I have a treat for you today, friends: just recently, I was interviewed by Erin Andrews of Owners and Operators, and I had such a blast talking with her!

We went over several important parts of my bookkeeping journey, including the reasons behind my exit from corporate, my experience building my business from scratch, my choice to shape that business in order to prioritize my stay-at-home mom life, some of the mistakes I suggest aspiring bookkeepers do their best to avoid, and even more.

This was an incredible conversation, and I hope you’re all able to glean some useful information and advice from it!

If you're looking for more tips for bookkeeping, insight on how to become a bookkeeper, and how to say hello to a more confident business model, enroll in Become A Bookkeeper (BABs). 

Or to learn more about growing your bookkeeping business and hiring a team, enroll in Life By The Books™ (Libby).

If you have enjoyed this episode, head on over to Instagram, share your IG stories, and tag me: @orderlyaccountingbykatie

Kajabi affiliate www.katieferro.com/kajabi for extended 30-day trial

  CONNECT WITH KATIE:

Website: https://www.katieferro.com/

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/orderlyaccountingbykatie

Payroll is a tricky thing, and choosing a payroll provider is even trickier. However, there’s one payroll provider that I prefer over all others: ADP!

There are many reasons why ADP is the best payroll provider out there, but the most important reason is my special guest on this episode: Hannah Joyce, my personal payroll rep!

Today we’re talking all things payroll and ADP: why I suggest utilizing Gusto and ADP in your payroll process, why ADP is uniquely suited to help bookkeepers and accountants, and all the benefits of joining ADP’s partner program! If you’ve been stressing over payroll, stress no more—we have all the answers you need right here.

To get connected with Hannah and discuss if/when becoming a partner makes sense, click here: www.katieferro.com/adp

If you're looking for more tips for bookkeeping, insight on how to become a bookkeeper, and how to say hello to a more confident business model, enroll in Become A Bookkeeper (BABs). 

Or to learn more about growing your bookkeeping business and hiring a team, enroll in Life By The Books™ (Libby).

If you have enjoyed this blog post, head on over to Instagram, share your IG stories, and tag me: @orderlyaccountingbykatie

Kajabi affiliate www.katieferro.com/kajabi for extended 30-day trial

 

CONNECT WITH KATIE:

Website: https://www.katieferro.com/

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/orderlyaccountingbykatie

In your time as a bookkeeper, it’s very likely that your clients will come to you for recommendations on many things involving their finances. One of the things that might come up someday soon? Their choice of bank account for business checking.

Sound intimidating? Believe me, it’s not as difficult of a choice as it sounds! In fact, I’ve taken the liberty of bringing you my own recommendation right here. 

There are four things you want to look for in a business checking account. I’ve worked for many clients with many different banks, and using these four pieces of criteria,  I’ve narrowed all these options down my absolute favorite bookkeeper-friendly bank. You can’t afford to miss this episode of Profits + Prosecco…not just for your clients’ sake, but for yours!

 

CONNECT WITH KATIE:

Website: https://www.katieferro.com/

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/orderlyaccountingbykatie

The Bookkeepers’ Corner Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebookkeeperscorner/

 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Open a new Chase account: https://www.chase.com/business/banking/checking

Compare Chase's Credit Cards: https://www.referyourchasecard.com/21a/3BRHSVJZ92

If you're looking for more tips for bookkeeping, insight on how to become a bookkeeper, more information on why bookkeeping is important, and how to say hello to a more confident business model, enroll in Become A Bookkeeper (BABs).

Or to learn more about growing your bookkeeping business and hiring a team, enroll in Life By The Books™ (Libby).

If you have enjoyed this blog post, head on over to Instagram, share your IG stories, and tag me: @orderlyaccountingbykatie

Kajabi affiliate www.katieferro.com/kajabi for extended 30-day trial

One of the big things I teach in my bookkeeping programs is how to make things easier on yourself, and today is no exception. I want to talk about the three reports you should absolutely be sending to your bookkeeping clients every month.

Now, three may sound like overkill—in fact, you might be thinking this means more work for you. But in actuality, providing these three reports right from the get-go is one of the best things you can do to save time, both for yourself and for your clients.

The bookkeeping report that is going to be the most beneficial and understandable to your client on a monthly basis is going to be the profit and loss statement, of course. But if your client has questions about those numbers, you’re going to need to track down more reports, send more emails or make more calls, and overall spend far more time than either of you wants to spend on this process. Let me tell you which reports you need to include if you want to avoid that extra hassle!

 

CONNECT WITH KATIE:

Website: https://www.katieferro.com/

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/orderlyaccountingbykatie

The Bookkeepers’ Corner Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebookkeeperscorner/

 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

If you're looking for more tips for bookkeeping, insight on how to become a bookkeeper, more information on why bookkeeping is important, and how to say hello to a more confident business model, enroll in Become A Bookkeeper (BABs).

Or to learn more about growing your bookkeeping business and hiring a team, enroll in Life By The Books™ (Libby).

