What Is A Bookkeeping Package?
A bookkeeping package is a combination of services provided by a bookkeeper to help a firm manage its financial records and transactions. Instead of delivering individual services, bookkeepers design packages that bundle various services into a single, comprehensive product. These packages usually contain duties such as data entry, bank reconciliation, financial reporting, and invoicing.
For example, a simple package may include necessary work like recording daily transactions and reconciling bank statements. Similarly, a more complex package may include some additional services. These could be services like extensive financial analysis and tax preparation. To allow businesses to pick the level of services they require, bookkeepers can also tailor packages to meet client demands and budgets.
Bookkeeping packages help in clarifying what clients can expect and how much they are willing to pay by streamlining the service process. This approach helps bookkeepers provide consistent, high-quality service to their clients, which in turn helps in managing workload efficiently.
Also Read: For more clarity on how to price your bookkeeping services, read this helpful article on how to price bookkeeping services with a free bookkeeping pricing template.
How To Create Bookkeeping Packages - Step-by-step guide
As a bookkeeper, your priority would be to find new customers and keep the current ones. While your competitive skills play the utmost role in these functions, things like bookkeeping and packaging can help your business scale. But we understand that, as a bookkeeper, you’re wondering how to do packaging of services. This step-by-step guide will help you:
Step 1: Who Is Your Target Audience?
Understanding who your target audience is, is the cornerstone of effectively packaging your services. Whether you aim to create a bookkeeping package for small businesses, startups, or large corporations, each agency will have its unique needs and budget limitations. Here are some tip to follow.
- Identify Client Needs and Budgets: Different businesses—whether small, startup, or large corporations—have unique requirements and budget limitations. Customize your packages accordingly.
- Conduct Market Research: Thoroughly research your market to understand the nature of your target audience.
- Tailor Services to Expectations: Ensure your bookkeeping packages are designed to meet the unique demands and expectations of each client.
Step 2: What Bookkeeping Services Will You Provide?
Understanding your niche is extremely important here. When you put out a package, your content should reflect why a client should sign with you to do their work. What strengths do you bring to the table, and how your qualifications and skills can benefit the client are things to consider. Only when you know it can you use it to your benefit in your packages.
- Highlight Your Strengths: Communicate clearly as to why clients should choose you. Emphasize your qualifications, skills, and display strengths unique to you.
- Tailor Your Content: Show how your content and portfolio reflects your understanding of the client's needs. Showcase how you can meet and exceed their expectations.
- Outline Specific Services: Break down your offerings into components such as basic bookkeeping, financial reporting, payroll processing, tax preparation, and financial consulting. This helps clients grasp the full value and scope of your services, setting accurate expectations.
Step 3: What Type Of Bookkeeping Packages Can You Create?
Your next step would be to bundle your services into bookkeeping packages. A tiered package approach can cater to businesses with varying needs and budgets. Determine the tiered packages based on clientele size, number of employees, number of monthly transactions, billable hour calculations, etc. For example,
- Basic Package: Ideal for startups, this might include essential bookkeeping tasks like transaction recording and bank reconciliation.
- Standard Package: Suitable for established businesses, this can offer add-ons like payroll processing and quarterly tax preparation.
- Premium Package: Designed for high-value clients, this comprehensive package can include financial consulting, year-end tax services, and all other services from the basic and standard packages.
These tiered packages simplify your work while supporting a variety of clients.
Pro Tip: Every bookkeeper needs reliable software to manage their firm. Here is the best accounting practice management software in the UK for bookkeepers.
Step 4: How To Highlight Your Services?
Now that you have created separate bookkeeping packages for separate clients, the next step is to make these packages shine! Here's how:
- Draft Clear and Concise Descriptions: List the services you plan to provide and emphasize the benefits for your clients. For example, explain in detail how a service of yours such as "bank reconciliation" will ensure the client’s financial data is accurate and will save them time, instead of just noting it down as point.
- Focus on the Value Proposition: How the clients how you and your services can help them achieve their financial goals. Show them the tangible benefits of working with you.
- Detail the Components: Include specifics such as:some text
- Services in Each Package: Clearly outline what each package offers.
