The Successful Bookkeeper Podcast

"Like this is not just a gig, but this is my career. You grow into wanting more of that for your clients and you start recognizing if a client isn't about that. The last thing I want is just agree to do a subpar job because a client doesn't really care and then they decide to care in two years and they look back at the history and they're like, 'This has been a mess.'"
-Christina Springstead

Christina Springstead, owner and founder...

"Do not be tempted to undervalue yourself just because it happens to be something that's fast or easy for you to produce."
-Casey Brown

In the finale of this two-part series, pricing expert and president of Boost Pricing, Casey Brown, returns to share how bookkeepers can move from fear-based pricing to confident, value-driven conversations. She explains how to stop pre-discounting, test your true pricing ceiling, and communicate yo...

"Bookkeeping is a commodity. My accounting software can be a commodity. So how do we strike that emotional cord and how do we give the confidence that we are the right choice going forward? We're not a commodity. We are differentiating. We're building that difference."
-Melanie Spillman

Melanie Spillman, Vice President of Sales for Sage US Medium Businesses, shares practical ways bookkeepers can build stronger client relationships—...

"It's the bookkeeper who has to sell his or her own services, and so they're not a professional salesperson. So a lot of times there's a lot of fear and we get in our heads, we get in our gut, we feel pushy, we feel salesy, we feel weird and we discount. And so to me, it's about arming the person whose job it is to sell this value with the skills and tools to do it."
-Casey Brown

In part one of this two-part conversation, pricing e...

"We have to stop trading time for money. Hourly billing traps you. It gets you in the cycle of undervaluing yourself. Discounting just to get a client to sign up with you and think that you're going to charge more in the future is another trap. Doing free work, answering quick questions, answering an abundance of emails and never getting paid for it is a trap."
-Michelle Weinstein

Michelle Weinstein, founder of The Abundant Accoun...

"The more intentional you get with your money, the more intentional you get with your time as well."
-Jennifer Hume

In our 500th episode, Jennifer Hume, owner of Coronation Bookkeeping & Tax Services, shares how she built a successful virtual bookkeeping firm and expanded into coaching for real estate professionals. She reveals what worked, what didn't, and how she uses systems, marketing, and speaking to grow her business with pur...

"The number one driver of small to medium sized businesses not making it is cash flow problems. It's not that they're not profitable. This is the big thing with net cash that most people don't realize, is that you can run a profitable business and run out of money."
-Tommy Vincent

In this spotlight episode, Tommy Vincent, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Hub Analytics, returns to share how bookkeepers can confidently step in...

"I think that the hacker mindset is a superpower because what it does is it fosters independent thinking. And independent thinking enables a person to observe or discover overlooked pathways, overlooked opportunities, things that other people have missed."
-Ted Harrington

Ted Harrington, cybersecurity expert and author of Hackable: How To Do Application Security Right and his upcoming book Inner Hacker: A New Way Of Thinking, retu...

"You have to keep evolving. We're always evolving. Never stop growing. Never stop learning. If you're not happy with what you're doing, there's always a way to change. And you can lean on great thought leaders like this to help you get there.  "
-Lisa Campbell

Lisa Campbell, Founder of Accelerate 2 Advisor, returns for part two of her series about Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. She shares practical ways bookke...

"The opportunity now is huge with accountants and bookkeepers to provide more of a proactive service, more forecasting, more future visibility. But certain things have to be in place for that to happen."
-Paul Lodder

Paul Lodder, VP of Accounting Product and Strategy at Dext, discusses how bookkeepers and accountants can use cash flow forecasting and automation to move beyond compliance and become true strategic advisors.

In this ...

"  Beginning with the end in mind is very helpful for people who are starting, but also for people who are already in the weeds and they just like, 'I can't do this anymore. I need to do something else.' Figure out what it is that you want to build and then reverse engineer it and build it."
-Lisa Campbell

Lisa Campbell, founder of Accelerate 2 Advisor, shares how to apply the first three of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effe...

"Anyone who grows plants knows that sometimes you have to trim the leaves to have an overall healthy plant. Not every customer will come with you as you grow your business, and that's actually a good thing. It keeps your business efficient and healthy."
-Etinosa Agbonlahor

In the finale of this two-part conversation, Etinosa Agbonlahor, behavioral economist and CEO of Decision Alpha, returns to share practical strategies for raisin...

"You should be distinct enough and positioned just a bit enough that people go, 'Oh, I am caring about the value they're gonna bring to me, to the point where I wanna double click.'"
-Etinosa Agbonlahor

Etinosa Agbonlahor, behavioral economist and CEO of Decision Alpha, shares how pricing is about more than numbers. She explains why understanding your value and talking to clients is key to building a profitable bookkeeping busines...

"Just having the courage to allow some of your real story to come through publicly is your differentiator. It builds trust, opens doors to sales conversations, and draws future customers to you."
–Jess Jensen

Jess Jensen, co-founder of Co-pilot Communications, is back for the second part of this powerful conversation. In part...

"People are interested in other people. So you can talk about your practice or where you see perhaps the industry going down the road, but from a point of view that is informed and experienced and maybe has a little bit of vulnerability woven in."
-Jess Jensen

Jess Jensen, co-founder of Co-pilot Communications, has helped leaders at Microsoft, Qualcomm, Adidas, and now small business owners across North America build their digital...

"A woman came up to me and said, 'You know, you really get me.' And I thought that's really the mantra I want to kind of go with. I want people to understand that I get what they're saying. I can't be them, but I can translate the pain and the successes that they're having."
-Jennifer Kahnweiler

Introverted leaders bring unique strengths to the workplace, but they're often overlooked. In this episode, Jennifer Kahnweiler, an expert...

" I think it's important that you go for it. You imagine what that looks like. I didn't go into this with the intention of having a big company. It happened one employee at a time. How do you get the 30 employees? Well, start with one."
-Jenny Groberg

In this episode, we wrap up a two-part conversation with Jenny Groberg, founder of BookSmarts Accounting and Bookkeeping, where she shares how she turned a small team into a high-perf...

" When I'd go on appointments I would say, 'You know, I do work with so and so', and then that would kind of just help them feel reassured that I knew what I was doing, but I never pretended to know everything. I would be very upfront. If there's something I don't know, let me do some research and I'll get back to you."
-Jenny Groberg

Jenny Groberg, founder of BookSmarts Accounting and Bookkeeping, shares her powerful story of buil...

" One of the most famous quotes ever from Tony Robbins, this one I take with me every single day. 'Fall out of love with yourself and fall in love with your customer and watch the magic happen'. And you gotta fall in love with your customer. When you fall out of love with what you offer or your package, and you fall in love with your customer, you have a beautiful relationship that happens."
-Lynn Gagne-Webb

In this episode, we wra...