This podcast with Sonia Connon of Office Assistants was recorded live from ICNZB #bookkeepcon18

How Sonia got into bookkeeping
Sonia started her journey as a sales consultant. She was then doing the books for her husband, was an active member of Plunket, and even a lifeguard!
Then she got an amazing compliment from a friend "your accounts are always immaculate, could you do bookkeeping for my clients?" So she went and did a bookkeeping course and got started, grew the business one client at a time.
She's still working with the friend that started it all which is a testament to the relationships she's built. It becomes a partnership, you become trusted.
Sonia's clients can go to bed at night knowing the things they aren't good at are being handled.

What's your why? What do you love most about business and bookkeeping?
Being able to take away the pain, the thorn in people's sides that is keeping their books. Although there are new fantastic new tools, online accounting programs, as clever as they are, they can't do everything.
Business owners need someone like me who is passionate and can do this in their sleep
Sonia's why is giving business owners peace of mind, helping them focus on their business, without having to worry about the books.

What do you do outside of the traditional
Make sure the information that's in the system is accurate, lately Sonia has been doing a lot of fix up work.
You can have a Lamborghini but if you don't know how to drive there is no point.
Not only is Sonia teaching them how to drive, she's teaching them how to get the info out of their accounting system to see what their business is doing. Set business targets, get management reporting
Look at what is coming out the other side, use the valuable insights that come from accounting software
Not just plugging in the numbers. Give them insights into their numbers, otherwise you're driving with a blindfold on!
Mel shares a great quote from Julie Russell - bookkeepers are putting the words behind the numbers

What value do bookkeepers provide?
We are so valuable!
Give them insight into how to make their businesses run their business more efficiently. There are plenty of programs out there
Advise their clients on the best software to use to drive their business further. Helping them make the transition.
With all these products and online accounting, the integration is seamless. They can jump the hurdles and clear them because they have the support of a bookkeeper who really cares about their business, we really embrace the business as our own. We are part of the business, we really want them to be successful, we are on the coal face with them, their business is important to us.

Confidence
We see very big issues out there with bookkeepers and confidence, typically they don't charge enough for the value they deliver.
Sonia says we all doubt ourselves. You just have to back yourself, even though it's really hard. You look around conferences like these and think you're not as good as everyone else. But you need to back yourself and have the confidence. Any doubts you have about how good you are, they are just in your head, the only person telling me those negative things is
The only thing holding us back is ourselves.

Techniques for going through that process
Don't be afraid to ask. Our profession are collaborators, not competitors. Come and ask someone else! People are really happy to share their insight.
You have to be confident in what you charge. Because if you're not you'll be second guessing your work.
Mel shares a quote from Steve Major - "If you don't stand for something then you don't stand for anything"
You need to have the confidence to be able to say no to clients.