Be of service.
Usually, you'd think helping your bookkeeping clients would be enough. But, if you want to be truly valuable and generate countless referrals, it pays to be on the good side of accountants as well.
Today's guest, Lynne Moore, who is the owner of LAM Consulting, has mastered the art of attracting the best referrals by being of great value to accountants and her clients.
By assisting both, it has created a profitable business where she doesn't spend a penny on marketing including not even having a website.
During this interview, you'll learn...
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What to ask your new clients in order to connect with their accountants
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Why it's important to know how accountants want their files prepared
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Why clients and accountants like when you have a relationship with both sides
To learn more about Lynne, visit here.
Click here to learn how to build profitable relationships with accountants.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION
Michael Palmer: 01:03 Welcome back to The Successful Bookkeeper podcast. I am your host, Michael Palmer, and today's show is going to be a great one. Our guest is the owner of Lamb Consulting and as well, she's a Pure Bookkeeping licensee. She's been bookkeeping for over 25 years and we're happy to have her on the podcast. Welcome to the show, Lynne Moore.
Lynne Moore: 01:24 Thank you, Michael. It's great to be here.
MP: 01:26 Yeah. Well, for those listeners out there that do not know you yet, tell us how you first got into bookkeeping.
LM: 01:35 Okay. Well, I started my career in it and when I had a family it was very difficult. So I looked for something else today. Lynn turned her and fell in love with bookkeeping on is analytical, so it fit right in with my mentality. At that time, I started working for a corporation doing bookkeeping and years later I moved over to a c firm and did bookkeeping at a CA firm before I went out on my own.
MP: 02:04 Yeah. And what's it been like going out on your own?
LM: 02:08 It's been great because of the experience I've had at the CA firm. It's helped me set myself apart from other bookkeepers. So I prep my bookkeeping biles the way a CA like them and made sure I do a working paper for them, which reduces their time on the file. And that way I'm getting a lot of referrals from Cas because of that.
MP: 02:32 That's fantastic.
LM: 02:33 Building that relationship,
MP: 02:35 That's fantastic. And Yeah. What other experiences would you say from your ca working in a ca firm? What other experiences would you say have been benefiting you?
LM: 02:47 Part of it is burning me. How's different CA's work? Because they like to get a file within 30 at most, 60 days of the year-end because they would prefer to have it reviewed, um, and do an estimate on taxes if they cannot get the file finish for the three months on the taxes are due. So knowing how their timelines work has really helped me. Um, because a lot of people think, oh, we don't have to file for six months, but tax is due three. So if we can, if I can get the file to them faster, it just makes their life easier and it makes it so they can service the client better. And then it helps me emphasize to the client that I work very well. Can they do the same thing and in return and then the client just loves those relationships.
MP: 03:37 It's unbelievable. Very proactive. So you're, you're working to help them in their business, which puts you up on the radar because I actually don't think I've heard that particular angle ever from the bookkeeping industry.
LM: 03:55 I don't think it's um, I, but I know for me, I decided two years ago to go and grow my business instead of it just being me doing bookkeeping. And as soon as I said I was available for more clients, I get referrals on a monthly basis, sometimes a weekly basis. And I actually worked with one CPA firm where all of the partners in that firm referred to me.
MP: 04:22 That's phenomenal. And it's not surprising based on the fact that everything we do, I mean this whole conversation of value is yes, is about how it being valuable. And so often people are just thinking about, okay, well I want to price, you know, more, I want to get paid more, I want to charge more, I want to do value pricing or fixed price or whatever the case may be. They're thinking about that and whereas you've actually gone and become more valuable to your referral base, the people who are referring business to you and they're sending you incredible amounts of business.
LM: 04:59 Yes. And the fact that mine is more expensive than a lot of the bookkeepers in my area, the accountant fights for them to come to me, they'll have the discussion for me. They'll explain that just because my mortgage month doesn't mean it's going to cost you more. I do things more efficient sully. And so bill uses specific examples when they're talking to clients to refer them.
MP: 05:22 To me, that is the, the powerful piece around being a value to your referral base. And you know, for them, they, they don't, you know, the cost that is on top of an accountant's time if things aren't done correctly, uh, it's a no brainer that they're going to say, well, we want them to use you. And so what happens is if we talk about advertising, right? Most people think, you know, in fact, I was speaking with the Pure Bookkeeping system today. She wants to, she wants to become a licensee, but she's actually tied up in a contract with another firm that markets, oh, we'll help you grow your business. And it's a coaching firm and, and they're charging her $18,000 a year for this program. And she's walked into this thing. It's, it's, it's despicable in my opinion. And what she gets for it is very little, but she was wooed by the, Oh, we're going to help you grow your business.
