| | |  | Home Business Electronics | Home » » Successful QuickBooks Consulting: The Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Growing a QuickBooks Consulting Business ---Ideal for Bookkeeping or Bookkeepers, Accounting or Accountants, or Consultants | | | | | | | Description: | | This book will help you start earning money in your OWN business with the wealth of information it provides. It includes steps to start your own business (and estimated start up costs); how to define your services and set billing rates (includes average billing rates); how to improve your knowledge and experience; obtain new clients and effective marketing ideas; details about websites, client engagements, market opportunities, growing the business, and MUCH more. The book includes results of a national survey of QuickBooks ProAdvisors about their annual income, use of engagement letters, over 300 comments and advice on things they wish they had known sooner or done differently, their KEYS to SUCCESS and more! Bookkeepers, accountants, tax preparers, and consultants will all find beneficial information in the book. With your own business, you can decide what hours you want to work, services to provide, and work from home if you choose! This book will help you SUCCEED! | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Michelle L. Long | | Paperback:
| 200 pages | | Publisher:
| CreateSpace | | Publication Date:
| October 13, 2007 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1434810690 | | Package Length:
| 9.0 inches | | Package Width:
| 6.0 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.6 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.9 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 53 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 53 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
113 of 118 found the following review helpful:
 This book will save you much research time if you plan to add QB consulting services to your financial services firm's offeringsJan 04, 2008
By Jeff Lippincott
"JLIPPIN"
Great book! I liked it a lot. I think it is a wonderful book that will help someone with an accounting background either take the plunge into self-employment as a QuickBooks consultant, or give someone who already has their own bookkeeping or accounting firm the know-how to expand into another service offering. This book is not about Quickbooks per se. It is about how to become a Quickbooks consultant in a professonal capacity.
The author has ties to Intuit and the Kauffman Foundation. And sometimes the book comes across as an advertisement for these two organizations. She is also a QuickBooks consultant herself, so this book comes across as a marketing piece for her private practice, too. But the book is a short quick read that certainly opened my eyes to what a person can do to prepare for and become a self-employed QuickBooks consultant.
I am a SCORE volunteer who regularly counsels wanta-be entrepreneurs and small business owners on how to prepare business plans and how to get their new businesses up and running. I'm also a CPA and attorney. I am not one to advise my SCORE clients to spend much on consultants to help them start their own businesses. And the way I usually advise my clients regarding bookkeeping and accounting is to get a PC and a copy of QuickBooks Pro. I tell them to install the software on their computer and struggle with the program for a week. Try to set up their accounting system and then save the data file to a CD. Then find a QuickBooks consultant to examine it and tweek it so it will work well for the business and the data can be easily merged into Turbo Tax at year end. Now that I have read this book I know a little more about what credentials a QuickBooks consultant should have and how my clients can easily find them.
I think some of the material could have been grouped a little differently. If it had, then I would have liked the book better. For example, it seemed like marketing topics were found in a few places. And information about Web sites was found in a few places. I would have liked to see these topics dealt with just once each and more fully.
I would have liked a chapter each on how to write the following plans: business, marketing, public relations, and networking. And I didn't see much value in appendices C, D or E. Instead, I would have liked to have seen a nice 30-page sample business plan that the reader could use as a templete for their consulting practice.
My biggest gripe with the book was Chapter 7 regarding defining one's services and billing rates. I thought the rates were low. Way low! I advise my SCORE clients not to start a business unless their effective billable hour is no lower than $125 an hour. I don't care what the business is. This is one of the reasons EVERYONE needs to write a business plan. By writing it they can figure out what services will generate the appropriate revenues. And what services won't. Don't offer any services that won't provide a reasonable amount of compensation.
Doing data entry is not a valuable service. So don't offer that. Examining a startup's attempt at setting up QuickBooks for $750 for 3 or 4 hours work is a valuable service. So do that. Also, fees should not depend on whether you work in a rural or a highly populated area. QuickBooks consulting can be done online and should be done online. Thus where you live is irrelevant. Charge what you are worth - not a fee based on where you live.