If you have enjoyed this blog post, head on over to Instagram, share your IG stories, and tag me: @orderlyaccountingbykatie

Kajabi affiliate www.katieferro.com/kajabi for extended 30-day trial

One of the scariest parts of running your own business is coming up against something you've never done before, a question you don't know how to answer, or a problem you don't know how to solve.   As bookkeepers, we want to be able to answer any questions our clients have with confidence and certainty. We want to know that we know that we know the answer, right? We want to be seen as capable, because we're supposed to be the experts.   But here's the thing: nobody knows all the answers for everything, and no matter how good you are, you're going to end up faced with things you don't know how to tackle. Whether it's a question from a client, a new program you've never used, or some other situation you don't have all the knowledge to get through, you have to give yourself permission to not know. You have to leave room for you to be able to learn new things.   So how do you handle it when you don't know something? Let me give you my foolproof method for handling a gap in your bookkeeping knowledge.     CONNECT WITH KATIE:   Website: https://www.katieferro.com/   Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/orderlyaccountingbykatie   The Bookkeepers’ Corner Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebookkeeperscorner/     EPISODE RESOURCES:   If you're looking for more tips for bookkeeping, insight on how to become a bookkeeper, more information on why bookkeeping is important, and how to say hello to a more confident business model, enroll in Become A Bookkeeper (BABs).   Or to learn more about growing your bookkeeping business and hiring a team, enroll in Life By The Books™ (Libby).   If you have enjoyed this blog post, head on over to Instagram, share your IG stories, and tag me: @orderlyaccountingbykatie   Kajabi affiliate www.katieferro.com/kajabi for extended 30-day trial

You all asked, and I'm here to answer...here's how I managed my summer vacation as a bookkeeping biz owner!   It involved a lot of creativity, a lot of commitment, and stocking a grabber toy in the car, but I made it through, and the business functioned exactly the way it was built to: prioritizing my life and my role as a mother first.   I was able to take a trip during the busiest time of my working month, and honestly...it didn't function all that differently than my usual months, because I had systems in place to ensure exactly that!   Does that sound impossible to you? I promise it's doable...and even better, I can help you learn to do it. Let me tell you how!     CONNECT WITH KATIE:   Website: https://www.katieferro.com/   Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/orderlyaccountingbykatie   The Bookkeepers’ Corner Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebookkeeperscorner/     EPISODE RESOURCES:   If you're looking for more tips for bookkeeping, insight on how to become a bookkeeper, more information on why bookkeeping is important, and how to say hello to a more confident business model, enroll in Become A Bookkeeper (BABs).   Or to learn more about growing your bookkeeping business and hiring a team, enroll in Life By The Books™ (Libby).   If you have enjoyed this blog post, head on over to Instagram, share your IG stories, and tag me: @orderlyaccountingbykatie   Kajabi affiliate www.katieferro.com/kajabi for extended 30-day trial

My friends, when I tell you that August was a long month...you have no idea just how long it was. But you're about to because this week's podcast episode is all about the lesson I was reminded of while navigating a truly chaotic conclusion to my summer: act in optimism, plan in pessimism.   It's rare that you hear someone advise you to embrace pessimism. But trust me, this is the key to holding space for life in your business. Life is going to happen—how well you weather that storm relies purely on whether you expect it or hope against hope that everything will turn out perfectly all the time.   Let me tell you all about my latest reminder from life to plan in pessimism...and why you need to start doing the same.     CONNECT WITH KATIE:   Website: https://www.katieferro.com/   Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/orderlyaccountingbykatie   The Bookkeepers’ Corner Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebookkeeperscorner/     EPISODE RESOURCES:   If you're looking for more tips for bookkeeping, insight on how to become a bookkeeper, more information on why bookkeeping is important, and how to say hello to a more confident business model, enroll in Become A Bookkeeper (BABs).   Or to learn more about growing your bookkeeping business and hiring a team, enroll in Life By The Books™ (Libby).   If you have enjoyed this blog post, head on over to Instagram, share your IG stories, and tag me: @orderlyaccountingbykatie Kajabi affiliate www.katieferro.com/kajabi for extended 30-day trial

It might not be Halloween season just yet, but I'm here to talk about a topic that has most business owners quaking in their shoes: payment disputes.   When you've never gone through a payment dispute, getting hit with one out of the blue can leave you reeling. I know it completely threw me off the first—and only—time I experienced a payment dispute, and I've watched my clients go through the very same thing. So as uncomfortable a subject as it might be, I'm here to walk you through how to protect yourself from disputes, the process of working through these payment disputes through Stripe, PayPal, and other third-party apps used to accept credit cards...and why they're still worth the risk.     CONNECT WITH KATIE:   Website: https://www.katieferro.com/   Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/orderlyaccountingbykatie   The Bookkeepers’ Corner Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebookkeeperscorner/     EPISODE RESOURCES:   If you're looking for more tips for bookkeeping, insight on how to become a bookkeeper, more information on why bookkeeping is important, and how to say hello to a more confident business model, enroll in Become A Bookkeeper (BABs).   Or to learn more about growing your bookkeeping business and hiring a team, enroll in Life By The Books™ (Libby).   If you have enjoyed this blog post, head on over to Instagram, share your IG stories, and tag me: @orderlyaccountingbykatie Kajabi affiliate www.katieferro.com/kajabi for extended 30-day trial

Today's episode is a recording from Day 3 of my free, 4 day live virtual event, 6 secrets to starting a simple, scalable bookkeeping business.

