workflow Archives - Number Nerd Bookkeeping Solutions

November 13, 2018

What Every Bookkeeper And Accountant Needs To Automate In Their Business

If you want to save time and money, you need to automate. A good, effective automation allows some tasks to happen automatically, improving the customer experience and cutting the cord that has you at your computer all day.

If you want to save time and money, you need to automate Click To Tweet

But automation also takes time and some tech know-how. Sure, you can pay someone to do it for you, but that defeats the “saving money” part of setting them up in the first place.

I recommend starting small and building from there. Automate some of the most essential functions in your business and then add on as you have time. What are those essential automations you need to set up now?

Your Calendar

How often do you exchange emails with a client that look like this:

You: Let’s get together to talk about your monthly bookkeeping. I’m free on Tuesday from 3-5 p.m. and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Let me know what works for you.
Client: Great! Unfortunately, I’m not free during those times.
You: Okay, how about Friday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.?
Client: I’m heading out early on Friday. That won’t work.
You: Have a nice long weekend! Let me know when you are available.

Then, crickets. Which means you have to follow up with the client and go through the whole process again. It’s frustrating for both you and the client and it’s a colossal waste of time.

Instead, the email exchange should look like this:

You: Let’s get together to talk about your monthly bookkeeping. Here’s a link to my calendar. Find a time that works for you in the next two weeks and I’ll talk to you soon!
Client: <books appointment>

It’s easy, painless and you just saved a few days of bouncing emails back and forth. Plus, quality scheduling software like Calendly will automatically add the appointments to your calendar, send reminders to the client and allow you to set up multiple appointment types.

Email Templates

You’ve probably sent a payment reminder email 100 times to 50 different clients. Or a request for documents–every time you onboard a new client. If you don’t have automated emails that request information from clients or prospective clients, it’s time to build some email templates and automate them.

If you don’t have automated emails that request information from clients or prospective clients, it’s time to automate them. Click To Tweet

Within your client relationship management (CRM) platform, you can create templated emails that are sent out at designated times or after specific milestones in a project. Often, you can also customize these templates for specific types of clients so they never really feel like templates.

Contracts

A lot of business owners rely on DocuSign for contracts, which I believe is an unnecessary expense and a good way for these important documents to get lost. When housed outside your CRM, contracts and other forms tend to get clunky and easy to misplace and add an extra step to save them to your internal client folder. Not only that, but many business owners build new contracts from scratch for every client. I agree that many projects have special stipulations, however, it’s not necessary to start from a blank slate every time.

I recommend creating standard contracts within your CRM, such as 17hats or Dubsado, and customizing those templates as needed and when needed. You can also set up the automation so when the client signs the contract, they automatically receive their invoice or another form.

Setting up these and other automations within my business has saved me so much time. Because I worked in the industry for so long prior to branching out on my own, I knew exactly where to start and how to add new automations and workflows to help my business run even more smoothly.

If you’re struggling with getting your automations set up, I have a workflow template shop that can get you started. The Business Workflow Template Shop has templates and automations for those in the bookkeeping and accounting industry as well as other small business owners. Check it out today and start saving yourself some time! And if you need some help getting started, check out my Case Study for the Solopreneur and watch my free webinars on creating your own step-by-step Lead or Onboarding workflow.

November 21, 2017

Why (and how to) customize workflows for clients

Every business is different. Every business owner is different. Every client is different.

If you’re a small business owner, workflows for your clients just make sense. They’re what will keep you on track and ensure you do everything your clients have hired you to do.

But sometimes (most of the time), a client needs something from you that’s just a little bit outside of the norm. They need you to communicate just a bit differently, or you need to add a step in the process because of their organizational structure.

That means you’re changing up your workflow.

Whether you’re buying pre-made templates and workflows or creating your own, it’s important to customize every workflow to meet your (and your clients’) needs.

What’s the point of a workflow if you’re just going to change it?

Excellent question! Workflows are the backbone of your business. You need them so that every client you serve receives the same exceptional service, every time. Having a set workflow for a certain service you offer allows you to do just that. It standardizes your work so you don’t have to think about the big to-do’s; you can just get them done.

Customizing workflows for your clients is an important step, so you’re meeting their specific needs. Look at it this way: Imagine you have a historic vehicle, one that requires special treatment. Every car needs oil changes and tune-ups, but an older car may need a special kind of oil, or an additional system check.