At page 13 the book includes a table or exhibit that lists the type of work typical QuickBooks consultants perform. After looking at the list I can see why they don't make much money. What I expected to see on the list was services related to coaching and helping people prepare great business plans. That is the most logical complementary service a QuickBooks consultant can provide. Of course, helping clients systematize their business' operations is another. And what about payroll consulting?
I would have liked included in the Appendix a list of books the author thought could further help someone who wants to be a successful QuickBooks consultant. This is particularly true with regard to business plans, Web sites, and marketing. None was provided. I am going to post a comment to this book review that will include the list of books I wanted to see. In any event, this is a unique and worthwhile book. I think the author has done us a favor by providing it to us. 5 stars!
14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
Excellent Book!!! Great resource, lots of info, well written and informative!Dec 05, 2007
By Tammy
I want to start my own business offering bookkeeping services and QuickBooks consulting, but I had a ton of questions and I didn't know where or how to start. This book answered all my questons and many more questions that I hadn't even thought about yet! I can't imagine how much time I would have spent looking for all this information! Plus it will help save me money on the things I need and by not spending money on marketing methods that aren't effective!
Successful QuickBooks Consulting provides the steps I need to take to start my business. It also has a lot of resources along with the relevant website for more info. I wasn't sure where to start or what to do before.
I especially like the "Keys to Success" throughout the book which are comments and advice from other ProAdvisors. There are also a couple of chapters with other ProAdvisors' advice and comments, and things they wish they would have done differently or known sooner. It was great to be able to read all of them. Plus, the results of the survey of ProAdvisors was very interesting!
After getting this book, I feel much more confident starting my own business and it is nice to have this book as a reference when I need it!!! I would highly recommend this book if you are starting your own business (or want to)--whether your focus is on QuickBooks, bookkeeping, or taxes you'll find lots of useful information in the book.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Practical advice 'from the trenches'Jan 09, 2008
By Richard B
Truly a valuable contribution. As a CPA with an established retained CFO practice, I found in this book many 'not available elsewhere' ideas both for building a practice and for maximizing consulting practice income. A great mix of clear, comprehensive 'how-to' basics and valuable 'from the trenches' suggestions.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
a must read for anyone interested in QuickBooks consulting or anyone trying to grow a QuickBooks consulting business.Jun 10, 2008
By A. Young-Miles
"Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor"
I have read quite a few books regarding bookkeeping services, consulting services and tax services but this is the first book I have read regarding QuickBooks consulting services - which is the main service area of my business. I think this is an excellent reference guide for anyone that is starting or growing a QuickBooks consulting business.
I found Michelle's information on marketing, performing engagements, establishing billing rates and growing the business very helpful. Prior to reading this book I would constantly read the QuickBooks on-line forums especially on practice development to gain insight from other QuickBooks consultants. I have even tried contacting consultants that have been in business for quite some time to see if they would offer some advice, tips or insight for a "newbie". Unfortunately I have not had much luck until now. Michelle's chapters entitled:
* Common Mistakes Consultants Make
* Advice From Other ProAdvisors
* What Consultants Wish They Would Have Known Sooner
* Keys to Success
contain the information that I have been looking for! I wish I would have known about her book when I first started my practice these four chapters alone would have definitely saved me a lot of time and money. If you have ever wondered "can QuickBooks consulting be an ideal business for me", "I'm a Pro-Advisor what's my next step", "what works and what doesn't work when growing a QuickBooks consulting business", "can I make any money at this", "how can I find more QuickBooks clients" - BUY THIS BOOK!
Andrea Young-Miles
Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor
9 of 10 found the following review helpful:
A Must Read for the Experienced or Novice ConsultantJan 07, 2008
By Rebecca Johnson
"Becca Dove"
This book contains a wealth of information for both the experienced consultant and the novice consultant. You'll learn what works and what doesn't work from someone who actually has a successful consulting business. The author has the unique opportunity to hear from consultants across the country, and she has apparently listened to what they have to say. Everything is well written in an easy to follow format. The experienced consultant will gain new insight and new ideas. The novice will learn how to start step by step.
Becca Dove,CP
Dove Bookkeeping Service
See all 53 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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