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This is the correct post to go if you’re seeking the most effective accounting marketing methods.
To assist you in attracting clients, I’m going to explain the top methods that are currently functioning successfully, as well as successful real-world case studies.
I employed most of these approaches to help build my cloud accounting firm from the ground up and sell it in just five years after starting.
Let’s have a look at them!
Why Bookkeeping and Accounting is a Unique Business
Low initial investment capital
You may start your bookkeeping firm for very little money if you do everything yourself. All you need is a personal computer, a printer, and an accounting software program that is easy to use. Depending on your budget, you may spend anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 on these goods.
Set your hours
If you are a stay-at-home mom, you may set your hours and work whenever you choose. However, because you are establishing your own business, you have the freedom to work from home for whatever length you like. Additionally, working from home eliminates the need to drive to and from the workplace, allowing you to save both time and money on your commute.
Work for yourself and make more.
You will likely make more than $25 per hour providing bookkeeping services to small business owners instead of perhaps $15 per hour if you work for an outside bookkeeping or accounting company. As a result, starting a bookkeeping business from home provides you with the possibility to earn more money than you would otherwise make working 9 to 5.
Bookkeeping services are in high demand.
The demand for your bookkeeping services is relatively high because every firm, no matter how large or little, must maintain accurate financial records, either for tax filing purposes or for management objectives. As a result, if you were to establish a bookkeeping business from home, you would have an easier time obtaining clients than other companies, even if bringing a sufficient number of clients can be the most challenging portion of the business.
Main Bookkeeping and Accounting Business Challenges
Managing Cash Flow
When economic hardship or signals occur, corporations often respond rapidly to increase liquidity by implementing cost-containment measures and postponing planned investments while simultaneously implementing cost-containment measures and deferring planned investments. As a result, it is expected that some of the emphasis on increasing cash flow will continue into 2021, particularly when it comes to capital expenditures.
According to management and consulting company McKinsey & Company, corporate boardrooms have switched their focus away from profits before interest and taxes (EBIT) toward cash, which has translated into responsibility for cash management at all levels of the organization. However, several of those cost-cutting measures, particularly those relating to the workforce and operations, have stalled in recent months. As a result, businesses are more confident in their ability to generate money from their modifications to their product or service offerings and pricing strategies in 2020 than in 2019. For example, when PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) asked in October 2020 about their revenue expectations for the next 12 months, 28 percent said they expected an increase. That’s a significant rise from just 11 percent in June 2020.
Solution
To maintain a consistent cash flow, it will be necessary to improve the efficiency of the accounts receivable and accounts payable procedures. Keep an eye on KPIs such as spending, past-due bills, and operating cash flow to ensure that your business runs smoothly. It is possible to plan for the future by generating and tracking cash reports daily. By doing so, you will notice changes or fluctuations in your cash flow that you can use to inform other decisions.
Financial Reporting
Companies in the public and large private sectors subject to SEC regulations continue to be concerned about managing financial information disclosures. In addition, compliance with reporting obligations from COVID-19-related government stimulus projects and ensuring correct documentation, recording, and reporting for audits is a significant challenge for finance leaders.
Solution
Accounting teams must be aware of the altering regulatory landscape regarding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure requirements.
Talent Acquisition and Retention
Hiring for accounting and finance positions in technology, health care, property management, financial services, and other industries is ongoing. Hiring for positions that keep cash accounts in good standing. Billing accounts receivable and collections are some of the responsibilities.
The difficulty of retaining outstanding staff when the level of competition rises is a significant one. Finance and accounting managers are concerned about maintaining their most valuable personnel in eight out of ten cases. Low morale and high rates of burnout due to severe workloads are two significant areas of concern — the latter has been a persistent problem for accountants for some time.
Solution
To begin raising morale in the accounting and finance department, steps should be taken to guarantee that critical employee retention techniques – such as continuing education and training – are also applied in this department. Accounting retention in 2021 will depend on their ability to improve technical and soft skills, allowing them to more effectively apply their domain expertise to business strategy, as more transactional chores are automated.
Automation and Artificial Intelligence
Even though only about 2% of large companies have used machine learning or artificial intelligence, almost one-in-five have stated that they intend to do so. This is because automation of labor-intensive processes and the delivery of more intelligent data are among the goals of AI deployments to overcome labor shortages.
Solution
With the increasing automation of transactional work, accountants will need to gain new skills to apply their knowledge to information and data created by new technologies and play a more active part in developing corporate strategy. Accountancy software, budgeting, forecasting tools, data analytics, and visualization tools, all available in the cloud, lay the groundwork for accounting automation.
