Universal Accounting: The Universal Experience

Working with individuals who are in the process of starting or building their accounting practice is a very rewarding experience. Since we began in 1979 we’ve been able to identify and perfect the steps to successfully move forward. You CAN Start Your Own Accounting Practice.

There’s no time like the present to start your own accounting practice. Perhaps you have fantasized about being your own boss, working as little or as much as you’d like, calling the shots, and catapulting you and your family into a new and improved lifestyle. And luckily, you’re zeroing in on a profitable business opportunity. Of all the home business options, a Bookkeeping and Accounting practice is considered by some to be one of the best. In fact, Paul and Sarah Edwards, authors of The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century, rate a bookkeeping service as the “Best of the Best” home-based businesses.

To begin it is important to first determine the following three situations that apply to you:

What is the persons past experience in accounting, bookkeeping and or tax?
What is the current goal of the individual?
What services would they like to offer.

As we start let’s consider a few things:

• Are you currently employed in accounting / tax?
• Tell me what you do there?
• How long have you been there?
• Do you enjoy your job?
• How much do you make a year?
• So do you consider yourself a full charge bookkeeper, an accountant, a CPA, EA?
• On a scale of 1-10, what would you say your accounting knowledge is?
• Do you have experience in doing a wide variety of books for small businesses?

For example, if you were at a client’s office marketing yourself would you be familiar with and comfortable with “flooring accounts” or “accounts in transit”? Contracts in transit – This is when a buyer signs a contract at the dealership that the dealer plans to sale to a bank or finance company. The “contract” is “in-transit” to the bank. Flooring Account – When a bank owns the title on car, but a car will be in at a dealership waiting to be sold. When the car is finally sold, the dealership has to pay the bank of the purchase of the car plus interest.

 Next we need to consider your current situation.

• Are you currently taking clients or when would you be ready to do their books?
• How soon do you plan to start your business?
• When are you planning to start your accounting and bookkeeping business?

With that the last set of questions relate to your goals.

• Are you planning on doing this Part Time to supplement your income or Full Time as your primary income?
• Have you ever thought of having clients on the side of your day job (working evenings and weekends with a few clients as a supplemental income)?
• Are you interested in offering bookkeeping, accounting, payroll, QuickBooks consulting and tax preparation services, some or both?
• Why do you want to go in business for yourself?
• How would this help you and your family?
• Why is this so important for you to do right now?
• What are you hoping to accomplish?

For some, you already have clients. You perhaps are now in business offering accounting services but need to build and would like to take on additional clients. Often this is the time to also consider what other services could complement your current income streams. In this situation these are the questions we need to discuss:

• How long have you been in business?
• How many accounting clients do you have right now?
• Have you thought about how many you would like to have?
• How many tax clients do you have? (Individual / business returns)
• Have you thought about increasing that number?
• Where are you right now with your practice, stable, growing, needing staff, needing to do more marketing?
• What’s your current monthly revenue? Average per client (Revenue divided by clients)?
• How many hours are you currently working?
• Are you doing this by yourself or do you have a partner/spouse working with you?

This is going to be really easy for you. Here at Universal Accounting we focus on three things as we help you. We refer to it as APE – Achievable, Profitable, Easy. Think of it this way, we help you be in business for yourself but not by yourself.
CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

Universal Accounting Center specializes in starting and building successful accounting and tax practices around the world, yes internationally, and we have been doing this since 1979. We are here to help start and or build your business TODAY. To do this we have programs specifically designed to help you in three ways.

1st – we help you quickly and easily start/build your business by getting the credentials and qualifications you will need.
2nd – we help you know how to get clients quickly with our successful marketing program and
3rd – we help you better service your clients in a very profitable way.

* Take a Tour of UAC and our services to help you succeed in your accounting career

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

There are 4 things you need to consider to successfully start or build any business.

First is money, we have all known that it takes money to make money. As an adviser we always tell those that we counseling that they need to consider the costs vs. the return on investment. Now because this is a service oriented business the cost to start will be minimal. However the potential for a high return on your investment is great and in a moment we will go over some numbers to see the specifics. As accountants we always learn to get the best return on investments, right?

How much have you set aside to start up your accounting business?

