When we launched Crunchers bookkeepers we approached accountants to set up strategic relationships. The idea was simple; Crunchers did the books, accountants did the accounts/tax and business advice.
The truth was that most accountants were not that interested (for a number of reasons). So, we decided to repositioning Crunchers as accountants on the basis that if you can't beat them, join them.
We are about eight weeks away from a relaunch and I am interested in exploring/developing a Bookkeepers Alliance Programme.
What do you think about the idea of us sitting behind the bookkeeper and supporting them with the work they cannot do e.g. year-end accounts, tax returns and tax planning.
We could do this for an agreed fixed fee (charged to the bookkeeper) which would allow the bookkeeper to a) make money from these services and b) take full control of their client relationships.
Or, we could sit alongside the bookkeeper and work directly with the client.
As part of my research I'd be interested to hear any thoughts.
I think that would be a good idea as accountants and bookkeepers do work together to produce a set of final accounts. If such a thing was in place I would like to be involved. Unfortunately from my experience accountants don't want to have such a relationship as they would rather keep all the work in house and make more money from their clients.
Alfred - I understand (and agree) most accountants put bookkeepers down and many are now actively offering a bookkeeping service, sometimes with the processing done off-shore.
What I have in mind is something a bid different. One option is that you as the bookkeeper offer the whole package and outsource the accounts/tax to us. Your client would see you as the solution provider.
Bob, I would most certainly be interested in providing clients with a "full" accounting service on a white label basis, please keep me informed, lewis@sbsbusinessservices.co.uk. Many thanks and good luck Lewis
Ignore the numbers but the idea is say you currently charge £150 a month for bookkeeping and the accountant charges £150 a month for accounting/tax, then you offer £250 and a one-stop shop.
Have a look at your clients and draw up a list and start speaking to them about the idea. If they are warm then we can put together some marketing collateral.
The idea we need to get across is a win:win:
The client saves £600 a year
The client only has one person to deal with
You have a more marketable proposition because the tax saving of £2,000 plus will be attributed to you
You make money from accountancy/tax services
By the way, we could extend this and add in another benefit for the client; a better service. We are also looking at helping bookkeepers offer added value work like business valuations and consulting.
This work is best delivered by someone who has a good relationship with the business owner and bookkeepers are ideal.
So, you could offer a service which included books/accounts/tax and business advice/coaching form £350 a month. Yes, this is slightly higher than than they are paying at the moment but the value is far higher.
The model we are suggesting for bookkeepers is fewer higher quality clients where you work closer on more interesting work.
I plan to start approaching bookkeepers direct via Social Media and telemarketing; I think there is real value in this for everyone except accountants who charge too much for very little.
@Alfred - I am thinking we would charge the bookkeeper a fixed fee for accounts/tax (agreed in advance on a client by client basis).
In terms of my mindset, we will help keep our fees as low as possible by providing templates and suggestions yo the bookkeeper. It could be that the bookkeeper could do the accounts and we just charge for the tax. We could also provide some core materials at no costs to enable bookkeepers to do the Business Consulting/Coaching and revenue share on one-off services like Business Valuations. My idea is that we provide value in return for being able to make profit on accounts/tax WITH bookkeepers.
One issue may be those practices whose professional body (like mine, the ICB) allows us to carry out work only to a particular level, eg final draft accounts, not tax returns. If we outsourcing the tax returns and invoiced it ourselves, would we not contravene our practice agreement and insurance?
All our slightly larger or just professional clients would prefer to have a direct discussion on tax matters. How could I do that if I outsourced?
Otherwise sounds good for the smaller, standard clients.
I could be wrong but I think the problem is if you do the work. As long as a qualified person does it you are OK. Check with ICB, it will be interesting to see.
This arrangement is a business decision; changing your proposition so yoiu make more profit. It could be the ICB does not fit. Perhaps trade using a seperate entity not registered with ICB, get another qualification like AAT or join http://www.icpa.org.uk/.
