Question 1

Are you an insured business and do you guarantee your work?

Accepted Answer

I'm insured with professional indemnity insurance for a minimum of $250,000. This is required by the Tax Practitioners Board for BAS Agents to practice BAS lodgment.

Question 2

Will you require customers to share their COVID-19 vaccination status?

Accepted Answer

No. This is because I am fully vaccinated against COVID-19 myself and am aware of the suggested vaccination regime requirements and precautions recommended by the Queensland government health minister and I trust local clients to take recommended precautions seriously also.

Question 3

What COVID-19 measures do you have in place?

Accepted Answer

As stated above, I am fully vaccinated and am aware of the COVID-19 vaccination booster recommended, six monthly dates. My home-office has adequate air circulation and I will advise clients if COVID-19 is detected by myself or anyone in or visiting my home.

Question 4

How did you decide to get into your line of work?

Accepted Answer

I've loved working with numbers from the day I started studying accountancy on the Gold Coast Queensland back in 2005. My instructors always advised me that if I started think it's not my thing I should try something else, but I never for a moment doubted my decision.  Financial intelligence in my view is essential not just for anyone working in the accounting industry, but for anyone wanting to own or operate a business. Finance is the blood-flow of any business and any training in finance can never be overstated.

Question 5

Do you have a favourite customer story you would like to share?

Accepted Answer

My favourite customer stories are always about clients who buy in to the on-boarding process that I offer as a bookkeeper. I've had a client who has loyally used my bookkeeping services for many years. I thought because I was moving away from their local area, they would no longer want to keep contracting me as their bookkeeper. Instead they were more than happy to pay the postage cost to send receipts and bills to my new address. In turn, I was also happy to do their monthly bookkeeping and pay for the return postage of their paperwork as well.  The services I now offer my client are a lot more comprehensive than when I first started working for them, as working for large entities and accountants showed me that I could do a lot more than just reconcile the bank accounts each month. I now ensure the GST is fully reconciled against the profit and loss and balance sheet accounts and I reconcile the payroll liability accounts also.  At times my client has asked me for special reports and turnover reports for financial institutions and various other client parties and I have enjoyed the appreciation I have received from my client for work that I've been able to do for them.

Question 6

What do you like most about your job?

Accepted Answer

I enjoy meeting new clients. Being a "tech nerd" I also enjoy introducing clients to new accounting software features, meeting with the accounting and business software providers and establishing business relationships. I run Agile CRM software as well as my own accounting software subscription and office productivity products, because I like to keep my client's information consolidated in one platform. I always ensure that I have local, as well as cloud based copies that are secure and less likely to fall victim to data loss. Embracing the new relationships and product features as my business grows is what I like most of all about my job.

Question 7

What questions should a customer ask to hire the right service professional?

Accepted Answer

I always like to ask the customer, "what questions do you have for me"? I find this empowers the customer and gives them to find out about what it is that I am offering them in terms of bookkeeping services, as well as my workplace policies and procedures that will help the customer and I work well together.

Question 8

What questions do customers commonly ask and how would you answer them?

Accepted Answer

Customers often ask me what I need from them to do my job as a bookkeeper. I answer by letting the customer know that we can communicate any time and give them the means of communication they can use. Although email and phone communications are by far the most common means of communication, in some instances communication through accounting and business apps is more suitable. In some instances communication by mail is also required. Customers will also ask how much I charge for bookkeeping services. I am comfortable doing rudimentary bookkeeping tasks for a lot less than most bookkeepers will charge. Some people think that I shouldn't do this, as it will generally undervalue bookkeepers. I disagree, as I see the bigger picture of eventually being able to offer more accounting services besides bookkeeping, BAS, and administration services to clients.

Question 9

What makes you the most reliable and trustworthy person for the job?

Accepted Answer

Having 15 years' experience as a bookkeeper, good work ethic, and a desire to succeed in my profession, I always seek to offer the reliable and trustworthy services my clients can rely on.

Question 10

Why should a customer hire you over another service provider?