Second is time, it takes time to do the work for the clients and to take care of the needs in your business. So let me ask you this, how much time would you ideally like to invest in your business weekly? There is no right or wrong answer. Think of it this way, do you want to build your business 1 to 3 clients a month, or would you prefer to take on 4 to 6 clients a month? Whatever the growth you plan for your business it will take some marketing on your part but you are in luck. Here at Universal Accounting we’ve identified the methods that work to find accounting clients. Each of these strategies we’ve categorized them by how effective and expensive or inexpensive they are. So, again, on a monthly basis are you planning to allocate to the growth of your business:

<$100 a month $101 to $250 a month >$251 a month

One thing that we always point out to people (starting a business / that already has a business) is ‘time.” Is time going to be a problem, for example, if you had just one (more) client, would you be able to take care of them, today?

Third is commitment. Part of commitment is decisiveness, the ability to keep appointments and make wise business decisions, that’s what will make your business succeed!

How do you rate yourself as to your ability to keep your appointments? (Scale 1 to 10)
How committed are you in starting a business / building your business, on a scale of 1 to 10?
(If not a 10, “What makes it only a __?”)

Last, is knowledge, what I mean is, the knowledge of:

1. Starting a business / building your business,
2. Doing the books for a wide variety of clients in various types of small businesses,
3. Marketing to get clients, and most importantly
4. Keeping the clients. It is one thing to get a client and another to keep them, right?
5. The last that I would add would be how to charge fairly for your services.

For those who have accounting or bookkeeping backgrounds, which business industries have you had experience with?

Now, of those 4 things, Money, Time, Commitment, and Knowledge which is going to be the biggest challenge to you in getting your business started today that Universal can help you with?

If it is money, we can show you the tips and tricks to get started so that all of your start-up costs can be covered with your first bookkeeping client. Yes, your first client should bring in more revenue they your initial capital to start the business.

If it is time, with our proven systems and programs we are able to train you to optimize your time and increase your hourly earnings using our proven techniques. When you are in business time is everything, time is money and we show you how to be effective with yours as you take care of your clients.

If it is commitment, what is holding you back? Universal has worked with 1000’s of accounting and tax firms, helping them be in business FOR themselves but not by themselves each getting paid the money they are worth. Now is the perfect time to start, working with Universal we give you the turnkey system to follow so that you can build the business you want. You’ve already shown this by just spending the time to request and watch our online video and read our website to get the training that you need to move forward.

If it is knowledge, our programs are specifically designed to give them the training, confidence and certifications necessary to succeed with their business.

If we can help you find a solution to your challenge, with our help can you see yourself easily accomplishing your goal?

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

Can You Succeed TODAY

This is Profitable

Now let’s go through and build your mini business plan. As far as your financial goals are concerned, how much income would you need to earn per month to make things comfortable for you and your family?

Write down the revenue you would like in the next 12 months.
Take that number and divide it by $5000, this is the national average for bookkeeping services. Now we know how many clients it will take to generate the revenue you need.
* National Average for monthly bookkeeping services, $400 a month
* National Average for monthly bookkeeping and tax services, and additional $100 a month (This is amortizing the fee to prepare the yearly tax filing plus tax planning services throughout the year)
* National Average for monthly accounting services, an additional $100 to $200 a month

Average Earnings
(# of clients x $monthly billings x 12 months = annualized billings)

Needed Income

Well, if you divide how much you want to make each month ($_________) by ($400, $500. $600), you’ll need to have (#) client’s to meet your goal.

Time to service client

Because we now know how many clients you need to meet your income goals we can multiply them by 8 (since an average client takes between 6-8 hours a month to service), and this will give you how many hours you’ll have to work per month which is (__).

We then divide that by 4 because there are 4 weeks in a month, which makes it about (__) hours a week of work. That’s reasonable isn’t it?

Hourly Earnings

Before we go any further I think we need to consider what you will be earning on an hourly basis. The (__) hours a month that you are working divided by the average revenue that you will be billing for that work of ($____) each month means you are making $____ dollars per hour. How does that sound?

$____ Monthly earnings / by the ## Monthly hours worked = $____ per hour

Life Time Value of client

According to a recent AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) study, the average client lasts for 7 years, so if we take an average bookkeeping client of $4,800 a year and multiply that over 7 years, it equals $33,600 which is the LIFE TIME VALUE (LTV) of just that one client. Isn’t that amazing? Just that knowledge is key as it changes the relationship we have with our clients. Simply put, the name of this game is Client Retention!

So what would change in your life if you were making $40, $60 or even $100 an hour?

Now if we here at Universal Accounting taught you just one idea that helped get one client, how much would that idea be worth to you?

