What do you guys think about outsourcing bookkeeping work to overseas talent? Do any of you do this and if you do, do you find it hurts your ability to get clients or referrals from other professionals? What are our general thoughts on this
Genuine question because I've been going back and forth on this for months. Just had another discovery call with a contractor whose books haven't been touched in over a year. They have personal Venmo charges mixed in with business, no reconciliations done since 2024, and his CPA hasn't even started last year's taxes.
The recurring work after would be solid, but I keep getting stuck on the cleanup itself because every file is different, every quote is a guess until I'm three hours in, and I burn out on cleanup work way faster than on the monthly recurring stuff I actually signed up to do.
So I'm curious where everyone else has landed on this. Do you take every cleanup that walks in the door and just price it high enough to make it worth your time? Do you push the prospect to clean it up themselves and come back when they're current? Do you have a rule about how far behind is too far behind to take on? Or do you have a separate cleanup-only pricing structure that's different from your monthly work?
Also genuinely curious if anyone actually likes cleanup work, or if everyone secretly hates it and just tolerates it because the recurring relationship is what we're really after.
Genuine question because I've been going back and forth on this for months. Just had another discovery call with a contractor whose books haven't been touched in over a year. They have personal Venmo charges mixed in with business, no reconciliations done since 2024, and his CPA hasn't even started last year's taxes.
The recurring work after would be solid, but I keep getting stuck on the cleanup itself because every file is different, every quote is a guess until I'm three hours in, and I burn out on cleanup work way faster than on the monthly recurring stuff I actually signed up to do.
So I'm curious where everyone else has landed on this. Do you take every cleanup that walks in the door and just price it high enough to make it worth your time? Do you push the prospect to clean it up themselves and come back when they're current? Do you have a rule about how far behind is too far behind to take on? Or do you have a separate cleanup-only pricing structure that's different from your monthly work?
Also genuinely curious if anyone actually likes cleanup work, or if everyone secretly hates it and just tolerates it because the recurring relationship is what we're really after.
Genuine question because I've been going back and forth on this for months. Just had another discovery call with a contractor whose books haven't been touched in over a year. They have personal Venmo charges mixed in with business, no reconciliations done since 2024, and his CPA hasn't even started last year's taxes.
The recurring work after would be solid, but I keep getting stuck on the cleanup itself because every file is different, every quote is a guess until I'm three hours in, and I burn out on cleanup work way faster than on the monthly recurring stuff I actually signed up to do.
So I'm curious where everyone else has landed on this. Do you take every cleanup that walks in the door and just price it high enough to make it worth your time? Do you push the prospect to clean it up themselves and come back when they're current? Do you have a rule about how far behind is too far behind to take on? Or do you have a separate cleanup-only pricing structure that's different from your monthly work?
Also genuinely curious if anyone actually likes cleanup work, or if everyone secretly hates it and just tolerates it because the recurring relationship is what we're really after.
If you're a CPA, do you enjoy doing them or would you prefer that someone else takes them on for you so you can focus on the recurring work? And what are some of the reasons businesses typically need a cleanup or catch up?
I only do cleanups, and want more of them!
How often do CPA's and bookkeepers actually do cleanups? And if you do, do you enjoy doing them or would you prefer that someone else takes them on for you so you can focus on the recurring work?