Customize workflows so you’re meeting the individual needs of your clients. Click To Tweet

Another example: You visit the doctor because you’re having a pain in your shoulder. After an MRI, it’s determined you need surgery to repair a torn ligament. But you’re susceptible to a reaction with general anesthesia, so the doctor has to take special precautions. Thankfully, there are checks in place for something like this.

In both examples, the expert (the mechanic and the doctor) have their own clear workflows. But they’re customizing it for you (and your car) because of your unique needs.

The same works in business. Here’s how to customize workflows for your clients.

Have your workflows written out and loaded to your project management system. Not sure what workflows you need? Find out what some of the most important are and start there.
Start a new project in your project management system for each new client.
Tell your new client the processes you’ll use when working together.
Identify any special circumstances with the new client.
Remove unnecessary steps and add new action items within the project in the project management system for the new client.
Assign deadline dates and automations.

It’s really that simple–a matter of knowing what each new client doesn’t need and what they do need that might be different from others. You may be able to identify this at the beginning of your relationship, and you may need to modify the tasks as you get to know one another a bit more.

The most important step is to change the workflow for the individual clients, and to save those changes as a new master template for that client. The more specific you are, the more time and money you’ll save–yourself and your clients.

Need a workflow to get you started? Grab my weekly workflow template and start getting organized within your own business.

October 31, 2017

Onboarding Workflows: what you need for happy clients

When you bring on a new client, it’s essential that you make a good first impression. They already know they want to work with you (after all, they did sign on with you), but those first days and weeks of getting the work done will help you solidify a great working relationship.

That’s why your onboarding workflow is so important. The last thing you want to do is look flaky and unorganized as you first start working together. Emails back and forth requesting information and an unclear communication system leaves the new client frustrated and scrambling to keep up with you. And it takes up valuable time–for both you and the client.

Stop looking flaky and unorganized. Use an onboarding workflow for all new clients. Click To Tweet

Instead, create a workflow that answers questions, gathers information and sets up expectations for both you and your new clients.

Onboarding looks different in every business, depending on what type of business it is and what kind of information you need to gather at the start of your client relationship. But knowing what you need, and in what order, is essential as you move forward.

Here’s a sample of what that onboarding process might look like:

Testing the Waters

Have an initial conversation with the client, asking any pertinent questions that you’ll need to know should the client sign on with you. It helps to have them fill out a questionnaire before your call and to have a list of questions ready when you do chat.
Know in advance how long this initial conversation will be. Some businesses only allot 20 minutes; I book 45 minutes. And I know that if the call goes beyond 45 minutes, the person I’m talking to likely isn’t going to move forward.

When the Client Signs

Once the client signs on and pays your required deposit, send an in-depth questionnaire that addresses any outstanding questions you might have. Some business owners see this as the beginning of the onboarding process.
Know exactly what it is you need to know from the new client. If you’re a bookkeeper or accountant, you’ll need login information for their accounts and systems so you can dive into the work right away. If your business is on the creative end, there’s other information you’ll need to collect as you begin working.
Take the time to test out these log-ins and check off your to-do list before any other communication with the new client. No matter what type of business you’re in, always check through initial information before moving forward. There could be something that’s contradictory that you’ll need to address.

Full-On Work Mode

Send the client a checklist of additional information you need or steps he needs to take.
Schedule follow-ups in your task management system or client management system so the client receives reminders–without you having to earmark the follow-ups in your own calendar.

My own onboarding workflow looks a little different than this, since I take care of all questions in my first initial call. But the point is, I have a system that I follow and it’s saved me hours and hours of time when working with clients. And they’re happier too, because I’m saving them time and able to dive into their work right away.

The more streamlined your client workflows (and onboarding), the more likely they are to stick around. That means more money in your pocket and better referrals moving forward.

October 24, 2017

Top Workflows for Your Bookkeeping Biz

Whether you’re an accountant or bookkeeper, creative or suit-and-tie business, you need workflows to manage both your client work and the back-end of your business. Without them, you’re likely to inadvertently drop the ball on a project–putting your client behind and setting yourself up to look bad.