Upskilling
Employees and your company will profit from increasing current skills and experience to exploit the outputs of technology as the level of automation rises. Upskilling and learning more about cloud-based payroll and human resource information systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, data analytics, and financial modeling and forecasting should be the primary focus of your efforts.
In addition to technical skills, other beneficial so-called soft skills in demand will be working independently. For example, in virtual teams, attention to detail, being comfortable with change, creativity, a desire for continuous learning, and written and verbal communication skills, among other characteristics.
Solution
In addition to increasing employee morale and retention, providing continuing education and training offers several other advantages. For example, companies with high levels of staff training have 53 percent lower attrition rates than those with lesser levels of activity.
Changes in Tax Law
Accounting teams are frequently concerned with the application of new tax legislation. However, there will be much more significant upheaval in 2021 than is customary. Earlier this year, the president of the National Conference of CPA Practitioners, Neil Fishman, noted in his January 2021 newsletter that practitioners would now have to absorb approximately 5,593 pages of new provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, better known as the COVID stimulus, on the heels of a new tax season.
Tax extenders, the deductibility of PPP expenses, the possibility of second-draw PPP loans, and a simplified process for PPP loan forgiveness for sums under $150,000 are all included in this provision. Managing tax changes is a primary priority for accounting teams, particularly when it comes to determining the total tax due and negotiating to alter trade and tariff regulations.
Solution
Effectively handling tax law changes will help you have more finances available to weather other business issues that may arise in the future. In addition, accounting software will make a complicated tax year more manageable by allowing you to keep digital, accurate, and easily accessible records.
New Accounting Rules & Regulations
Recent changes to revenue recognition rules, lease accounting requirements, and CECL reporting requirements have been a challenge for accounting teams during the past several years. While certain phases of standards implementation have been postponed due to the epidemic, they are still on the horizon — so keep an eye out for any news about them.
Solution
Make sure you’re up to date on any new regulations on PPP loans, as well as any modifications on existing and future COVID stimulus packages.
Expense Management
Even though travel expenses have traditionally dominated cost reports, they have reduced by 77 percent year over year. On the other hand, Spend risk was three times higher in 2020 than in 2019, with fraud activity jumping by 57 percent from the second to third quarters of the year. Employees working from home presented a whole new set of issues in terms of spending control. Office supplies, computer equipment, and other goods required for working from home were among the most frequently encountered expenses. However, with that came the possibility that employees would take advantage of the situation and incur costs on items such as large-screen televisions, sound systems, and even television subscriptions.
Solution
If you haven’t previously done so, revise your cost policy to include permitted home office expenses and food, as well as delivery services and gift cards, among other things. Examine internal controls and explore further automating the cost management process using software to deter fraudulent expenditures and automatically identify dubious expenditures as a precaution against fraud.
Controlling the Payroll Process
New payroll issues are on the horizon due to changing rules and regulations at the federal and state levels. In addition, payroll administrators now face a substantial challenge in managing withholdings for employees who work in multiple locations. Finally, because of the difficulty in determining the primary place of employment, remote labor has made the administration of state income taxes more complicated.
Solution
If you haven’t already, you should think about automating your payroll procedures. In addition to assisting with the computation of earnings, deductions, corporate contributions, taxes, and paid time off, cloud-based payroll services also support numerous jurisdictions in taxes, forms, direct deposit, and other features.
Cybersecurity
It takes an average of 280 days to uncover and contain a data breach, with a total cost of $3.86 million on average. The lion’s share of those breaches is the result of employee credentials being stolen or hacked. Accounting staff members are constantly inundated with emails, including attachments or links to bills; therefore, it’s not difficult to see how quickly a malicious link or attachment could make its way unnoticed into the accounting workflow.
Solution
Accounting teams are well-suited to serve as ambassadors for cybersecurity throughout the organization because they are already well-versed in the sophisticated internal controls, access, and permissions expected of their positions. Make sure all of your systems are up to date because out-of-date software might boost the success rate of malware and ransomware attacks.
Remote Work
As in many other businesses, one of the most prominent accounting trends is a demand for greater flexibility and remote work. A total of 77 percent of accounting professionals would like to continue working from home in the future.
However, remote work presents difficulties for accounting and finance staff, who have traditionally completed responsibilities such as month-end close by working long nights in the office. Additionally, remote work increases the danger of cyberattacks, as discovered by IBM, which found that 70 percent of organizations who have implemented telework during the pandemic expect it to improve data breach expenses.
Solution
Concentrate on making existing financial controls work with a scattered workforce to achieve success, using a traditional risk assessment approach to evaluate which rules are likely to expose the organization to risk.
Cloud-based accounting software has apparent advantages in supporting remote accounting staff for the vast majority of firms. According to the study, companies that relied extensively on cloud computing technologies until 2020 were better able to deal with the issues that come with remote labor. Furthermore, the solution outperformed even VPNs that had access to on-premises software regularly.
