Consulting Questions

What are some preliminary questions you ask potential clients to offer cost estimates?

I think a good way is to find out how many checking accounts, credit cards, and lines of credit they have. Then find out approximately how many transactions appear on those statements every month.

I also remember hearing somewhere that a good way to estimate is to multiply the amount of transactions by $0.15.

That may or may not be a good system. What type of system do you use for this?

[Tomekia Lloyd]

Wow,

This is actually a great question. I am anxious to hear feedback on this.

[Office Goddess]

I give estimates based on the size of their business. So far, my clients have all been small enough that they average 5 hours/month for basic bookkeeping, paying their bills, reconciling bank accts, credit cards, etc. (<15 bills, <15 invoices/mth and up to 50 cc charges/mth)

[christinenc]

Some bookkeepers like to bill by the hour and some like to bill a flat rate semi-monthly or monthly. It is personal preference; however a client may prefer a flat rate, so that they will know what their monthly expenses will be.

I would highly recommend billing new clients by the hour for two to three months to get a really good handle on how many hours it takes you to get their work done; sometimes their are surprises in their books, so it's best not to give any estimates on the work upfront. It always takes more hours to start with while you familiarize yourself wth their business and bookkeeping. So, after the second or third month when it's more routine for you, then you will know about how much time it takes to do their books. Once you know this, then you can offer your client a monthly rate if you both prefer that. You can set a flat rate based on your hourly fee and expected number of hours worked. You should have a stipulation that if you exceed a certain number of hours in a month, that you will charge accordingly. If you only go over by a couple of hours, then you may or may not want to charge them for that, particularly if it's a rare occurrence, but that's something that you will need to consider.

Christine Naranjo Clarke
Professional Bookkeeper
Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor