2017 is coming to a close – and what a year it’s been for the accounting industry!
At Hubdoc, we understand that accountants and bookkeepers are eager to stay informed about industry trends and best practices, but they’re also extremely busy. Even if you make an effort to stay on top of all of your favorite accounting blogs, odds are a few interesting articles, webinars, newsletters, or podcasts might have slipped under your radar.
As you prepare for 2018, we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss any of the most interesting accounting tips and trends from the past year. Please enjoy our selection of the most worthwhile accounting/bookkeeping reads of 2017!
Practice Management & Client Experience
Efficient practice management and providing incredible client experiences are topics that are frequently discussed among accountants and bookkeepers (likely because there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for either). The content listed below brings some interesting points to the conversation.
The Accountant’s Not To-Do List: 5 Things to Stop Now
One of the most common ways to tackle a pile of work is to make a "to do" list. For some projects, it can be just as effective to make a list of what not to do. This widely shared blog post from Karbon suggests some common activities and practices you should consider eliminating in order to improve your firm’s efficiency.
What Business Owners Want
This isn’t a blog post per se, but this edition of Blake Oliver’s weekly newsletter, Cloud Accounting Weekly, provides some great information for creating a better experience for your small business clients. If you haven’t already, we encourage you to subscribe to Cloud Accounting Weekly – it’s a phenomenal source of information on all things accounting, as well as a few general business topics (e.g., travel, security, etc.).
Pricing Methodology
Pricing is a tough problem to crack for many accounting and bookkeeping firms. Here are some great resources that cover fixed pricing and related topics.
Command the Prices You Deserve
“When we start this journey of ‘commanding the price we deserve’ and we present our solutions to our clients, sometimes we may feel that we are not who we say we are.” This Xero blog post by Melanie Power argues that one of the biggest challenges faced by accountants and bookkeepers making the transition to value pricing is that they don’t value themselves – but that has to change.
Strategies for Setting Prices for Your Services
This blog post might be a quick two-minute read, but it’s packed with great information about pricing your accounting or bookkeeping services. Written by the QuickBooks Firm of the Future team, it provides a straightforward overview of the key differences and advantages of “bottom-up” pricing and “top-down” pricing.
Marketing for Accountants
Looking to develop your marketing skills? Start by consulting some of the helpful resources below!
61 Ways to Get More Clients for Your Business (That Actually Work!)
This titanic blog post from Practice Ignition is packed with tried-and-tested tips for growing your firm. You might not get through it all one go – fortunately, you have the opportunity to download it as a PDF and refer back to it if you’re in need of some marketing inspiration.
The Numbers on How Long it Will Take Your Content to Get Noticed
The Profitable Firm’s blog is a hugely valuable resource for accountants and bookkeepers who are looking to ramp up their marketing efforts. This post in particular is great for those who have dabbled in content marketing, but aren’t yet experiencing the results they wish to achieve.
Accounting Technology
Ever felt confused or overwhelmed by the sheer amount of accounting app solutions? You’re not alone – app fatigue is a real phenomenon. These articles below aim to help accountants and bookkeepers navigate the growing accounting technology landscape.
Accounting Technology Ecosystem Doubles in Size with v3.0 Release
If there’s one indicator of how fast the accounting technology landscape is growing, it’s Accountex’s Accounting Technology Ecosystem graphic. This handy resource aims to help buyers make sense of the crowded accounting technology landscape by providing a categorized overview of accounting applications and their competitors. This blog post outlines some of the key landscape changes in 2017.
Get More from QuickBooks with These 5 QuickBooks Add-Ons
The value of accounting software often increases when integrated with other applications. QuickBooks Online is a great example of this – while a great general ledger solution on its own, you can gain efficiencies by connecting QuickBooks Online with tools such as Plooto and Hubdoc.
How I Learned Cloud Bookkeeping
What happens when a Product Marketing Manager with no bookkeeping experience takes on a company’s bookkeeping duties? Find out from Hubdoc’s Geoffrey Gualano, who documented his journey as he optimized our workflows and built a cloud bookkeeping technology stack with Fujitsu ScanSnap, Xero, Bill.com, Expensify, and (of course!) Hubdoc.
The Future
It’s important to stay on top of the latest accounting trends – after all, if you don’t make an effort to stay ahead of the curve, you’ll risk falling behind! Below are a couple of articles that outline how technology is expected to drive change in the accounting industry in the near future.
50% of Businesses Still Use Paper Checks – But They Won’t For Long
“We can't help but notice that businesses who survive the extinction of the paper check won't be ones last in line to automate.” In this intriguing read, Lauren Ruef, Research Analyst at Nvoicepay, discusses the evolution (and inevitable extinction) of paperless processes for B2B businesses.
Machine Learning and Accounting: What You Need to Know
Terms like “artificial intelligence” and “machine learning” are regularly thrown around when discussing the future of accounting and bookkeeping, but how will they actually impact these professions? Trent McLaren (Head of Accounting & Sales Development at Practice Ignition and AccountantsDaily Thought Leader of the Year) provides his perspective in this blog post.
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