MP: 06:32 We'll show you how to market and you'll make way more money because you're going to have clients ranging from the sky. Now what they've taught her to do and asked her to do is go and create a bunch of youtube videos, go and you know, put up a blog, do social media, created Twitter posts, you know, all this stuff. And it's absolutely brought her no business and she doesn't have the time to do any of it. So this idea that if you market a whole bunch, put out ads, yellow pages, you know, could Jabie, could Gibby to, but you know, you name it on, go on, go on, on and on and on it goes, right? And so that's the lowest form of attracting clients to your business because when you put an ad out, what you get back are people coming to you that don't know who you are. There's no credibility or authority established and they are going to be at that level, tire kickers and they're going to say, and there's my two and a half-year-old son yelling at me from outside in the yard. So you know, it just wants me to come out and play with them, right? So apologize listeners, I've got a beautiful little two and a half-year-old boy and he's, he's saying, come out and help me mow the lawn with my bubble machine.
LM: 07:56 Isn't that hilarious? So the point, right, it's that those people that are coming into your business are, are, are tire kickers and they are people that are going to be pushing you on price. Well, how much do you charge? Are you the cheapest? There's no, that's the only comparison they have is to compare you on price. The flip side for you, Lynn, and the people that have done this in their business and followed, you know, our recommendations as well. It's one of the key things that we recommend bookkeepers do is build powerful relationships with accountants because accountants already have authority. It's like a business goes to the accountant. In a lot of cases, it's like going to the doctor. I'm not feeling well, I need help. I want to, you know, get fit. I want to cure this problem. Whatever it is. They're going there and they're the authority and they say, you know what, you want to fix this. You got to go work with Lynn Moore. So when they come to you Lynn, they're not, they're like, I have to use you. I have no choice. So they don't even likely ask you what you charge. Am I right?
LM: 08:58 They, they don't ask me what they charge, what I charge. They, I find out what they need. I'll do an engagement letter. I send it to them and they sign it, no questions asked and I'll tell you, I have been in business now doing this for two years, been on my own for eight. I have no website, I have not done one stitch of marketing other than being a member of a BNI group and working during the best quality working paper I can, especially when it's going into a new accountant who's never seen my work because then chance, usually if I send something in within 30 days of the account and having that, I get a phone call from the accountant asking me if I'm still taking when I'm working.
MP: 09:43 It's beautiful.
MP: 09:53 It's absolutely beautiful and I, I'm so happy we're talking about it because I get this so often that people say, you know, there's no work out there or you know, yeah, I can't build a relationship with, with, with accountants. All you need to do is do great work and make sure that you're thinking in terms of what that account. Now, there's a bunch of steps you need to take obviously, but the, the wrong way to go is to, and I get an, I'm a little rattled today because I've, I'm absolutely, um, I'm upset at the egregious amount of money that's being charged to this woman for absolutely what I consider to be a bunch of hogwash. And, and so it's $18,000 that this woman is, is paid already and still on the hook for a bunch more. And I just get really upset about it because there's so much business in the marketplace.
MP: 10:48 And there's account after account that I talked to say, listen, we don't do any book cause we're, we're marketing. You know, we're out there looking for people to take on the Pure Bookkeeping System. And, and sometimes, you know, and accounting, they call themselves accountants. And what they do is, you know, uh, but still, they do full cycle bookkeeping. So we're reaching out and we're looking for, uh, for people that might be interested in and, and what we do. And they say, well, we don't do full-cycle bookkeeping. We're not bookkeepers, we're accountants. But do you know any bookkeepers? Because we were looking for bookkeepers. We need people to work in our file time and time again. And yet it just seems like everybody, when I say that they don't believe me or something. So hopefully people are going to get the message from you, Lynn. And it's not like, Oh hey, just put your shingle up and say, yeah, you know, I accountants, I'm, I'm ready to go. Uh, you have gotta be great at what you do. And that's what shines through for you. And is that you actually put together the quality of the file that your accountants want?
