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Post Info TOPIC: Bookkeeping for clients in other locations...through post and email?


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Bookkeeping for clients in other locations...through post and email?
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Hi, does anybody on here do the bookkeeping for clients who are not in their local area?

I want to start advertising bookkeeping services for all of the UK by the client posting the paperwork and using email. I used to think this would never work and people would not be interested, although I expect it is harder to get clients this way as nobody is going to be keen posting their paperwork to somebody they don't know!!

I worked for a company up until recently that worked this way, all their clients send their paperwork in the post and it was all done through email and posting. The advantage they had though was that they knew their clients.

Does anybody else do this? I am  not sure about how I will go about advertising for this service yet. Trying every way possible to get new clients.

Love to hear from anyone who does this and it works for them

Thanks

RAchel



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Rachel



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Hi Rachel,

You're being chained by your preconceptions. When you say "nobody is going to be keen posting their paperwork to somebody they don't know" this is really not the case. If it were no one would be able to work this way.

I do this for one particular industry and it has been working really well so far. There are a number of ways you can do this, post and email are just two of these. My remote clients give me the least trouble and most I have never met in person. It certainly seems to be working, I am up to 5 remote clients and looking to double this in the next few months once my processes are finalised.

Mazuma have been doing it for a while now, as have others. You just need to get some systems in place and it can work really well.

Kris

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Clients should never post their original paperwork as there is the inherent risk of loss in the post.

They can photocopy and send or scan and email but to some extent having to do that defeats the point of having a bookkeeper in the first place.

Personally I only do serious distance bookkeeping for annuals and up to 60 miles each way for quarterly clients as I want to see all original documentation so I arrange to either collect it or for it to be hand delivered and it is returned in the same manner.

For accounting services its now common for clients to enter their own data via cloud packages but within the engagement letter it is made clear that the accountant is not responsible for the data on which the financial statements are built.

Again though, that would be for accounts, not bookkeepeing as the very act of entering the data yourself replaces the bookkeeper.

kind regards,

Shaun.

p.s. I have clients from Edinburgh to Kent but would never consider posting any original document.

p.s.2 Distance work does not in any way diminish MLR responsibilities including KYC procedures.



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Shaun

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Shamus wrote:


 p.s.2 Distance work does not in any way diminish MLR responsibilities including KYC procedures.


This was running through my mind, too, as I read the above posts.  I wondered how Kris verified his clients' identity if he has never met them, for example.  There are ways to do this, to be sure, but most forms of distance verification involves expense of some sort.  How is this dealt with?

 



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Hi Iain,

Sometimes there are additional expenses, but sometimes you've just got to suck it up. One of the services I do use (and I'm not giving away all my secrets here) is the Post Office Identity Document Checking Service. This allows the client to take their original ID to the Post Office with a photocopy where the staff compare the two and certify them. If it's good enough for the Home Office and the DVLA, it's good enough for me. Add to this some of the online checking services and I feel my MLR requirements are covered.

Kris



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kjmcculloch83 wrote:

I'm not giving away all my secrets here


Very wise on this one or we could end up in a situation where everyone is poaching everyone elses potentials.

Sometimes I think that on occassion we already give away a little too much on here.

In fact, only time that I can ever remember drawing a line in the sand myself was over sharing engagement letters.

 



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Shaun

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I agree Shaun. I didn't actually realise how much we all give away until a conversation once with Mark. This thread actually: www.book-keepers.org.uk/t51051718/confidenceexperience/

I then noticed that we probably all give away too much. It's never bothered me before as there's only really Peasie from my area and we target different areas. But maybe with the rise in remote stuff it's time to be a bit more careful with the strategies given away.

Kris

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Actually, Kris, I wasn't asking for specific details, but rather sounding the same warning that Shamus had given. But thank-you for the reply anyway.

While it is obvious that businesses shouldn't share strategies with competitors, nor specific details of how they are implemented, it seems to me that the idea of a forum like this is to exchange and share information with one's fellow professionals. Therefore, I disagree completely with the notion that we, or some of us, give away too much information on this site; instead, I consider we enhance our profession by sharing information with each other and raising the general level of technical knowledge among contributors/readers. We also, incidentally, enhance our own standing among others on this site - which is not unimportant. How else can we do this if not by saying, "This is how I approach that problem ..."?

I also have to take issue with the suggestion, which I have inferred from your post, that the availability of public services (or other facilities, whether public or commercial) are trade secrets, to be kept from others (though, to your credit, you did not do so above). I am quite willing to share my knowledge when I can. I have no qualms about saying how I research, or how I market myself, or what services I employ. Nor would I worry about sharing my engagement letter (on the understanding that anyone using it did so without reliance). I would even be prepared to share a procedures manual (but I don't have one) - again, on the same understanding.

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Now hold on just a wee minute Ian. I challenge anyone to find a post where I have refused to share anything (apart from my letter of engagement). I did say that MAYBE it's time to be a bit more careful, not that I would not share.

However if you want to share everything about your business, be my guest.

Kris

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Completely agree in principle with the majority of information being shared Iain espechially in relation to technical issues, helping people get started, showing people where to look and making people realise that bookkeeping and accountancy is not Sage in the same way that the UK is not London, etc.

I personally would not share my complete engagement letter although there are various excerts from it splattered around the site. I would not however have any issue with others who might share such with others on the understanding that you indicate.

There seems however to be a new line being drawn in that we are quite happy to share information even with people in our own area in the spirit of fair competition but what about those from beyond your area who have no intention of ever visiting the area looking for clients there?

In such situation is there really any difference between (say) Penzance and Mumbai?

We contribute to the site for the betterment of the accountancy industry as a whole but if the situation arose where such comes back to shoot us in the foot is it not then wise to be at least a little selective about some of the information that one shares.

The sites aim is to make better bookkeepers, and experienced bookkeepers and accountants on here are generally more than happy to point people in the right direction to find and win clients... But... whilst we might be happy to supply others with the guns and show them how to use them we're much less inclined to giving them the ammunition to shoot us with.

kind regards,

Shaun.

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kjmcculloch83 wrote:

... then noticed that we probably all give away too much ... maybe with the rise in remote stuff it's time to be a bit more careful with the strategies given away.


It was the general observation I was discussing.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't think of anything that needs to go into an engagement letter (apart from charges) that needs to be kept secret, so I'm prepared to share it.  These things get around anyway.  How many people on this site have seen the terms and conditions of at least one of their clients' previous bookkeepers? 

The danger I see is becoming responsible for someone else's, who placed reliance on it with my implied consent



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I see no difference between Penzance and Mumbai in principle, but if (say) the French have different accountancy practices and principles from ours, then any Frenchman wishing to drawn upon my knowledge and expertise must adapt it to his own needs, and I am not responsible if he doesn't. I agree, I don't want what I give away to be used against me.

Otherwise, I agree with your post entirely, Shaun.

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Meanwhile, back at the plot, do consider Dropbox as a means of getting your client's paperwork. No need for them to post it to you then.

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Thank you very much for your replies......so much here that I hadn't even considered so I'm going away to think it through properly now.

Thanks
Rachel

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