$400 a month, $4,800 a year or $33,600 as a Life Time Value, LTV

Therefore, who is really paying for you to start / build your business? Yes, your first client more than covers any start up costs or capital needed to begin.

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

Stop Pretending

Achievable

Let’s talk about the opportunity. Who is going to be your target audience? If you think about it, what percentage of businesses needs accounting and tax preparation? Why?

Taxes, ROI, Forecasting and Planning, Budgeting, etc.

There are many reasons why an accounting practice makes so much sense. Here’s a list of some of those reasons:

• Every business is required by law to keep books
• You can earn a good living (the average client will bring in about $300 per month)
• It’s an inexpensive business to start (you probably have most of what is required right now)
• No expensive equipment is required
• You can make money doing what you enjoy
• You can work anytime, any place
• Rented office space is not required
• Inventory is not required

And out of those businesses, 97% have fewer than 20 employees. So those are the businesses you will want to target, right? By definition these are small businesses.

Today the US Bureau of Labor’s forecast for the accounting occupation is “Employment of accountants and auditors is expected to grow faster than average for all occupations through the year 2014. An increase in the number of businesses, changing financial laws and regulations, and increased scrutiny of company finances will drive growth . . . As the economy grows, the number of business establishments will increase, requiring more accountants and auditors to set up books, prepare taxes, and provide management advice.” The future is bright for freelance accountants!

Nine of 10 businesses that you see everyday need your services and our program will help you find them and help you present your services to them so that they will understand how you can help them put money on their bottom line.

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

What time of year do you think is the best time to get clients? NOW is the best time to start and build your businesses because:

Winter (Dec – Jan) – Just think of it. At the end of the year the business wants to close out the business. They want to know if they made money last year. But before they can finish and sometimes even start closing out the books for last year they need to get out the W-2’s and 1099’s. Which do you think they would rather be doing, working in their business to make more money or doing their books? Believe me, they didn’t get into business to do accounting. So what do you think they want to do now, …

Spring (Feb – Apr) – Imagine a business is trying to get a jump on the year with great sales and business but is burdened with the need to finish the books of business for last year so that the taxes can be determined. Most of the small businesses as you know are Sole Proprietors which means that for them to file their personal taxes the business needs the accounting done for last year. Do you think their excited to spend time doing last years books when they could be working building their business now? So what do you think they want to do now, …

Summer (May – Aug) – After closing out the books of business for last year and taking care of the taxes most businesses are made aware of tax saving opportunities that they did not take advantage of but should now. The problem is do you think they want any more to do with the accounting after neglecting their business sales while working on last years books and taxes? Better still, do you think they have even worked much on the books for this year after all they had to do to get everything in order for the taxes to be done? So what do you think they want to do now, …

Fall (Sept – Nov) – Once summer is over what do you think most business owners do, especially those with families? Either they did or will be taking a vacation. That little pile of accounting work grows and do you think it is the first thing they want to do when they get back? Of course not, they want to get back into making money so the accounting backs up even more. Then comes the holidays, October, November, December, So what do you think they want to do now, …

They want to get someone who knows what they are doing with accounting to take care of it now.

And that is the reason that accounting and bookkeeping is the first thing that most every business outsource. (Telberg Survey – ICCA survey.)

With our proven system you can target those companies and meet your goals now, instead of putting them off! This is also very profitable. Our programs are designed so that our graduates have their first client after 30 days of following our marketing program. Thereafter the average rate of growth is two to five clients per month.

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

Now is the Time to ACT!

“Pain’T”

Earlier we considered why this is important for you to do right now. Simply put most are are not satisfied with your current situation, and I’m going to assume the same for you, right?

What steps have you taken to improve your situation?
What have you done?
Has it been working as well as you’d like it to?
Now I want to talk about your future goals. There are many reason’s why people want to (start/build) their accounting and tax business, what are some of your main reasons?

For example, do you have a mortgage? Well you’re not going to be able to retire until you get your house paid off, right? Are you planning on retiring some day, of course, we all do? By when would you hope to retire?

Most people are looking to pay off Credit Card Debt? Is that a goal of yours?

As an adviser we always share with people that having a small line of credit to run your business is good and will help you keep track of your expenses and earn some points.

Now we need to revisit your current situation in terms of:

• Where are you today in your career?
• Where’s the pain – why aren’t you happy with your current situation?
• On a scale of 1-10, how important is it to make a change? What if you didn’t do anything? Is that an option?
• Where would you like to be?
• What are your plans for getting there?
• What’s standing in your way?
• What are you thinking of doing about it?
• Are you open to an alternative?
• What other goals would you like to achieve?