Low Morale
It should come as no surprise that burnout is a widespread concern among individuals who work in the financial and accounting fields. Accounting and finance departments can easily suffer from low morale due to balancing several duties, hefty workloads, and a continuously altering regulatory landscape, to name a few factors. The fear of being understaffed is another widespread concern — on average, businesses with less than $25 million in revenue employed only three individuals in finance-related positions. Even for organizations with annual revenues ranging between $100 million and $499 million, the number of individuals engaged in finance functions is only 13 persons on average.
Solution
What can you do to improve the morale of your accounting team? First, consider how you might more formally acknowledge individual contributions regularly, particularly at the management level. Managers have a significant influence on the morale of their staff. Continue to maintain open channels of communication between your accounting and leadership teams. Not only should you pay attention to their opinions on financial matters, but you should also consider their opinions on strategic decisions. Provide them with the tools they require to collaborate. Additionally, they can automate time-consuming elements of their work to save time.
Accurate Economic Forecasts
The conditions produced by the epidemic made it particularly difficult to make reliable financial projections. As a result, business leaders should engage in scenario planning and re-evaluate their sales, expenses, and cash flow estimates, among other things. Test and re-test assumptions, estimate cash flow, burn rate, and liquidity under various scenarios, and then repeat the process.
Solution
One of the most critical accounting recommendations for small businesses and start-ups is to use financial statements as a tool to evaluate and predict business performance. It is essential to have access to real-time statistics because everything changes so quickly. That is what will make the difference when it comes to developing financial models that take into account historical trends, present conditions, and the best, worst, and most likely scenarios.
Keeping up with New Tech
Keeping up with changing technologies can be difficult, especially in a shifting regulatory environment and tax regulations. However, a good reason why skills in cloud-based accounting software are among the most in-demand among accountants and finance professionals is that the technology is rapidly evolving. Gartner, a market research group, recently predicted that by 2024, more than 45 percent of IT investment would be directed toward cloud-based technology, which will include finance and accounting software in many cases.
The latest developments in real-time analytics, robotic process automation (RPA), and artificial intelligence (AI) will be dependent on the availability of a strong, dependable, and clean data infrastructure.
Solution
Many businesses are still using antiquated on-premises accounting systems that are no longer supported. Soon, technology will continue to significantly impact financial reporting, cash management, accounts payable, and month-end close operations, all of which will be significant components of automated accounting and cloud-based accounting software systems.
Pros and Cons of Bookkeeping and Accounting Business
Pros
- The costs of starting a bookkeeping firm are meager.
- To boost your marketability, you should become an expert in one accounting software application.
- It is constant work that is often performed regularly according to a set schedule.
- You can work from anywhere in the world and reach a larger audience.
- There are no formal certificates or training requirements (but it’s never wrong to obtain certifications and training).
Cons
- There may be severe liability difficulties.
- You must take precautions to guarantee that all client information is kept secure.
- The cost of purchasing and updating numerous accounting software programs can be too expensive.
- To access a client’s computer if necessary, you must be familiar with technological concepts and tools.
Bookkeeping and Accounting Marketing Strategies
Update your website
Examine your company’s website objectively to see what needs to be updated. According to Adobe, if the content or appearance is unappealing, 38% of consumers will abandon it.
Having too much content, not enough, or having people play “Where’s Waldo?” on your site can all contribute to an unappealing website.
Too much material — while it may be tempting to tell the world about everything your company has to offer, you can’t or shouldn’t.
Consider only highlighting your best-performing services; once you’ve started working with the client, you’ll have the opportunity to tell them about other services you may offer.
Having too little information or not offering essential information causes users to search your website, which is not fun and leads to potential consumers being upset and leaving your website.
Takeaway;
Use a simple, clean design that focuses on the top three components that should be on any accounting company homepage: your contact information, a concise overview of what your firm is about, and clear, attractive options that tell visitors what they can do next.
Rank high in local search
Having keywords for Search Engine Optimization is part of updating your accounting firm’s website (SEO). SEO is the technique of increasing the number of visitors to a website by ensuring that it appears high on a search engine’s list of results.
Some businesses, however, find it easier to delegate this work to marketing experts because keeping up with SEO standards and understanding important performance indicators can be difficult.
If you do, make sure you pick a firm specializing in tax and accounting since they will better understand the industry’s terms and trends.
The goal is to get to the top of the list as quickly as possible, so a page-down isn’t necessary.
Takeaway;
Local search results are heavily influenced by other online references to your organization, whether you do SEO in-house or not. So take charge of your Google My Business, YP, Yelp, and other comparable listings to ensure that your company can be found online, via Google, and elsewhere.
