You’ve asked some heavy questions! I could do a whole webinar on these topics.

But you have learned a lesson that we all seem to learn sooner or later… even when we may know better intellectually. It is very tempting to take on one or two large clients and have them totally consume your capacity. But as you have noted, the risk is if their business starts to fail or the economy hits their business especially hard, you go down with them. (I did it years ago when a single client represented over 40% of my revenue) It’s a tough lesson to learn, but one you don’t forget! So in that sense, it is a good one.

As far as the best mix, you have to find what you’re comfortable with. You may again find a “bread and butter” client, but you can protect yourself by building a reserve cash account so that if/when that client either leaves or has business trouble and can’t pay you, your reserve cash cushion will provide you the cash flow to give you the time to replace the income.

The mix of on-site and off-site – that again depends entirely on your preference. I, personally, am 100% virtual. But if I were starting out again from scratch, especially with no reputation, I might consider taking on some onsite local clients, just to get things rolling.

As far as rate, I have written other articles on this topic, but in general, the national average has remained around $50/hr, if you charge hourly. The less you charge, the less professional you may appear to your clients. If you work on-site, you generally cannot charge as much as you can virtually, and that is because of the perception of professional business owner/consultant vs. independent near-employee. I would err on the side of charging slightly higher than you are comfortable with, with consideration for your skill and experience level. You should be charging more than a staffing agency if you are working virtually.

What is the best mix of big accounts to smaller ones, and what is the best rate to charge.?

What is the best mix of on site vs offsite ?

Some say the rates should be half of what the CPAs are charging approx 50hr others say a straight hourly rate is best 25hr.

Staffing agencies charge 25.61 for a full charge bookkeeper

The very basic way to think about getting all your source information to handle the bookkeeping is to ask yourself, ‘How much of it is already available in electronic form?’ and ‘How much of it could be in electronic form?’ Once it’s accessible electronically, you’re golden!

Yes, networking locally is very important, since there is nothing like building relationships face to face! A brochure can be helpful, especially when that information is also available online on the business website. So, my suggestion is to always have your business website address on anything you give to prospective clients (business cards, brochures, etc.)

Thanks for sharing the experiences and success of your members!

Teresa

I agree with Bob and Gabrielle on the pricing stucture. I really had a problem charging a professional rate, but struggled with too many clients and not enough time. I finally raised the rate and a magical thing happened. I had clients that valued my time and expertise. I also had clients that left me; however, my bottom line didn’t change. I still made the same but with less hours.

This also set me up to be able to afford help. It’s important to charge high enough that when you need help you still have a profit margin after paying your help.

I work almost entirely remote. Through hosted technology and scanning/faxing I have everything I need to work from my office. I even love 2010′s new feature where you can scan documents and attachment them to QB. This is great for when I have a specific question about a particular receipt.

I thought I would miss the interaction between me and my clients, but as it turns out – I still talk with them often. We even get together once in a great while. The great thing is now they feel more productive as well because I’m doing my work and they are doing theirs without interuptions.

Donna