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

It is about You, Your Success!

“PAINT”

What do you think you would need to do in order to make this happen?
What is your vision of your ideal business? How do you see it?

This next part is an important excersise that you need to do for yourself. Imagine that it is 3 months from now and you have accomplished or are well on your way to achieving what you just described as your business. So ask yourself, what will that do for you, what you will get out of that is? What will that give you? How does that change your life?

You know that you need to make a change in order for that to happen, right?

So what are you doing today so that you can meet your goals in life? What are you doing right now to make a change? Of course something has to change in your life.

What is the single most important objective for you to accomplish as you start and take on clients?

A year from now, what do you want to have that you don’t have now?

On a scale from 1 to 5 with 5 being the most committed to achieving your goal where would you rate yourself?

If we could show you how to meet your goals to (have your bookkeeping business up and running in just a few months / have more income from your business in just a few months), would this be something you would want to do?

In order to move forward here are some questions you need to ask yourself:

Six Program Qualifying Questions

• On a scale of 1-10, rank your full charge accounting and bookkeeping skills.
• On a scale of 1-10, how confident are you that you can step into any small business, set up their chart of accounts, analyze the financial picture, identify key indicators and ratios, and make recommendations to the business owner on how they can increase their profits, legally lower their tax burden and grow the business?
• How would you rank your marketing skills on a scale of 1-10?
• On a scale of 1-10, how comfortable are you stepping into any small business and repairing their QuickBooks and or setting up their QuickBooks from Scratch?

If interested in offering tax services

• From 1-10 again, how confident are you to prepare an individuals tax filing/return?
• How would you rank your ability to prepare business tax returns?

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

The Formula for Success
* The 2 key elements are you r Confidence and Competence

Universal is committed to providing you with all of the tools you need to achieve the success that you desire; our courses provide you with the accounting knowledge, the extensive practical hands on experience, the certification, the step by step proven marketing model and the support to help you become not just a full charge bookkeeper, but truly the profit and growth expert for your clients: You have the knowledge and confidence to step into any small business situation, set up the chart of accounts, advise the business on how to get control of their cash flow, increase their profits and legally lower their tax burden.

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

Confidence
* The attitude of how you see yourself
* You have something to give your clients

Universal Accounting Center has helped thousands of individuals start and build their own successful accounting, bookkeeping and tax practices.

Whether this is something that you would like to do part-time with just a handful of clients or full-time as your primary income this is for you.

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

Confidence with other Business Owners
* With Competence and Certification you can be Confident

Start a Practice YOU Can Count on, Your Own Accounting Practice

There are few things in life you can count on, especially when it comes to your career. But if you’ve always wanted to start your own accounting practice, you couldn’t have picked a better path. Within two months you could start your own business, a business you can count on to bring you professional satisfaction and a plush new lifestyle for you and your family.

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

Offering Your Services with Self Confidence
* Increasing the Profits of Your Clients

Accountants: A Service in High-Demand

For over a decade the demand for accountants and bookkeepers has been increasing. Brent Inman of PricewaterhouseCoopers said, “It’s clearly one of the hottest markets (for accountants) that I’ve seen.” Consider the accounting forecast recently released by the US Department of Labor. For years Universal Accounting Center℠ (UAC) has proudly shared prior reports that by 2008 accounting jobs would increase by 20%. That great forecast has been extended to 2014! They predict “Employment of accountants and auditors is expected to grow faster than average for all occupations through the year 2014. As the economy grows, the number of business establishments will increase, requiring more accountants and auditors to set up books, prepare taxes, and provide management advice.” The future is bright for freelance accountants!

What is an Expert
* Becoming a Profit and Growth Expert
* What is an Expert

A Lucrative Niche Market: Small Businesses

Over 85% of the opportunities in the accounting field are within small businesses. In fact, Universities prepare their students for corporate accounting which doesn’t address small business needs. And more than 50% of small businesses fail within the first five years, and much of that failure can be attributed to lack of accounting expertise. Those small business owners need an accountant who can address their small business accounting needs. Imagine contributing to the success of local small businesses, which will build your own community while providing you with job satisfaction and security. As you focus on small-business accounting you cater to a niche market in great need of your services.

