The One About Dinner
Y’all, I had the most amazing dinner recently. Truly.
I drove over an hour to have dinner with the DFW Bookkeepers group. Most of the other folks there had all driven a long way, too. These other members seem pretty committed to doing this every month. They have decided that this monthly dinner is worth their time and money.
Now, I realize a gathering of bookkeepers is not so unique. I’m sure other towns have similar networking groups.
But stick with me…
This dinner was different.
It wasn't just another night of friendly chit chat or venting about clients or 1099s. Sure, there was plenty of that, but the really cool thing was that the leader of the group captures questions she sees in Facebook groups/Reddit/Discord/Twitter/etc and prints them out and then the table discusses how to handle each one. It was like small group case discussions in your college classes. It was amazing!
Some of the questions are technical about a bookkeeping software. Some are about running a practice. Some are about client struggles.
But then it gets even better.
She sends her list of questions to a group of CPA contacts that she has and apparently they are willing to give their two-cents in writing as well. So then the group reviews the CPA answers, too, to have even more ideas to consider. Not that CPAs are always going to be right, but, these outside answers are a great way to ensure that the group doesn’t become an echo chamber, just reinforcing each other’s (possibly wrong) ideas.
Y’all, this is all you need to get a group going 👇.
Time: The DFW group picks the same time and date each month.
Location: They pick the same central location. You could decide to rotate restaurants if you wanted.
Communication: This group has a simple private Facebook Group and a GroupMe channel.
People: Don’t leave any stone unturned in finding people. Ask in any bookkeeping networking groups you are in. Look in your local Chamber of Commerce directory. Use the QBO ProAdvisor directory and search your zip code. Call up local brick-and-mortar firms and ask them if they have connections to any local bookkeepers that they subcontract to.
List of questions to discuss: Lindsey Kline, the organizer of the DFW group, said that she is happy for others to use her list and the CPA answers list. So that part is covered for you! Just ask in our Bookkeeping Side Hustle Community if you want a copy of the Google Doc she makes.
I was thinking that the fact that a good portion of the conversation would be about a list of questions would also be a great comfort to shy introverts who would be anxious to make small talk around a dinner table.
No excuses! You might only have one other person at first, but if you keep your eyes open for folks and commit to doing it for the long term, it can happen!
If you want it, you’ll do it. Use our community to find others in your area.
And thanks so much to sponsor Gentle Frog for making this newsletter edition possible.
Gentle Frog’s owner and lead instructor, Rachel Barnett, just announced a pricing change and her QBO courses are priced a la carte now. See the menu and grab the one that you need.
Also, get in on her in-person bookkeeper gatherings if you live in upstate New York! Connect with her on LinkedIn, too.
Deals Deals Deals
💰 Financial Cents is offering $100 off their practice management software with code FCFriends100. Expires March 30.
💰 Breakthrough for Accountants & Bookkeepers had a $1,000 off sale through last night. If you have buyer’s remorse and didn’t buy, reach out right away and state your case and ask for the discount to be honored.
💰 GrowCon* will be in Jacksonville, Florida, on May 6-7. This event aims to assist you in expanding, scaling, discovering innovative systems, solutions, and ultimately altering the course of your business. Register HERE* and use KJ200 for $200 off through April 14th or until tickets sell out! Get you booty to conferences, folks!
💰 XeroCon will be in Nashville, TN, August 14-15. You can use code XCNASH24-first-access for $150 off your ticket to XeroCon through April 30.
Please always send me any news of deals that you hear of that others might benefit from.
Be There or Be Square
📅 +March 18 & 25: Co-working Hour. Join me this Monday morning to kick-off your week. RSVP for March 18 & March 25
📅 March 19: Chart of Accounts in QBO. In this Royalwise course you will learn about the function of the Chart of Accounts. You will make your own COA and learn how to customize QBO’s. Sign up HERE*.
📅 + March 26: How To Double Your Revenue Through Advisory Services. This is the 2nd part of the series with The CFO Project. Learn how you can grow your revenue by offering advisory services. RSVP HERE.
📅 +April 11: Sharpening Your Excel Skills For Bookkeepers. Come learn Excel tips and tricks for bookkeepers. Steve Chase of Sequentia Solutions is an excel genius and great instructor. He will share his favorite ways that he uses Excel in his bookkeeping business. This is one you won’t want to miss! RSVP HERE.
📅 +April 25: How To Get Started in Bookkeeping. Come join me for a 2nd Q&A session. This is a time for you to ask questions about starting your bookkeeping biz. You must register to join - I want everyone to feel safe asking their questions. (reminder: I WILL NOT be answering technical bookkeeping or software questions). Register HERE.
📅 May 15-17: The CFO Accelerator Live. I’m going to the CFO Accelerator Live conference in Dallas*. Should I host a BSH meetup? Who else will be there? Let me know!