Create (and maintain) a blog
A blog allows your accounting firm to establish itself as a “thought leader” by showcasing the knowledge and expertise of your partners and staff.
By focusing on important themes to your clients, you will attract readers and establish a reputation as a firm that is an expert on matters that are important to today’s business owners and individuals.
Even better, if you host your blog on the same domain as your site, it can help enhance your site’s search results by providing frequent content to support your social networking and email marketing efforts.
Takeaway;
If you decide to start a blog, keep in mind that consistency is crucial. Make a regular schedule and stick to it. People appreciate your content and know they can count on you to deliver continuously. Therefore successful blogs require time to build a following.
Effectively use social media.
The benefits of social media for businesses are enormous, which is why it is one of the most effective digital marketing tools for syndicating content and increasing your brand’s visibility and recognition.
Many businesses have social media accounts on sites like Twitter and LinkedIn, but they don’t always know how to use them to sell themselves. If you decide to enter the social media arena, it’s critical that you incorporate it into your overall plan, posting content frequently and engaging with followers regularly.
Putting your company in an atmosphere where people share, like, and ‘talking about it increases your visibility and leads to more visitors to your website. Policy.
Takeaway;
Think of social media as a conversation, and when used correctly, it can help businesses become more human.
Post content that your followers are likely to share or comment on for the best outcomes, thereby expanding your reach to their connections.
Maximize email marketing
While most businesses contact clients via email regularly, they are not taking full advantage of this potential.
Make the most of your email marketing efforts by sending out regular updates and eye-catching material that focuses on business strategy and financial advice, rather than just accounting.
Takeaway;
Don’t forget to make your emails mobile-friendly, just like your website. Instead of providing significant, drawn-out pieces of content, offer “teasers” of content with connections back to your website. You want to invite your viewers to visit your website for more exciting material. Don’t try to do everything in one email; your website is where clients will hire you.
Case Studies
Vickery Tax and Accounting
Background
Vickery Tax & Accounting is a Cumming, Georgia-based tax preparation firm.
Challenges
The business lacked a proper framework to find and attract customers both organically and on the ground.
Solution
- They concluded that a direct mail campaign targeting only the most qualified nearby residents would be the most excellent method to bring in more clients needing tax preparation in the area.
- The postcard design for Vickery Tax and Accounting contained the following elements:
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- A clever comparison of completing your taxes to gambling with your money.
- A 30% discount on their services is available.
- A vibrant color palette that catches the recipient’s eye.
- Vickery Tax and Accounting needed to make sure that only the most qualified prospects were being targeted.
- Their mailing list reflects a list that targets residents in a 5-mile radius who are 45-67 years old and have a household income of $100,000.
- This group has been demonstrated to be the most likely to hire a tax preparer.
- One of the main reasons for the campaign’s success was its timing. They timed these 12,000 mailings to arrive in people’s mailboxes during tax season to provide them a tough choice to file their taxes.
Results
Thirty new clients for a total of $12,000 in revenue!
A total of 45 replies were received! Thirty of them became new clients, bringing in roughly $12,000 for him!
This was also the only way he could sell his company. They spent $4,567 and received a 163 percent return on investment!
Capacity Bookkeeping
Background
Capacity Bookkeeping was realized from management consulting. They offer quality financial professionals who keep impeccable book and apply the latest industry trends to open up viable opportunities for businesses.
Challenges
This reputable bookkeeping firm had difficulties in expanding its Vermont and New York client base. They opted to use results-oriented mass mail marketing to achieve their goal.
Solution
- They created a direct mail campaign that targeted businesses in Vermont and New York.
- The postcard’s front side has bold lettering set against a strong background of a very friendly-looking employee.
- When you mention the postcard, it swiftly tells you that they’re a five-star bookkeeping service and gives you a free business assessment.
- The message on this card packs a 1-2-3 knockout punch thanks to easy-to-find contact information.
- The card’s flipside explains why you should entrust them with your accounting needs. They continue to establish trust by noting their credentials and another 5-star testimonial, as well as the advantages of outsourcing your accounting to them.
- The power of repetition is apparent for Capacity Bookkeeping, which has consistently gotten their firm in front of VT and NY businesses – they have already made back all of the money they spent on the campaign!
Results
New clients with a $ 15,000-lifetime value!
He has already recouped his investment in the campaign, and he keeps every client he acquires. Each client is worth $15,000 during their lifetime!
Final Thoughts
Suppose you are in the process of starting an accounting or bookkeeping business. In that case, it is essential that you can communicate effectively with your target market to help generate more leads. That being said, make sure your marketing efforts focus on speaking to both potential clients and potential customers instead of talking to them.