The Value of Coaching
* Any “professional” has a coach

Why Train with Universal Accounting Center℠

In 1979, Universal Accounting Center℠ was created to provide training in real world situations. We devised a method of teaching small business accounting unlike anything else available. We have taught thousands of students how to work with small businesses, how to create systems of accounting for different types of businesses, and how to develop and market their own accounting service. We have also added a few basic concepts that can instruct anyone, with little or NO experience in the complete methods of accounting and bookkeeping.

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

The True Value of a Coach for the Accountant

* UAC and Brandon Barber Coaching

As you work to start and build your practice there is no reason to go it alone. In business there is a term that refers to the recipe or process for success. This is called a “turnkey” system. When you work with a coach you can be confident they will help you stay on task to follow that system to insure your success. Here are Universal Accounting this is what we offer our students.

Get the Coaching You Deserve

It is important that in this process that we don’t get ahead of ourselves. Sometimes we experience success but when we are in the middle of it it may be hard to notice or appreciate. With a coach we can be grounded to the reality of our situation. It can be as simple as “counting our many blessings”.

Having Realistic Expectations
* Having the proper perspective

After enrolling with Universal Accounting, where do you begin, what is the first step. Here is a glimpse of where to start:

The First Key Step to Market an Accounting Service
* Your Competitive Marketing Advantage

Key to your success is your ability to communicate who you are and what you do. How do your clients benefit from your services. Part of this process is having a clear statements, this is often referred to as your commercial.

The 30 Second Commercial
* Be prepared to summarize what you do in a way that any business owner will now how they can benefit from your services

With a clear understanding of what you do and how your clients benefit you are able to now explain your services. This is where you focus not on the features of your work but the benefits of the work you do for your clients.

Why and How to Present Your Accounting Services
* Demonstrating Your Services, Your presentation book

So, does this happen overnight? Are you willing to work for yourself as hard as you do for previous employers? Will you work as hard for you as you did for others? Of course you are so now is the time to fight the good fight.

Persistence is Key to Your Success
* Your willingness to charge forward

What Universal does is now help you be in business for yourself but you’re not by yourself. Why, because with our support and the coaches assigned to work with you we are confident you can get the clients you need to achieve your financial goals.

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

Helping Accountants Get Clients

Key to this process is your ability to:

• Say the right thing
• to the right people
• at the right time
• in the right place

Saying the Right Thing to Your Potential Clients

Because we are accountants this will makes sense. It will also be something we can naturally do and perhaps enjoy. It is keeping score, tracking the numbers:

Measuring Your Results
* It is a “numbers game”

To diferentiate yourself from other accountants and bookkeepers it is key that we offer more to our clients. In the business community we need to be know as more than just the average accountant or bookkeeper. What we promote at Universal is becoming a Profit & Growth Expert. Remember, the name of the game is Client Retention and this is the key to that success.

Using the Wisdom Pyramid to Serve Our Accounting Clients
Take the information we gather as bookkeepers to become the reports we can use to understand the business and make informed business decision. Become the Profit and Growth Expert for your clients.

So what is a Profit & Growth Expert? How is this different than the average accountant or bookkeeper? With Universal we help you excel in your accounting career so that you can be key to the success of your clients? Realize, their success is your success.

Become a Profit & Growth Expert

What many are realizing in their accounting and or bookkeeping career is the opportunity now in tax. In recent years many tax preparers are becoming bookkeepers offering bookkeeping services to have a year round income. For bookkeepers, they are realizing that most of what the tax preparer is using to do their work are the numbers created by the bookkeeper. So with the software today and the ease to transfer data bookkeepers are becoming tax preparers and tax preparers are becoming bookkeepers. Now is the time to enhance your skills and offer tax services.

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

Becoming a Professional Tax Preparer
* Be Your Clients Tax Expert

But what are you telling your potential clients? What can we say to help them recognize your value to their business?

This is YOUR message to Your Prospective Client

As you begin working with clients there is one thing that you need to be aware of and never let the gray area creep in. You are a vendor, they are a client. It is important that we always maintain a peer relationship with our clients, you are not their employee.

You Are Not an Employee
* Having the proper relationship with your clients

After all of this, here is something you can now enjoy. Here are some bloopers that came from our sessions that I’m sure you going to laugh at, you can at least smile:

CALL NOW 877-833-7909 AND MENTION THIS OFFER for a free 1 hour coaching session, an assessment of your current situation, the market in your specific area, and how we can help you start or build your accounting and tax practice.

We’ve saved the Best for Last

Roger Knecht

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