- Deliverables in Each Service: Specify what clients will receive with each service.
- Frequency of Services: Indicate how often (e.g., monthly, weekly) each service will be provided and the timeline for them.
- Level of Support: Mention the support you will provide in each package, such as monthly or weekly check-ins, call coordination, email updates, etc.
Step 5: How Do You Want to Charge Your Clients?
Pricing is a competitive space. When creating bookkeeping pricing packages, consider the following factors:
- Service Complexity: The more complex the services, the higher the price. Services like financial consulting or year-end tax preparation will naturally cost more than basic bookkeeping.
- Time Required: Calculate the time needed to deliver each service. Ensure your pricing reflects the effort and resources you invest.
- Market Rates: Conduct a competitive analysis to understand current market standards. This will help you set competitive and fair prices.
- Variable Components: Include a variable pricing component to accommodate any additional services that may be added to the packages.
- Value-Based Pricing: Consider setting you prices for services based on the value they provide to the client. This approach can justify higher prices for premium services that offer significant benefits.
Adding clear and transparent pricing to your packages will help clients trust you and feel confident about their investments.
Pro Tip: Looking for a good software for billing your clients? Here is a list of the best client management and billing software with invoicing options.
Step 6: How Do You Want To Market Your Packages?
- Website Optimization: Use your website to your clearly state your bookkeeping pricing and display what packages you are offering. People viewing your website should find it easy to understand the value of each package and how they can sign up for it.
- Social Media Marketing: Promote your bookkeeping services on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram to share your services and strengths. Reaching out to a wider audience by maintaining regularity in posts, stories, and advertisements will improve the chances of gaining new clients.
- Email Marketing Campaigns: Use target email marketing campaigns to reach out to potential clients about the services you offer. Highlight the benefits and features of your packages in these emails.
- Networking: Attend clubs or events such as industry events and professional group meets to connect with potential clients and build your reputation. Networking helps in establishing referrals and opens up your avenues for new business opportunities.
- Professional Groups: Join bookkeeping and accounting associations to stay connected with industry trends, make a name for yourself within your peers and meet potential clients.
How To Package and Bundle Your Bookkeeping Packages?
An effective method for bookkeeping fee structure can be to come up with three different pricing packages based on the services that you offer, like Cone business proposal software does: Starter, Essential, and Growth.
Clients can choose according to how many services they need from you. A good, better, best pricing strategy is likely to make 66% of your clients feel the middle/better offering is ideal for them as it covers major features without costing them a bomb, as Goldilocks pricing suggests. The proposed three-tier pricing structure for bookkeeping services could be as follows:
- Starter Pack: This pack would be for individuals or startups with basic needs such as monthly bookkeeping, income and expense tracking, basic financial reports and bank reconciliations. Suggested pricing for a pack like this would be $200-$500 per month.
- Standard Pack: For a growing business with additional support such as accounts payable and accounts receivable management, cash flow management, payroll processing, and budgeting expertise, a standard package at $500-$1,000 may be more appropriate.
- Premium Pack: For larger firms who may need more professional services such as inventory management, legal support, detailed financial analysis and reporting, tax management and financial forecasting, a premium package priced at $1,000-$2,000 a month could be more appropriate.
In addition to these tiers, you could also offer clients custom add-ons for specific, popular services such as tax considerations, compliance assistance or reporting and analytics.
While providing these services, it is essential to keep in mind that clients may grow and ensuring seamless transition from one package to the next is a prerequisite to run a good business. You may also offer clients discounts or other special considerations to make your packages more attractive to them.
Why Do I Need To Package Bookkeeping Services?
Clarity And Transparency: Creating a package allows clients to understand what they are getting into when they hire you as a bookkeeper. Defining each package helps enhance client relationships, make them trust you, and explain what to expect while working with you.
Target Marketing: Creating a package allows you to carve out a place in the market for yourself. You may highlight your talents as a bookkeeper and use them to your advantage through packages, as you can adjust your marketing efforts to target clients that demand certain services, optimizing your ROI.
