I have just spoken with my first potential client, a local driving instructor. He's been doing his own books for a few years now, but as he's getting busier he wants to get away from all the paperwork. I've had a look at his records, and to be honest they are in a complete mess.
I'm pretty sure he is going to hire me to do his book-keeping. He's coming round to mine at the weekend to have a further chat.
As of yet we haven't discussed pricing. I'm keen to charge a fixed fee per month, but my question is how do I tackle tidying up the mess? I suggested I could transfer all the records onto Sage, which he was keen for me to do. Do I charge extra to duplicate his work (and at the same time correct his mistakes) by charging per hour, or do I stick to a fixed fee for the months I have to reproduce? This is going to take quite some time to sort out, and I don't want to lose out, but on the other hand I don't want to lose my first potential client!?
Please help ASAP, as I need to decide how to procede.Thanks. Paula
I would estimate how long you think it will take to transfer the data onto Sage and then charge a separate fixed fee for this work. You can then set up a fixed fee for the standard monthly book-keeping thereafter.