Hi All,
Here's my quick Chat GPT summary of how my first busy season went on my own. I was very happy with it and exceeded my goals. You can ask me most anything but I'll be slow to respond as I'm on summer time.
Revenue Through April: $80k Total
- $56k Tax
- $24k BK/Payroll/Consulting
Expecting ~$140k total for the year, roughly 50/50 between bookkeeping/payroll/consulting and tax. If I started advertising again I bet I could get to $175k. I'm not planning on it though and want to enjoy the rest of the year.
Pricing / Volume:
- $400 base fee (personal returns)
- $1,000 base fee (business returns)
- ~100 returns total (90 personal / 10 business)
Background:
~12 years experience before going solo. Had a handful of former clients follow me which gave me a solid base to start from.
Setup / Overhead:
- Small physical office: $500/month rent
- Initial investment: ~$13k (tax software, CRM, computer, office setup, etc.)
Software Stack:
- Tax: Lacerte
- CRM/Workflow/E-Sigs/Invoicing: Canopy
- Scheduling: Calendly
Marketing / Client Acquisition:
- Few clients came over from prior firm
- Google + Bing ads (~$1.2k out of pocket, ~$2k before credits)
- Stopped into local bookkeeping offices to introduce myself
- Met with a couple insurance agents who reached out
Personal returns were easy to pick up. Business clients have been much tougher.
Workload / Lifestyle:
- Used to work ~60 hrs/week during tax season
- This year: ~35 hrs/week during busy season
- Expect to work ~15 hrs/week outside of busy season
Observations:
- Individual clients are relatively easy to get if you put yourself out there and advertise
- Business clients take more time and relationship building
- Having even a small starting base makes a huge difference as you can stick to pricing and don't have to stress about paying bills.