No matter when you're listening, you can, and should, head to www.katieferro.com/6-secrets to register and be granted the replays in a free Kajabi course.

Day 3 was a discussion on whether or not you're really ready to begin your bookkeeping business, or if honing your technical skills should come first. The answer is unique to you, so listening to the discussion and hearing from past BABs students will help you decide, as will tomorrow's discussion.

Today, we did a BTS tour of my program Become A Bookkeeper, aka BABs, so if you want to see that, be sure to register so you can view the video aspect of this.

Questions to ask yourself are:

1. ​​If I gave you a client today, how confident would you be that you could do the work or figure it out?

2. Do you have imposter syndrome or are you an imposter?

3. What is your educational and experience background?

4. Are you confident with your ability to work efficiently?

5. Are you comfortable having tax conversations with your clients?

6. How valuable would it be to see behind the scenes of someone who does what you aspire to do, and does it well?

If joining BABs seems like your next best move, you can learn more and enroll today at www.katieferro.com/become

My program, Become A Bookkeeper (aka BABs) teaches the technical skill of bookkeeping and walks you through 3 phases:

1. LEARN - Learn the Basics of Accounting, Tax for US Based Solopreneurs, and Bookkeeping. You get walked through a textbook, pointed to reputable sources for more information, and given materials and resources to help you build your foundation.

2. SHADOW - Watch me do a full 2020 catch up of a real-life client. You get to see our initial Zoom call and watch me work through the data using the basics you learned in Phase 1. You see me set up the client in Xero, gain user access to banks, link data, categorize it, ask questions of the client, reconcile the data to statements, and tie the data to the tax return. It is as if you are able to peek behind the scenes and watch me work to see exactly how it's done.

3. APPLY - The best way to learn is to DO. To reinforce all you've learned, you will get a mock client, "Barbara" to work on. You will receive mock bank statements (including a checking account, credit card, Stripe, and PayPal) and transaction files. You will get to import the data in to Xero, do the work, and check it to ensure you understand what you've been taught so you're truly ready to take on clients and join us inside Life By the Books™ to begin growing your business.

Follow the BABs students on Instagram by clicking below:

1. Lisa Kinser

2. Cara Lynn

I'm excited to hear your takeaways so be sure to screenshot this episode and tag me in your stories!

Episode Resources: register at www.katieferro.com/6-secrets 

Referenced Podcast Episodes:

37 - How to Work Efficiently with Xero as a Bookkeeper (any why I prefer it over QBO)

71 - How to Navigate Overly Aggressive Tax Strategies as a Bookkeeper

19 - Growing a Successful Bookkeeping Business: Do You Really Need to Have a CPA?

24 - How to Take Advantage of the Massive Demand in Online Business as a Bookkeeper - pay attention to the beginning but when I sell BOB, things have changed a lot!

70 - Testimonial with Loriann (she took both programs but we discuss BABs too)

66 - Testimonial with Lisa (also took both programs but started with BABs)

58 - Testimonial with Kelly (she only took BABs)

44 - Testimonial with Megan (we discuss BABs near the end)

46 - Breaks down what BABs is and how it’s designed 

51 - How to net $2,500/month without childcare as a SAHM

67 - https://www.katieferro.com/blog/investing-in-your-future-67

69 - Before you make any investment decisions, listen to this 

🎧 Find links to the podcast here

Today, I am so, SO very excited to have a very special guest on the podcast with me. Everybody, please welcome my OG biz bestie, Tara Counterman!   Tara is a podcast-running extraordinaire, a sourdough-making enthusiast, and an all-around brilliant human being. She's here today to share her journey to entrepreneurship, why service-based businesses are going absolutely NOWHERE, and why you never need to be afraid of running out of things to talk about on a podcast of your own. Trust her—and me!—if there's one thing we've both learned from momming, home renovation, and just full-on living life, it's that life never fails to provide you with PLENTY of podcast-worthy content.   This one's a good one, friends. I had so much fun recording, and I hope you have just as much fun listening!     CONNECT WITH TARA:   Website: https://ceopwr.com/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ceopwr/     CONNECT WITH KATIE:   Website: https://www.katieferro.com/   Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/orderlyaccountingbykatie   The Bookkeepers’ Corner Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebookkeeperscorner/     EPISODE RESOURCES:   If you're looking for more tips for bookkeeping, insight on how to become a bookkeeper, more information on why bookkeeping is important, and how to say hello to a more confident business model, enroll in Become A Bookkeeper (BABs).   Or to learn more about growing your bookkeeping business and hiring a team, enroll in Life By The Books™ (Libby).   If you have enjoyed this blog post, head on over to Instagram, share your IG stories, and tag me: @orderlyaccountingbykatie   Kajabi affiliate www.katieferro.com/kajabi for extended 30-day trial