How Much Should You Charge?
Posted by Gabrielle on 21 Feb 2008 at 12:21 pm | Department: Articles, Marketing, Q & A
This is always a hot question, especially when you are in the planning stages of your business. But that is also the best time to set your sights for how your business will give you the lifestyle you seek!
One of the biggest problems I see many new bookkeepers and consultants make (yes, I made this mistake myself too!) is to set their rates too low. Do not undervalue the benefits you provide others! If you don’t value what you do, neither will your clients. You will also damage your credibility in your clients’ eyes.
The first step in learning how much you SHOULD be charging for your expertise is to see what others are doing. You DO NOT want to set your rates below your colleagues. If you feel you need more experience, go ahead and set your rates closer to the lowest rates they are charging, but not at the bottom. As your confidence builds, you should raise your rates. So that means your rates should be going up at least once per year.
As a guide to follow and get your bearing on what other successful freelance bookkeepers and QuickBooks consultants are charging for their services, here are two recent national surveys that you should take some time studying.
By reviewing these real world results, you will not only get a good idea about how much you can charge for your services, but also zero in on the profit centers you would like to develop and specialize in as you grow your business.
I’ll look forward to hearing your comments about how you are doing in setting your own rates, or raising them as the need may be.
When it comes to your fees, the best way I’ve found to know if you’re charging enough is to just go ahead and raise your rates, and then see if anyone complains. If no one is complaining, your fees are not yet high enough!!
And the best part is that when you charge just a little bit more than you really feel like you “should,” the clients you attract will be the kind who highly value what you do and are the easiest to work with. I’ve done this many times in my own business, and despite the fear of losing clients that is always there, it just doesn’t happen. The only clients you ever lose are the price shoppers who are the hardest clients to work with and don’t pay on time or value your services anyway.
So again, think long and hard about how you want your business to succeed, the kind of clients you want to serve, then set your rates (fearlessly) in line with your intended outcome.
Thanks Gabrielle I found this article to be extremely informative. It couldn’t have come at a better time for me as I’ve been questioning my rates. Very happy to have found your blog.
Hi Deb,
Glad you found this blog too!
So does this mean you’ll be raising your rates? There is a huge need for competent bookkeepers, and that need is only going to increase as time goes on. (I’ll be talking about the reasons why in a future article.)
So if you’re providing quality bookkeeping service, then there’s no questioin that you should be fairly compensated. And if you are fairly compensated, you will be able to prosper in your business, which means you will be able to continue to provide quality service for your clients (who value your services), and their business will prosper too. It is an upward spiral. Everyone wins!
Gabrielle
[...] Marketing, Q & A Have you wondered about this question? Right after being asked about how much to charge for bookkeeping services, usually I hear this one. And of course, the short answer is, it [...]
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Hi Carol,
As a business owner, you must decide who qualifies as a “good client” and building a business can happen quickly, but it is not the same as opening your doors and suddenly “good clients” come flocking to you.
If you want to get into action NOW and start attracting and finding “good clients” then here’s my bootstrapping action plan for you:
1. Read through the other posts on this blog and subscribe to updates in the box at the upper right of this page.
2. Educate yourself proactively by reading the books available on starting your own bookkeeping business, including the one I co-authored, “How to Start a Successful Home-Based Freelance Bookkeeping and Tax Preparation Business” (see the Resources link at the very top right of this page)
3. Get out there and start telling everyone you know about your business and asking them for referrals. Get introduced to CPAs in your area (through friends), you can even send letters to new start-up businesses, getting the information from the public listing of new business registrations with your state (check online).
There are many, many ways to get your business going and finding great clients. But you need to start with one at a time and you need to realize that YOU are in charge of your business success. So go make it happen!
Hope that helps.
Gabrielle