This is so spot on! Running my firm for 18 years we’ve dealt with “Steve” and driven ourselves crazy. I’ll never forget selling off our payroll services to Paychex years ago and being terrified we wouldn’t make up that revenue. It just gave staff more time to do higher value work . And I love the jab toward the keyboard warriors who have it all figured out and never undercharge ! Solid video and a great reminder for me to constantly evaluate our roster.
Great reminder... it's me, Hi, I'm the problem, it's me. Time to say bye Felicia to Steve even though he's been with you for maybe your whole career - taking up time and energy in exchange for... respect and admiration?
Jason- similar concept for clients who ask for customization (unique chart of accounts, telling you how they want you to do the accounting, etc). Similar to to the slippery slope and disruption caused by low-bono, I get the same feeling for clients that want to control how we do the accounting. Suddenly my team is doing everyone different from one another and things are a mess.
Just starting my firm… currently in that if you fog a mirror you qualify as my client phase 😂. I’ll keep this video in my back pocket for when I’m ready to off board Steve. For now… I’ll take Steve!
I'm in the same boat. I work from home though, so I have basically no overhead and can afford to have cheaper clients for now, but I'll be getting rid of discounts once I have enough clients to afford to lose some.
I wish I would have known these things when I started. I think an important takeaway is to listen to this type of advice and don't discount your services. Set the expectation up front so that you're not trying to "catch up" later in your career. If it's hard now to attract those customers willing to pay decent dollars for your services, imagine how much harder it will be when you've never trained that pricing muscle.
Can you talk more about identifying the new tax pros? What are the indicators? What due diligence do you do to make sure you're handling these beloved clients over to someone competent (while not being a jerk and giving the new tax pro a test to get referrals)?
So in reality, I'm thinking about this budgeting thing for family members. What would this look for a solo practitioner? Budget for $X of expense for the time spent doing a family members tax return at the rate it would take to pay myself or a staff to do that work? Then, in practice, if the cost (time) spent doing that work exceeds or comes close to exceeding that target, cut off other low bono work or adjust the budget accordingly. If moms return takes 1.5 hours and someone who I pay $25/hr (including payroll tax for this scenario) can do this return, then the budget for this is $37.50. So if they exceed or come close to that budget I have to adjust my expectations, cut off other low bono clients, etc.
Yeah I'd say have a 'pro-bono cost pool' for all pro-bono work you'll do If mom goes over budget, it means next year uncle tito's out, or mom needs to hire a bookkeeper to simplify the work you do, etc
I'm putting a poster in my office with that mantra "Low Bono No No"
Nice! Mine will say "Low Bono No Mo"
This is great! This is essentially business rust, at first not a big deal but overtime it kills your business!
Business rust I like that
This is so spot on! Running my firm for 18 years we’ve dealt with “Steve” and driven ourselves crazy. I’ll never forget selling off our payroll services to Paychex years ago and being terrified we wouldn’t make up that revenue. It just gave staff more time to do higher value work .
And I love the jab toward the keyboard warriors who have it all figured out and never undercharge ! Solid video and a great reminder for me to constantly evaluate our roster.
Why are you roasting my firm?
BRO-... well said. Wisdom is PRICELESS!
Great reminder... it's me, Hi, I'm the problem, it's me. Time to say bye Felicia to Steve even though he's been with you for maybe your whole career - taking up time and energy in exchange for... respect and admiration?
Weekly reminder that this is the best channel and to keep up the great content!!👍👍👍
😍
Jason- similar concept for clients who ask for customization (unique chart of accounts, telling you how they want you to do the accounting, etc). Similar to to the slippery slope and disruption caused by low-bono, I get the same feeling for clients that want to control how we do the accounting. Suddenly my team is doing everyone different from one another and things are a mess.
Yeah very true! It's sneaky too. It's a bunch of little innocent changes that pile up.
Just starting my firm… currently in that if you fog a mirror you qualify as my client phase 😂. I’ll keep this video in my back pocket for when I’m ready to off board Steve. For now… I’ll take Steve!
I'm in the same boat. I work from home though, so I have basically no overhead and can afford to have cheaper clients for now, but I'll be getting rid of discounts once I have enough clients to afford to lose some.
I wish I would have known these things when I started. I think an important takeaway is to listen to this type of advice and don't discount your services. Set the expectation up front so that you're not trying to "catch up" later in your career. If it's hard now to attract those customers willing to pay decent dollars for your services, imagine how much harder it will be when you've never trained that pricing muscle.
Pardon me, but movie references? A sweeping score? I smell cinema.
Also yes, send all your low bono no no’s to solo’s like me for now, Han solo’s.
Can you talk more about identifying the new tax pros? What are the indicators? What due diligence do you do to make sure you're handling these beloved clients over to someone competent (while not being a jerk and giving the new tax pro a test to get referrals)?
I swear your videos are awesome!
No you're awesome Jessica!
So in reality, I'm thinking about this budgeting thing for family members. What would this look for a solo practitioner? Budget for $X of expense for the time spent doing a family members tax return at the rate it would take to pay myself or a staff to do that work? Then, in practice, if the cost (time) spent doing that work exceeds or comes close to exceeding that target, cut off other low bono work or adjust the budget accordingly.
If moms return takes 1.5 hours and someone who I pay $25/hr (including payroll tax for this scenario) can do this return, then the budget for this is $37.50. So if they exceed or come close to that budget I have to adjust my expectations, cut off other low bono clients, etc.
Yeah I'd say have a 'pro-bono cost pool' for all pro-bono work you'll do
If mom goes over budget, it means next year uncle tito's out, or mom needs to hire a bookkeeper to simplify the work you do, etc
“They only get mo bono” lol….
Best move I ever made was to stop working for family.
Too true
Do you have a website?
Awesome
Why are you telling me about my life lol
👁️👁️