LM:11:49 Yes, it's a, and then a lot of it is if they have a new, if I get a new lead that and they're not using the one area accounting firms that I normally deal with, the first thing I ask is to be introduced to their accountant so that I can make sure I provide the file in the best way possible for them. Because every accountant does like things just slightly different. Yeah. And so I will start the relationship by going to the accountant and asking them, okay, I had been hired as a bookkeeper for this client. I want to make sure I give you everything you need. This is normally what my package is. Is there anything specific you'd like me to change? It's beautiful and they love it. And from there, and now the one thing I do because of the fact that I value these relationships with the accountants, I ended up taking on, I have a bunch of clients and a bunch of different industries because the accountants don't normally niche.
LM: 12:46 So they're taking clients that are coming through the doors and each partner is finding clients in different ways. So I end up having someone in my office who specializes in sage. I have someone in my office who specializes in QuickBooks, desktop, and I have someone who specializes in QuickBooks online because then whatever the accountant sends me, I can deal with it. I have someone who knows the software. We can get them up and running. We can get it going because if I only, if I said to the account, I'm only gonna take clients that in this specific industry, I won't be this number one referral. I may be for that specific industry, but I won't get the business I'm getting from the account. And then if they don't get anyone in that industry for a while, don't forget about me.
MP: 13:33 Very interesting. So it's all about making sure they're serviced.
LM: 13:37 Yes. If we making sure they're serviced and doing everything you can to help them because they'll get clients who are difficult or their books are in math and they rely on you to give them a good product. They want you to help organize the client and get them a good product. That's all fine. She can come through with that. They'll keep sending in referrals because I just got one this week who the accountant's been talking to the guy for months and the guy just cannot get his stuff organized to get it in. And he said, okay, and finally cancer, Genoa, you really need to work as a bookkeeper because you just cannot get into stuff. He's got multiple years, he has to file. So the Hammer, you've got to call in and she can get this stuff organized and get it into me. So I got the phone call and I got the engagement where my engagement letter I sent out on Friday and I got it back today signed. Wow. And he never once asked me for my price.
MP: 14:33 Wow, that's, that is, that's it right there. Got a problem needed to be solved. Who do we call? We call in Lynne's going to take care of it, get, get in touch and, and bang right away it's done.
LM: 14:46 Yeah. And the clients like it because if they are dealing with the accountant doesn't understand something the accountant said, a lot of the times they'll call me or he helps told me this, what does this mean? And then I can, I can speak to them and if it's something I think the account really needs to talk to them about, I can go back through the account and said, you know what, they really don't understand this. You need to meet with them and talk to them about it.
LM: 15:08 You know, it's, it's really, you're an advocate for both sides. You're an advocate for your clients, you're advocating for your referral partners, accountants. And when you do that, you're essentially helping both of them win, which helps you win.
MP: 15:25 Yes. Yeah. You have to, you have to be an advocate on both sides because if you're only working with the accountant's mind and head headspace and what's best for them, it doesn't always work for the client. The client has to know you are doing the best for them and in doing what you're doing for the accountant, it's benefiting the client. They have to understand that part.
LM: 15:45 Yeah. Yeah. And that's all communication. It's relationship building. It's being in front of both parties. Like that's a real key thing. I want to just highlight, you know, Eh, you've had a conversation with the accountant, not once multiple times. You're in constant conversations with them to make sure that both things are going well and that you're handling things for the client and you're keeping that relationship healthy. And that's essential to keep the referrals coming. Otherwise, they'll forget about you and, and then your referral business will dry up and so it's not a one and done. It's a get to know them, uh, make sure that they're happy and keep checking in.
MP:16:29 Yeah. It's the same as you when you're working with your client, if you're doing a monthly statement, you should keep in touch with them every month and review the statement. Well, I will keep in touch with the accountants and let them know what your runs are coming up where I'm at and my delay because the client has me got, hasn't gotten me information just so they can tee up what's going to be hitting them at one if it hit it all right. And sometimes if I'm having problems getting information from my client and I left the account note, then the accountant when they're talking to them and say, you know what, you've really got to get that to Lynn because if you don't, I'm not humid. Look at your end. So the, you really help advocate each for each other. And as long as everyone's up to date and knows where things are, it works great. And I always let the clients know, do you have any problems with, I talked to the accountant, I like to let them know when things should come in and they encourage the relationship.
LM: 17:23 Yeah, that's a, it's okay.