Accepted Answer

Many bookkeeping service providers are have very little ownership of the product they are delivering to clients. They often work for large accounting firms who delegate managerial functions to them and they don't have much influence on everyday work procedures communicated or used by their place of employment. Because their employers are very focused on providing financial records rather than managing work procedures, things start falling through the cracks. New staff are bombarded with email communications, micro-managed, and not acknowledge and encouraged in their skill set and existing potential. This in my view, is one of the biggest travesties at work in the accounting industry. The service I offer are services that I carry out myself. As my business grows, I will be offering more services and most likely engaging sub-contractors. These people will understand their job position from start to finish, because it will be to do with tasks that I am already engaged in myself. So, it will be very easy for me to communicate my vision of offering agile service to clients that can be customised very fluently to suit any clients bookkeeping and business finance requirement.

Question 11

What are the typical things that you need to know before you can provide a quote to a customer?

Accepted Answer

The customer will be required to communicate the number of work tasks involved in the bookkeeping role. For example, the number of bank accounts that need to be reconciled, whether they are registered for GST and how regularly the ATO requires them to have their BAS/IAS lodged, whether they have employees and the number of employees, and whether they have any outstanding BAS or ATO reporting (such as taxable payment annual reporting) obligations due. I also like to know the customer's current bookkeeping method. If they currently don't have one or just have receipts, bills, invoices and statements, I will need to discuss how they wish to proceed in terms of starting an accounting software subscription or operating a Microsoft Excel cashbook.

Question 12

How can a customer save money before you start the work? Please give 3 tips

Accepted Answer

The number one area my bookkeeping customers can save money on it business expense records. Bookkeepers exist to record every supplier transaction as well as customer or sales transaction associated with the business. If the customer fails to keep records of (for example) fuel purchases, it is very difficult to recapture this accounting information. Bank statements do provide some level of transactional information, but if an employee was reimbursed for fuel purchased using petty cash or fuel was purchased using a card linked to a private bank account, the true business cost of the fuel becomes very difficult to trace. Fuel cards and fuel accounts can help and are even more helpful when fuel litres for fuel tax credit claims need to be determined.

Question 13

Are there any special offers you would like to offer to Oneflare customers?

Accepted Answer

Startups and non-GST registered small businesses can benefit from my $75 for three hours bookkeeping blocks. I also do MYOB, Xero, Quickbooks and Reckon introductory training for $24 per hour.

Question 14

What makes your pricing competitive?

Accepted Answer

I'm prepared to offer low prices for customers prepared to hire my bookkeeping services remotely, as well as customers who are start-up business or who have irregular bookkeeping support requirements. I also offer reliable bookkeeping services to customers who are regular users of my bookkeeping services and offer a low hourly rate for ongoing bookkeeping services.

Question 15

How do you normally charge for your service?

Accepted Answer

For monthly or quarterly bookkeeping work, I like to charge in three hour blocks. The first three hours is only $75 and subsequent blocks of three hours are charged at the same rate. This is very affordable for most customers. As a bookkeeper, I'm aware of what outsourced bookkeeping service providers are charging and I'm willing to compete in the remote bookkeeping and well as local bookkeeping market.

Question 16

Is there a particular aspect of your trade or industry that you specialise in?

Accepted Answer

As an experienced bookkeeper ensure all bookkeeping services are inline with accounting and reporting standards, so I'll work with income tax accounting providers to ensure that all bookkeeping, BAS, and payroll accounting records can be handed off at the end of the financial year with minimal effort or inconvenience. This ensures that you as a customer get maximum value from my services and your accounting/bookkeeping bill is a minimal component of your overall annual business expense.

Question 17

What experience, skills, qualifications or training do you have to make you the right person for the job?

Accepted Answer

Having an Advanced Diploma of Accounting (which is nationally recognised), BAS Agent registration, and 15 years' bookkeeping experience working for SMEs in Australia, I have the skills and qualifications which make me the best person for the job.

Mcatamney, Shaun Francis

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Business contact details

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Business description

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Browse tax accountant experts by suburb

Services

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Frequently asked questions

Are you an insured business and do you guarantee your work?

Will you require customers to share their COVID-19 vaccination status?

Need an expert?

Customer

Businesses

Cities

About Oneflare

Oneflare group

Download our apps

Mcatamney, Shaun Francis