Professional Image: Professional bookkeeping products project a sense of professionalism and dependability to clients. This will make your company more appealing to potential clients because it demonstrates that you are dedicated to working for them.
Scope Of Growth: Making professional packages will positively impact your client base. With tiered packages, it’s easier to upsell clients to higher-level services as their needs grow. This helps increase your revenue per client.
Revenue Prediction: Fixed-fee packages provide a regular income stream, helping you and your clients to better manage their budgets and prepare for the future. Offering tiered packages can help you cater to businesses with different budget constraints and plan your output and income accurately.
Pro Tip: Commencing a new bookkeeping engagement and wondering where to start? Check out this bookkeeping engagement letter guide for writing an effective engagement letter.
5 Tips To Make Your Bookkeeping Packages Stand Out
Creating bookkeeping packages isn’t easy. It may feel daunting at first, but it is necessary. To stand out from your rivals, here are some more ways to make your packaging eye-catching::
Use Proposal Software: To efficiently manage and present your service packages, consider using tools like Cone Proposal and Billing Software. Proposal softwares can simplify your work with features like premade templates, invoice automation, and client management.
Speak To Clients: Extend your market research to include communication with clients. Knowing what your client requires can help you modify your packages before you present it to them. Highlight the skills that the client is looking for.
Engagement Letter: After you successfully build a relationship with your client, and post presentation of your packages, ensure you send a bookkeeping engagement letter. This will help to clear out any misunderstandings about timelines, pricing, etc. You can read about the best engagement letter software for accountants and bookkeepers here.
Add Testimonials: Adding testimonials in your packages from current or old clients is an excellent way to demonstrate to potential clients what work you have done in the past and for whom. The testimonials will make you appear trustworthy and set a standard about your work.
Pro Tip: As a small business, here are some of the best small business management software you can try out.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid When Creating Bookkeeping Packages
Stuffing in Too Many Services: It’s easy to go overboard and pack your packages with every service you offer, thinking it’ll impress clients. But most clients don’t need everything. Tailor your packages to what clients actually need and offer add-ons for the extras.
Forgetting About the Client’s Business Size and Industry: Not all businesses are the same. The bookkeeping requirements will differ from a small bakery to a large tech firm. Customize your packages based on the size of your client and the industry they are from, to ensure that they’re getting what they need.
Confusing Pricing Structure: Confusing pricing can be disappointing for potential clients. Make sure your pricing is crystal clear. Spell out what’s included in each package and how much it costs. Consider tiered pricing based on the number of transactions or complexity to keep things transparent and flexible.
Not Highlighting the Value: Just listing services isn’t enough. Show clients the benefits! Instead of just saying “monthly financial reports,” explain how these reports help them make smart business decisions and track their growth.
Neglecting to Update Packages: Times change, and so do business needs. If your packages stay the same, they might become outdated. Regularly review and update your offerings to keep them relevant. This shows clients that you’re keeping up with the times and meeting their evolving needs.
Why Choose Cone Proposal Software?
Cone Proposal-to-Payment is a platform businesses use to streamline and automate their entire proposal process. Cone allows you to create efficient bookkeeping packages in a matter of minutes. Whether you are looking to create impressive proposals, contracts, or packages or do automated invoicing and have secure payment collection, Cone software does all these things for you. It reduces manual work, thus saving businesses over 40 hours per month. With the best features tailored for proposals, e-sign, invoice automation, payments, and contract renewals, Cone also ensures a stress-free sales and payment collection cycle.
At the same time, it’s also cost-effective with prices starting at $8 /user per month (billed annually), which makes it one of the best proposal software for small businesses.
Best Features:
Flexible Proposal Editor: Cone's standout feature lies in its customization options with the flexible editor, offering users a wealth of tools to tailor proposals precisely to their brand and client needs. It's a comprehensive editor that allows you to tweak logos, attach videos and PDFs, and add testimonials.
Extensive Templates: Cone not only provides bookkeeping templates, but it also has 40+ proposal templates such as Accounting Services Proposal Template, Payroll Services Proposal Templates, Bookkeeping Proposal, etc., These templates come in handy for various service-based professionals.
