subject: How To Start A Bookkeeping Business, Estimating Client Hours [print this page] One of the things that people do not consider prior to starting a bookkeeping business is the way in which to estimate hours for client's requirements. This is something that most people do not even think of yet it is a crucial part of client discussions. Over time this task will become easy and almost second nature to you, but in the early stages of your business start up you might need a few tips on how to do it.
If the client has had a bookkeeper in the role previously, they might have an idea of how many hours the previous person spent doing the work. If they have been doing the bookkeeping, you can assume that it will take you less time than the business owner, however sometimes the business owner may not be doing all of the functions they should be doing which an efficient, professional bookkeeper will do.
If you need to estimate the hours and you need to give the client an indication of time it will take there are a few things you can look at to assist with your estimation. A general discussion of the organization is obviously essential to understand the business and transactions. Finding out how many staff they have how frequently the payroll is run and if they have standard pays or timesheets will help with the estimation of payroll time.
You can also talk to the business owner about the types of transactions that go through the business. It is important to know what the volume of transactions is like running through the business. For example a business may have a $1 million turnover, yet have few transactions, low volume high dollar value. You might also find that the business may have $150,000 turn over, yet it has high volume low dollar value transactions which will take a lit ore time to process.
Additionally it is important to find out how many bank accounts and credit cards they have and to have a look at them if they allow it. Some organizations will let you have a look at their records; some will not let you do that until they have made a decision about who will be undertaking the bookkeeping. If you explain to them it is to assess the time requirements, they will generally be open to allowing you to look at the records.
If the bank statement for the month is only a page or two, you can assume it will not take too long to enter thee transactions. If they present you with pages and pages of transactions it will illustrate that it may take a little longer. If you can also have a look at the transactions individually on the statement you might see some recurring payments such as leases or rent which are standard each month. If this is the case they can be recorded as recurring transactions to make it quicker to enter them.
As you can see there are a number of things you can look at and assess when trying to calculate the hours it will take to undertake the client's requirements. Like most aspects of your business, this is one that gets easier with time and experience.
