tax preparer. It blew up! Look, I know you don’t have time to study for a tax exam to prepare taxes for low income and senior citizens in your community. But you should do it anyway!
🌶️ Folks are adding their locations to this post in hopes of finding some local(ish) bookkeeping friends to grab a coffee or lunch with. Go add your hometown. And then find a match. Oh, and don’t be a weirdo or a creep!
Help You Hustle
💪 You caught the Digits Demo, right? What a wild world we live in. After 5 years of building this AI-first General Ledger, they are ready to partner with accounting pros in a major way.
✅ Watch the demo.
✅ Schedule a 1-on-1 with one of their accountant partners. Free to do so. Grab a time slot here.
⁉️Build the first Digits-only firm
💪 The “Behind The Hustle” interview with Jennifer Adams is live on the series playlist.
She was always drawn to accounting from her teenage years, but took a detour to study theology and be a pastor. ⛪
She mentioned how important this income has been since her husband is in Real Estate and the last year has been hard for realtors.
The ramp up was harder than she expected. She didn’t come close to meeting her early goals for her business.
She has had lots of success with a local networking approach.
Just listen. To all of them.
💪 Scaling New Heights conference has a call for speakers. I don’t know why I didn’t see this until just now, but it closes on September 30! Gah! Get your submissions in. Shoot your shot.
💪 Do you want/need your Intuit Bookkeeper Certification? Watch this free webinar replay available through Sunday. Master the Intuit Bookkeeper Certification: Your Complete Guide to Passing Fast and Building Credibility.*
Jobs
💼 A few jobs were added to the Job Guide - check it out HERE.
💼 Joanna L. shared a helpful image of how to access the Job Guide from the FB group.
My Family Circus (43F, 40M, 13M, 11F, 10M)
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🎪 I’ve deliberately waited several months after my husband and I did something to write about it so that I wouldn’t get thrown in jail in case it was somehow against the law.
My husband and I attended a fundraiser a few months ago. The venue was at a hip hotel.
And we splurged and stayed overnight…while our kids stayed home alone. 😲😲😲
We have left them home alone for errands or date nights plenty of times, but this was different. I was the most nervous out of everyone!
We had done a good bit of preparation and discussion leading up to it. Honestly, the overnight stay was less of “mom and dad want a fancy night together” and more of a “let’s use this as an excuse to push our kids out of their comfort zones.”
Here were some of the safety measures we reviewed ahead of time:
No opening the door for anyone, “not even the Queen of England” (which is what my grandmother used to say.
No using the stove top or oven.
If an emergency happened, we practiced the order they would run to each neighbors’ house until they found help.
Oh, and we detoxed from any movies that might be remotely scary for several months before we did this! I did not want worries about monsters or bad guys to thwart this.
Ultimately we were only 15 minutes away. We left them with a cell phone. And told a trusted neighbor that we were doing it just so they were aware.
This idea was just one idea that I had as a result of our school’s headmaster hosting a parent book discussion about this book.*
Now, the book didn’t specifically suggest that parents leave children alone overnight.
But it made me actively look for ways to show my children that they are capable of a lot more than society thinks they are. I want their brains to develop under conditions of unstructured play, real-world risk, and the kind of freedom that builds resilience.
They used their little alarm clocks by their beds to get themselves up and fed and dressed for church. I was so happy to see them when we rolled back by the house to pick them up.
When it was all over, they were so chill about it. It was totally “not a big deal, mom.” 🥹
Kate Builds In Public
🎢 A dad from my son’s soccer team invited me to attend his BNI group. It was really cool because one of the group members is a photographer and happened to be offering headshots for 25 bucks at the end of the meeting.
Everyone can attend every any BNI group 2 times for free.
I think it’s a rite of passage that everyone should just go to one. BNI is a different animal. I don’t think it is a “cult”, but I have heard disgruntled people call it that. They just require their members to really be invested in their group and share referrals.
Now, it is a ton of work to be a member. But do I think that a bookkeeper could have success if he/she worked the BNI system.
They even have their own training library their group members have access to, so it’s quite possible that that library could be your entire business education.
From The Vault
⚡This is the time of year that you need to be looking if you plan on hiring bookkeepers to help you in your firm for the busy months ahead.
So be sure to watch this video called How To Hire A Bookkeeper Who Knows What They Are Doing. Really helpful tips from an accounting industry hiring expert.
Letters To The Editor
✉️Sometimes I get the BSH Pub scheduled early, and sometimes I send if AFTER my kids XC meet. Always glad for personal and business encouragement!
I have no doubt that the kids loved knowing that their mom was there to support them, knowing she was busy too. Plus side sweaty or not, it’s still good content and we can’t smell ya over here. lol - Elise E.
Classifieds (Clickable)
ICYMI
I saw that Justine Lackey is keeping enrollment for her coaching program, The Nest, open for 2 more days. If you are having regrets for not jumping in, you can use our community link to check it out and sign up. There are full-pay and monthly-pay options. And a money back guarantee.
Keep hustling!
Kate
-Chief Hustler-
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I am down right rabid about transparency and full disclosure. If a link, including Amazon Links, has a * beside it, it means it is either an affiliate link where I might receive compensation if you make a purchase, at no additional charge to you. Or it could be a tracking link that another business provided me to see how many readers click on that link.