Robust Billing and Invoicing: With an integrated robust time and billing software as well as an automated billing system, Cone proposal software can support multiple payment gateways. From direct debits to credit/debit cards and ACH methods, Cone will let you use your existing payment processors, without incurring additional transaction fees.
Automated Renewal Processes: Streamline contract renewals effortlessly with Cone's automated processes. Initiate timely reminders, generate fresh proposals for approval, and secure prompt signatures.
Integration with Accounting Software: Seamlessly integrate Cone with popular accounting software such as Xero, QuickBooks Online (QBO), and Zoho Books. This integration ensures smooth coordination between your CRM, sales pipeline, and accounting processes, providing a unified and efficient business management solution.
Customization: Be creative and deliver your proposal the way you want. Move, edit, or delete sections and customize the proposals. This level of customization ensures that each proposal serves as a captivating first impression, which will in turn leave a lasting impact on potential clients
Sales Pipeline Management: The built-in integrated sales pipeline management features in Cone’s proposal software allow you to track leads, monitor progress, and ensure that no potential client finds cracks in your work.
User-Friendly: Cone prioritizes the user experience over everything else. The proposal software minimizes the learning curve and adjusting period, allowing your team to get up and running quickly, maximizing their productivity, and minimizing onboarding time.
Key Features:
- Leads management
- Proposals
- Engagement letters
- Flexible drag & drop editor
- Workflow automation
- Customer onboarding
- Task management
- Automation
- Time tracking
- Client Portal
- Email management
Pricing:
Cone’s paid plans for proposal management software start at $8 per user/month.
Essential
$8 per user/month (annual billing)
$11 per user/month (monthly billing)
Growth
$11 per user/month (annual billing)
$15 per user/month (monthly billing)
Try for free now!
Ready To Create Stunning Bookkeeping Packages?
To attract new clients and retain the existing ones, as a bookkeeper, creating bookkeeping pricing packages is essential. Having a unique selling proposition and offering customizable value-added services can enhance your appeal significantly. Showing testimonials and maintaining a streamlined process helps in creating a professional brand image for yourself. You can further differentiate your offerings from the competition by utilizing technology for efficiency, providing excellent customer service, and keeping pricing transparent. These small modifications can help shape your career as a bookkeeper and help you develop positive relationships with your clients.
Sign up for free for Cone Proposal Software today and see how it can transform your bookkeeping business!
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why do I need a bookkeeping package?
As a bookkeeper, a bookkeeping package is essential so that you can offer your clients a clear view of your services and highlight your strengths. A well-packaged proposal will also make your client see how professional you are.
- How to create a good bookkeeping package?
A good bookkeeping package would involve researching your client, their needs, and industry standards, along with providing transparent pricing, creating tiered packages, and highlighting your skills.
- How to quote bookkeeping services?
You can quote your bookkeeping services by defining the scope of the work, estimating the time and effort required to do it, understanding how you want to charge - hourly, monthly, or per transaction, and using an accounting pricing template.
- How to charge clients for bookkeeping services?
You can adopt a tiered package approach. Create three packages - basic, standard, and premium, and offer services based on the client's needs. This helps in maintaining transparency. You can also choose to charge the client on an hourly, monthly, or service-value basis.
- How do I make my bookkeeping package stand out?
You can make other small but significant improvements to your package, such as showing testimonials, maintaining a website, speaking to your clients to know what they want, using a bookkeeping proposal template, etc.
- How can I make my bookkeeping packages more customizable?
Offer flexible options in your packages to allow clients to tailor your services to their needs. This customisation will help in ensuring you get the client’s business. Providing scalable services will help in meeting each client’s individual requirements.
- Why should I use technology to manage my bookkeeping packages?
Technology can help in increasing efficiency, reducing errors and can help you save a lot of time. Using software such as Cone Proposal and Billing Software will streamline operations by automating proposal creation, billing processes, and client management. This allows you to focus on delivering high-quality services.
- How do I transition existing clients to new packages?
Analyze current packages and client needs. Develop new packages that offer clear value. Communicate changes early and clearly, explaining the benefits. Offer personalized consultations to address concerns and questions, ensuring clients understand how the new packages will better meet their needs.