3 Ways to Earn What You're Worth

Why Accountants & Bookkeepers Struggle to Earn What Their Worth 😤

There are three reasons why most accountants and bookkeepers struggle to earn what their worth:

Reason #1: To get paid more you have to take on more clients and/or work more hours.

Reason #2: You have a ton of competition.

Reason #3: You’re selling unscalable services.

How do you eliminate the struggle altogether? Here’s three ways:

Way #1: Get paid for your value, not your time.

Way #2: De-commoditize your services.

Way #3: Sell a scalable service.

Let’s explain…

Get paid for your value, not your time.

To get paid for your value, you need to sell something that your clients value. They don’t value clean books as much as we think they should. And, they don’t value timely and accurate taxes as much as we think they should.

What do they value? Having a growing and successful business. If you can do that, you’ll definitely start getting paid for your value, not your time.

De-commoditize your services.

To your prospects, the work ‘output’ that you generate is the same as your competitors. This is what’s known as a commodity. This is also what prevents you from being able to raise your prices.

A great way to de-commoditize is to let your prospects know that the work ‘output’ you generate is not the same as everyone else’s. You need to let your prospects know that you’ll not only ensure their taxes are filed and their books are kept but you’ll also ensure they have a growing and successful business.

Sell a scalable service.

The definition of scalable is when you can increase revenue without a substantial increase in costs. The problem with tax and bookkeeping work is that when you increase revenue (take on a new client), your costs (your time + your employee’s time) goes up in tandem. This is not scalable.

Instead, you need to sell a service that’s scalable. In other words, you need to sell a service that allows you to take on more clients without taking on more costs.

Want to learn how to start a CFO service? Check out our next training this Thursday at 3p ET | 12p PT where we’ll show you how to do just that. Click the button below.

How to Know You’re Actually Providing Value 🤔

Subscriber Question: Ashley, a bookkeeper who also offers advisory services, recently asked: “How do I know if I’m providing real value to my client as an advisor?”

Our Answer: The answer is simple - if your client is still paying for your advisory services, you’re providing value.

Let me explain.

People don’t pay for things they don’t value. So, if your client is still paying you for your advisory services, then that means they value something.

If you were not providing real value to your clients, they would simply stop paying you.

The very fact that a client continues to pay you month after month means that they value something about your relationship.

Maybe they value having someone to talk to that ‘gets’ them and their business.

Maybe they value having someone that understands numbers and can translate it for them.

Maybe they like the insights you have about their business.

Maybe you make it really clear what they need to do to have a better business.

Maybe they like having a sounding board to bounce ideas off of.

This is all real value.

Top 5 Consolidated Reporting Headaches 😣

This is a sponsored post by our good friends at Joiin.

If you’re responsible for consolidating reports for multiple groups, you need to check out Joiin. Why? Because the eliminate with the top 5 headaches related to consolidated reporting.

Headache #1: “It takes hours to generate consolidated group reports.”

Headache #2: “Using Excel, there’s too much room for error.”

Headache #3: “Managing too many spreadsheet changes is difficult.”

Headache #4: “I need better reports to digest figures easily.”

Headache #5: “A new system could be expensive and complex.”

Click below to see how Joiin can make consolidated financial reporting made easy.

Cash Flow Driver of the Week 🌊

There’s one way to help your client have a successful business: and that’s by consistently helping them improve their cash flow.

Getting your client to generate consistent positive cash flow is the only thing required to stay in business.

There’s fifteen drivers of cash flow. In previous issues, we’ve covered the first six drivers: leads, conversion rate, retention rate, purchase frequency rate, average transaction value, and costs of goods sold.

Today, we’re looking at the seventh driver: Marketing Expenses (as a % of revenue).

Five Finds to Be a Better CFO 😎

Here’s our top five books, tools, articles, and quotes to help you become a better CFO/Advisor.

[Article] The #1 reason a client will leave their CFO/Advisor. Click here.

[Book] The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. Click here.

[Podcast] The life of an accountant vs a CFO/Advisor. Click here.

[Quote] “You have imposter syndrome,” He says, “but paradoxically, that’s often a sign of competence. Only people who understand their work well enough to be intimidated by it can be terrified by their own ignorance. It’s the opposite of Dunning-Kruger syndrome, where the miserably incompetent think they’re on top of the job because they don’t understand it.” - Charles Stross

[Podcast] Discover what clients want, scale your practice, and offer advisory services on this episode of the Accounting Influencers podcast. Click here.

By the way, we do not earn commissions on anything we’ve suggested.

Upcoming Trainings 🎓

Here’s a list of our upcoming trainings.

How to Start a CFO Service (1.0 CPE Eligible)
Date: Tuesday, April 25th
Time: 3p ET | 12p PT
RSVP: Click here

Side-Hustle CFO (1.0 CPE Eligible)
Date: Friday, April 26th
Time: 3p ET | 12p PT
RSVP: Click here

CPA to CFO (1.0 CPE Eligible)
Date: Tuesday, April 30th
Time: 3p ET | 12p PT
RSVP: Click here

Bookkeeper to CFO
Date: Wednesday, May 1st
Time: 3p ET | 12p PT
RSVP: Click here

Launch Your CFO/Advisory Service 🚀

Book a call with someone from our team and we’ll give you a behind the scenes tour of our membership program where we’ll train you on…

…a system to get leads
…a system to convert those leads to high-paying clients
…a system to provide an advisory service that keeps clients coming back for more

We ❤️ Accountants.
We ❤️ Bookkeepers.
We ❤️ CFOs.

The CFO Project Newsletter is created with love by The CFO Project - a membership program where we train and certify accountants, bookkeepers, CPAs and Enrolled Agents on becoming a CFO/Advisor.

Have a suggestion? Send us an email to [email protected].