When I was first starting out as Practical Bookkeeping, one of the things I was very
unsure about was pricing. Not the amount to charge people but if I should advertise
these prices. Partly I was put off as I didn’t want to give a cost out for a package and
then have a client expect that price, even if they didn’t quite fit in that category, as
everyone’s different. However, sounding this out with my Husband he (unsurprisingly!)
disagreed with me, encouraging me to give some guide prices on my website. His argument
was that he never used a bookkeeper or accountant when he was self employed as he
assumed it would be expensive and that it was better to spend his Christmases holed up
in his office at home doing a year’s worth of expenses, but if he’d known the costs he’d
have probably used one. He didn’t try too hard to find the costs out, he certainly
didn’t talk to anyone but did have a google and didn’t see anything obvious.
Although this was a few years ago and more people do put their prices online now, so he
could have found them, it did make me pause and think, as I had done a few quotes where
people had been shocked at the price, both for being too much and too little, showing
they didn’t really know what to expect. So from a plus side for me, if the people who
couldn’t afford or justify the cost had more of an idea they probably wouldn’t have
asked for a quote so would have saved me time from quoting a job that didn’t happen.
More importantly it means my potential customers are asking for quotes with an idea of
what it might cost, so even if they need an extra hour of bookkeeping added to a
advertised package to get everything done the cost will still be around the advertised
amount, hopefully meaning they’ll go ahead!
So while I won’t say any costs here so they don’t go out of date if I change anything
(Edit we’ve removed the links as those pages were actually removed during our website
update, prices are on various pages within the site), I am now happy to say what we
charge, especially as we feel our rates are very competitive and it means people are
less shocked when they get their quote! We also try to charge a fixed monthly fee
wherever possible to help our customers know what they’re going to pay, great for
budgeting and cash flow!
Of course, like I said earlier, every customer is different and they don’t all fit into
the packages we advertise, they are just guides which we can customise to fit everyone’s
requirements. We also review the package and charges after the first regular 3 months
(so after any catch up or set up work), then annually from there, ensuring that the
package and price reflects the work required as businesses are always changing! For
example, the hire of an administrative assistant might mean you need less from us so we
can reduce, or you might take on additional contractors and have extra bills to process
and CIS returns, we’ll always ensure that our packages are right for your business.
We also understand that some times things will be changing short term, for example if you
provide seasonal services so are busier some months than others, while your work load
for us will go up and down we are happy to bill you the same each month, knowing it will
all average out over the year (obviously unless you don’t want us to!).
So don’t be scared to ask for a quote, if you fit into a package on the website then
great, if not then we’ll make one for you! Just get in touch!
