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A packed house recently joined ABN's Bookkeeper Radio to hear from two of the industry's best to discuss what actually is the best approach to pricing bookkeeping services.
Popular Australian Bookkeepers Network (ABN) Bookkeeper Radio has again drawn significant attention by the industry, with recent commentary on bookkeeper pricing structures.
Joined on the program hosted by ABN Directors Peter Thorp and Kelvin Deer, were leaders of award-winning firms, Kerrie Jarius of Brilliant Admin Solutions in Canberra, and Charles Klvana of Eye on Books in Perth.
Given the industry shift away from hourly rate pricing, what may have surprised many was that both Kerrie and Charles still do hourly fee structures at very similar prices, although pursue a combination approach adapted based on the needs of the client.
Combination pricing the most common approach
“It depends on the client and what we’re doing. In terms of pricing we work on three rough pricing levels. One $95 plus GST per hour for general bookkeeping, $120 for review work, and $160 for training and setup of systems,” said Charles.
“In terms of the billing models, it comes down to whether there’s a way to see a fixed scope or whether it’s like a ball of string and you can’t quite see what’s required,” continued Charles.
To get accuracy of preparing quotes, Charles continues with advice to spend time scoping the job out beforehand.
“Before I quote I’ve always spent an hour with the client scoping the four pillars of their business which are sales, bills, payroll, and bank,” said Charles. “Then I’ll map out how much work is involved each month by looking at each task, estimating time spent for each task and then adding on 10 percent for the extra stuff that inevitably happens.”
Timesheets prevent scope creep and help with future pricing
Kerrie’s advised that regardless of hourly rate or fixed fee projects, keeping timesheets protects against any number of errors and missed opportunities to charge fairly.
“Time sheets are a really big thing for us, but I also track my own hours because that’s where you can lose your profitability,” said Kerrie. “Keeping timesheets helps you keep an eye on scope creep.”
Bookkeepers are more skilled than ever and compare well against other services
Peter Thorp highlighted that much of the discussion with new clients is about pricing value and fairly based on expectations of other professions.
“There’s a common observation in our community that they tend to undervalue their services,” said Peter. “You think about the change in upskilling our profession has gone through, especially with advances in tech that has morphed into a wider range of higher skilled services, like tech adoption, management reporting and payroll that has become even more complicated which ought to be worth more,” said Peter. “An average hourly rate for a plumber is $160, an auto mechanic is $180, for a barber it’s $80, for someone who mows their lawn it’s $75, a cleaner is $65, and a fresh faced graduate of an accounting firm is invoiced out at $100 to $150,” said Peter. “So let’s not lose sight of how we compare our skills with other service based industries.”
More insights and resources to run your business in the most profitable way
By becoming an ABN member, you’ll be given access to the Bookkeepers Network Member Centre. Here are helpful guides on pricing, technical guides to job categories, and templates to pitch your services and protect your business.
As an ABN member, you also have access to recordings of all previous Bookkeeper Radio episodes, including this one! Find this one in your Member Centre.
To join, head to austbook.net/join-us
