Scale smarter: Grow your bookkeeping firm while reclaiming your calendar

Accurate financial records managed by bookkeeping experts will always be the foundation of successful companies. However, if you’re looking to grow, additional services can take your clients’ operations to the next level. 

Expanding your bookkeeping services represents a strategic growth opportunity. Each new service enables you to build stronger ties with your clients, streamline their processes, and acquire new business.

Here, we’ll explore how you can expand services so you deliver value but not crush capacity.  

Why you should expand your services

Let’s start with the “why.” Short answer? The benefits can far outweigh the effort for service expansion. Consider just a few:

1. Make your clients’ lives easier: More services mean you can address a wider array of issues. Whether it is avoiding vendor late fees or controlling spend, you can become an even more valuable partner.
2. Increase client retention and attract new clients: Offering a diverse set of services provides more ways to attract clients and allows existing clients to receive additional help. In other words, the new services can provide that “sticky” factor.
3. Get deeper visibility into your clients' businesses: By offering a broader range of services, you gain added insight into your clients' financial operations, offering valuable context and more ways to help their businesses.

Now, here are steps to help you kickstart your expansion.

Step 1 - Find areas ripe for efficiency

Limited time and resources are often at odds with growth. But technology like AI and automation can help increase efficiency and save you time.  

Start by identifying where you spend the majority of time. Is it entering data, chasing receipts, or reconciling payments? Or are you struggling to find client data? 

Consider exploring how your existing technology or new solutions can help you gain capacity. For example, technology can streamline your clients’ AP processes—from integrations that eliminate double data entry, AI that IDs missing bills, and automation that runs review processes and creates audit trails. A centralized console also helps you manage clients from one place. 

This step will help you win time back. It also helps lay the groundwork for evaluating new services. For example, have clients requested services you didn’t have the bandwidth to offer? Does technology change the conversation?  

Step 2 - Choose new services (and technologies)

When evaluating new services, focus on areas that address client pain points. For example, cash flow management is often a significant challenge for businesses—meaning having services that give insight into cash flow can be helpful. Consider a few prime targets:

1. ‍Bill pay: Automating the accounts payable process can save clients time and reduce errors. It also provides real-time visibility into cash flow.‍
2. Spend and expense management: Streamlining expense reporting and reimbursement translates to time savings for clients and improves financial accuracy. Leading spend management software offers clients business credit cards with assigned budgets. This makes easier work of approving and purchasing, tracking and recording, and offers real-time views of spend.‍
3. Accounts receivable: Helping clients manage their AR more effectively can improve cash flow and reduce the time spent on collections.

Technologies supporting these services offer real-time data tracking, eliminating the need to wait for checks to clear or receipts to be emailed. And bonus, they help with faster book close—further elevating efficiency and client satisfaction.

Step 3 - Price new services

Determining how to price new services is probably a top-ranking concern for any bookkeeping professional. You want pricing that reflects the value you're providing while remaining competitive. Fortunately, resources are available to help you navigate this process.

This guide offers options to help you price AP, AR, and spend & expense management services. When setting your prices, consider factors such as:

• The time and resources required to provide the service
• The value the service brings to your clients
• Market rates for similar services
• Your firm's overall pricing strategy and revenue goals

Remember, it's okay to adjust your pricing as you gain more experience with new services. Start with a pricing model that feels comfortable and be prepared to refine it based on client feedback and your own evaluation over time.

Step 4 - Get the word out 

After you adopt a new service offering, it’s time to market and sell it to your clients and prospects. But you don’t have to start from scratch. Here are some ideas and templates to help out: 

1. ‍Master the pitch: Talk about client benefits and how your new service will solve specific pain points. For example, highlight how automated bill pay can save time, reduce errors, and improve cash flow visibility.
2. ‍Get your email marketing on: Create emails to introduce your new services to existing clients and prospects. BILL provides an email marketing guide that can help you craft messages that convert.  ‍
3. Spot ideal prospects: Define your ideal client profile, then go after them. These are typically clients that fit certain criteria like size, industry, or specific challenges. For example, if you’re launching AP services, look for those who pay more than 10 bills a month and desire more efficiency.  
4. ‍Offer bundled packages: Consider creating service bundles that combine your traditional bookkeeping services with new offerings. This provides added value to clients and makes it easier for them to understand the full scope of your services. It also allows you to set up tiered pricing based on value—not hours.
5. ‍Provide educational content: Host webinars, write blog posts, or create short videos that explain the benefits of your new services. This positions you as an expert and helps clients understand why these services are valuable.

BILL offers a marketing playbook that can further support your marketing efforts.

Step 5 - Refine

With each new service, you’ll undoubtedly find ways to improve your offering or delivery. Consider these extra tips:

1. Start small and scale gradually. You don't need to offer every new service at once.
2. Invest in training to ensure you and your team are fully confident with any new technologies. Your tech provider should offer certification programs, resources and templates. Additionally, your account manager should be available to advise on benchmarks and best practices. 
3. Regularly seek feedback from clients to refine and improve your offerings.
4. Stay informed about industry trends and emerging technologies that could further enhance services.

Wrapping up

Expanding your bookkeeping services can lead to increased value for your clients, improved retention, and new business opportunities. Leveraging the right technology and focusing on high-impact areas—like bill pay, spend and expense management, and AR—you can quickly overcome bandwidth challenges and position your bookkeeping business for growth.

If you're ready to take the next step and expand your service offering, request a demo of BILL or contact your BILL account manager for added guidance. 

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