When you’re working with someone else’s money as an accountant or bookkeeper, those workflows are even more important. A bounced payment or forgetting to pay contractors is a sure way to get yourself let go.

If you don’t have written and automated workflows in place yet, now’s the time to start. Sure, it takes time but once you have each step written out and in your project management system, you’ll be surprised at the amount of time you get back in your day because you’re not backtracking to figure out where you are on a project.

Don’t have written workflows? You’re leaving money (and time!) on the table. Click To Tweet

Here are the top workflows you need now, before another week goes by:

Client Onboarding

I’ll talk about this in-depth next week, but you want your new clients to be “wowed” from the first time you speak to them. Gather all information up-front so you don’t have to come back to them again and again for more information. With a solid workflow in place, you’ll be able to move forward with their work more quickly, saving you both time and money.

Anything Repeatable

Think about the kind of work you do for your clients on a regular basis. Balancing books, running payroll, paying taxes, paying routine bills, prepping for tax season, etc. All of these tasks are done again and again–either for one client for many clients. And if it’s repeatable, it’s worth putting together a workflow so you can save time by mirroring the process each time. You’re less likely to forget a step and you can easily forward these tasks to a team member, if appropriate.

If it’s a repeatable task, it deserves a workflow to save you time and money. Click To Tweet

Internal Weekly Tasks

Each week, you do the same tasks within your own business. Tasks like interacting with your clients to request information, posting to social media, sending to-do items to your team and checking in with your own financials. These regular weekly tasks likely don’t change much from week to week and would be well served with a workflow in place. Often it’s our own business that suffers when we’re busy with clients, but a weekly workflow can help you stay on track so you don’t forget to take care of yourself too. (You can grab a sample weekly workflow below!)

It takes time and dedication to put workflows in place, but you won’t regret doing it. If you struggle with where to start, I have you covered! In the next few weeks, I’ll be releasing a series of workflow templates that are made just for bookkeepers and accountants. Workflows that will help you take your business to the next level, no matter where you are right now.

Have I piqued your interest? Grab the sample weekly workflow below to get on my list and keep your eye on your inbox in early November!

October 17, 2017

Workflows vs. Systems: What’s the Difference?

We know that workflows are vital to a successful business. They’re what keep us on track and ensure we complete each step necessary in our business, whether that involves a product, service, course or something else.

But there’s a lot of talk in the online space about systems too. So what gives? How do you know whether to use a workflow or a system to help keep your business on track?

The reality is, you need both.

Your workflows tell you what it is you need to do. Your systems are the vehicle to keep you on track.

So while your workflow might be a list of tasks, forms and deadlines for you and your client, the systems are where the work actually gets done. Systems are the programs and tools you use to assign the tasks and complete the work.

And together, your systems and workflows set you up for success.

Your workflows and systems work together to set you up for success (and keep you there.) Click To Tweet

Save Time

You want more time in your day, but you’re constantly having to backtrack to make sure you’re completing all the steps in your projects. When you get your workflow out of your head and down into an effective online system, you stop the endless cycle of, Did I sent that email yet? and Am I waiting on the client for something or are they waiting for me? Which saves you from hunting down old emails or checking your notes multiple times.

Give Your Clients a Better Experience

When your workflows and systems work together, your client is well-informed and knows exactly what the next step in his project is. And when you choose the right system to house that workflow, he can easily access the tools and resources he needs. Next week, we’ll talk more about the best systems for different tasks. But for now, think about what you’re using and whether it’s an effective way to complete each step of your workflows.

Workflows + the right systems = a better client experience Click To Tweet

Make Onboarding New Contractors and Employees Easier

If you’ve ever hired someone to help you in your business, you know that it’s hard to let go of certain tasks. After all, you’ve built your business from the ground up and your livelihood relies on its success. But when you have workflows in place–and the systems to keep those workflows on track–you have a clear outline of what’s expected at each stage of the process. Your new team members can be more efficient and you can rest easy knowing that they didn’t forget a step because it’s all laid out already. Plus, you can all work virtually from the same to-do list in real time, saving you from having to ask them if they’ve finished a task yet (because you can look in the system yourself to find out!).

So while you do need workflows, adding systems to the mix is a must. They work together throughout the life of your business so you can continue to grow and evolve as a business and a business owner.

To get started with your own workflows, grab my weekly workflow template below.