Accounting & Bookkeeping & Small Business Forum

[mfarris1971]

I know this seems to be the same old question but hoping someone can give a little input to this particular situation.

I just spoke with my first potential client.....a family owned tire and service store. It is a small but very lucrative business. They just fired the bookkeeper they have had for almost a year. In the past year this "bookkeeper" has not been able to produce a Profit and Loss statement and there has not been a bank reconciliation for 7 months. That is just the beginning. They are in a mess.

I am about 99% sure they are going to hire me to do their bookkeeping. They want me to come to their office in a few days, take a look at what they have, and see what I can do with it. It will be at that time we will discuss pricing.

My question is do I still stick to a regular set-up fee and then equal monthly fee, or should I charge an hourly rate just to get everything in order then go to monthly fee? Or any other suggestions? This is obviously going to take some time and effort just to get them back on track.

My first instinct is to charge an hourly rate to get them back on track and then go to regular monthly fee.........what do you think? And if so, what should that hourly rate be?

Please help ASAP..........I have to go back in a few days. Thanks!

[David]

MFarris,

Two diferrent ways to handle the pricing issue for back work.
1 - Bill 1/2 of the monthly bill for each month of back work. Sometimes this is the best way to do it becasue you are getting paid for something for each month of work.
2 - $25 to $50/hour depending on what teh market will allow.

If you would review module 3 of the Professional Bookkeeper Program you will find that it teaches you how to handle tha situation.

Good Luck!