Featured Posts
🌶️ Aiysha S. wished a Happy Ramadan to those who celebrate and went to give some great tips on how she manages her business while observing the religious fasts and holy days, even during “busy season”. This post is a great reminder that creating our own business can give us the flexibility to prioritize what is truly important in your life.
🌶️ Irina Jones spurred an insightful discussion about the concept of the “Ask My Accountant” account in the Chart of Accounts. Is the bookkeepers supposed to know the answers? I personally use the concept of Ask My Accountant. Do you? Go add your 2 cents.
Help You Hustle
💪 The Accounting Cornerstone Foundation is officially accepting applications for 2024 applicants. We will be sending 12 people to 4 conferences. Details here.
💪 QBO Recertification season is upon us. And lots of questions are starting to pop up. It is always confusing because it is kind of a moving target every year. Thanks to Fast & Easy QBO for putting together this FAQ about the 2024 QBO recertification*. Don't lose your certification because you are ill-informed about the process!
💪 Did you catch the interview about how to get started with a business advisory service where our monthly client engagements are supposed to be between $1,500 - $5,000 per month? So many of you are doing business advisory tasks already. We are just afraid to call ourselves advisors or Fractional CFOs. My main takeaway from the conversation is to look through your existing clients and see who is paying for “business coaching” (we classify the payments, right?!). Press them in what they are getting out of that service. I bet you would offer more than that overpriced yahoo, I mean “coach” they are paying. I am certain what Adam explained in the interview is more than what those professional coaches are providing. With the right system and tools, you can be the best person in the world to advise your clients.
Also, don’t miss part 2: How to Double Your Bookkeeping Practices' Revenue Through Advisory Services.
💪 Be sure to catch the replay of a webinar called Bookkeeping Principles: How to become a CPAs favorite Bookkeeper. Thanks to Joana Linares for sharing this resource. Webinar is essentially free. Just costs an email.
💪 Quickbooks Online from Setup to Tax Time. Brand new hard copy reference book about QBO from Alicia Katz Pollock. This book is excellent for QBO newbies, people who like desk references, and QBDT to QBO switchers.
For Fun
😹 There is still time to get your nominations in for the Accounting High March Madness competition. I would be so grateful if you would nominate Accounting Cornerstone Foundation 🔥🔥🔥
Jobs
💼 Check out the BSH Job Opp Google sheet. Click HERE to access it. Be sure to use #jobopp when posting about jobs!
My Family Circus
New section of this newsletter for 2024. Completely non-bookkeeping related.
🎪 I’m sounding like a broken record about my love of audiobooks in our family. It is such a great way to reduce screen time. Some of y’all have inquired about what we listen to. Here is a quick list of our top recommendations.
The Chronicles of Narnia Collector's Edition (Radio Theatre)
Christmas Carol (Radio Theater)
The Chronicles of Narnia Collector's Edition (Radio Theatre)
Adventures In Odyssey (There is a gazillion and they are all good)
Many narrated by Jim Weiss (Gone West, Story of the World, Just So Stories, etc)
Many narrated by Jim Dale
Kate Builds In Public
🎢 New Business update (since the last update)
I secured a $2,400 Freshbooks cleanup. It is for 2 years. One bank and one CC. Only about 70 invoices sent in 2 years. He wanted me to change my proposal to just clean up one year, but I made a strong case for doing the whole project and getting the wholehistory done right since the volume is not too huge. This project will be mostly handled by a subcontractor.
I have had 5 new clients join my FreshBooks Office Hours.
My hourly training requests are through the roof. Too many for my tastes, honestly. Making me start to feel like I have a “busy season” which I really don't want to feel like I ever have a busy season. I even offer a slot from 5:30-6:30 in the morning (I am an early riser and might as well turn that into money). Well, I am Central Time now and last week someone from California even booked that slot. At 3:30 in the morning her time! If you are willing to take a slightly nontraditional path (i.e. become an expert in a software other than QuickBooks), you won't have a shortage of business owners who need you.
🎢 Part of the reason I feel like I've been working more than I’d like is because this past week has been spring break and I wanted to have my calendar completely blocked off. The only client interaction I had was to keep my weekly office hours on Tuesday afternoons. We are visiting a brand new baby niece and camping. (Oh, and I am writing this newsletter sitting by a fire using my hotspot at a State Park ⛺.)
🎢 I’m also so grateful for so many other fun, non-work things I've done in the last few weeks. I’ve volunteered at the fourth grade medieval party, and hosted my in-laws and my parents over the last couple weeks.
From The Vault
⚡ If you like teaching and want to know how I do it, you can watch my Zoom tricks video.
Classifieds (Clickable)
Want to have an ad in the Bookkeeping Side Hustle Pub? Click HERE for more info.
Keep hustling!
Kate
-Chief Hustler-
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