MP: 17:24 Yeah, it really does.
MP: 17:25 And you can just hear the power of it from, from being able to have both sides applying. It's not about anything but helping them be successful. And so you're having different conversations at a very different level then, uh, you know, how much did you charge or why are you charging this? It's just very focused which, which essentially you to have on multiple levels in your business. Now you've done this with accountants and you've, you, you really understand your accountants and what they need, what they're looking for, and you deliver an exceptional product and service to them. Tell me about how you work with your clients.
LM: 18:08 Well, working with my clients, the first thing I usually do, if it's coming through the accountants, it's usually your best job, so the first thing I do is get an idea of what needs to be done, what they're looking for, where they're at. Then I usually will do a meeting with the client after they've sent me some samples of like bank statements just so I can get an idea of the number of transactions and if they do not have any type of software that they're using, then they sit down and find out what is the ideal that they're looking for. Once we get the cone up time, are they looking to do some of the data on training themselves? Are they looking for it all to be done? My office does they, what type of relationship do they want to have with me after the cleanup because that will tell me how I'm going to do the cleanup and what software it can be used.
MP: 18:58 Interesting.
LM: 19:00 And so we'll go through that. We'll talk about, okay, what type of reporting do you need to be able to get a handle on your business? So if they're sewing products, okay, do you know what your margins are in your products? Do you know what your costs are a month over month? And we'll discuss the types of questions they have regarding that. And then from there, I'll figure out what reporting we could do, give them some samples of what we could do. And then from there off develop where we're gonna end up. And then that helps me get the cleanup.
MP: 19:31 Beautiful. Absolutely. Laying it all out, uh, through questions. And this is, you know, that the stream of questions that you just asked are, are great. You know, what, where are you at? What's the breakdown? Where are you trying to get to? Uh, and from that, you can then provide valuable offerings that will help them grow their business.
LM: 19:55 Yeah. Yeah. And again, some who have cashflow wishes. Okay. So what do you know what's causing the cash flow? Cause most business owners at least have an idea if they've been in business for any length of time. And then that's like, okay, so these are some of the offices we can look at versus third party financing. There's some air financing through banks and we'll talk about that type of thing. And then I can say, okay, slow down to get that this is what we need to get to. We're going to need to get your statements up to date. We're going to need to get some ar reporting. If you're looking at Ar Financing, oh, I'm at that type of thing so I can help them with that. I can help them prep that as well so that they, they're thinking about that so that it's not always the end of the world if they're having some issues.
MP: 20:45 Not surprising why your business is growing, you know, this is it empowering business owners around their finances and that is just what is required. And what, what, what has been the outcome for the clients that you work for? What has, what of their businesses been able to achieve having worked with you?
LM: 21:06 Uh, well the first thing we, that they're all relieved as they're up to date. They're filing, it's up to date. They're not worried about Sarah calling them anymore. They're not avoiding phone calls from them and they can actually start concentrating on their business and they can look at what their sales are a month over month. They can look at it when you do comparables to the prior year. So they can see the growth and get excited about their business and for thinking of other things they can do to grow their business. Um, in some cases it's a matter of that. Got to look at maybe hiring some, his staff to help them with pieces. Uh, so we'll look at that and talk to, talk a bit about that and what they can do. So right now I have a person that I had a garage that stray started with.
LM: 21:50 He was a one-man show. He's now got three people working with him. He's grown from just being a one-man show to actually having a core business that he's going to incorporate and is thriving. And he's so excited about it now and he's looking at new technology and how we can help him in that area, which is unheard of usually with garages cause they're all using it as a really archaic software. And he's looked at new software and I've helped him with that and how it integrates with quickbooks and what do we need to get set up and how do we cut over from the old system to the new system and he's just ecstatic and he can't wait. He's a young guy who's got a thriving business now and has got great word of mouth for himself with referrals and he's just got, he'll be incorporating this year and taking off.
MP: 22:43 I just, you know, I'm sitting here thinking, how do I get this podcast in front of actual business owners? You know, this is all our, all the lists, you listener right now, you're a bookkeeper likely and, and you're probably thinking, oh, this is so great. And yes, I do that. And some of you maybe even are thinking, Oh gee, I'm not, you know, I'm not as smart as lan or I don't, you know, I don't have as much experience as Lynne and I'll never be like Lynne. And it's like everybody, you know, wherever you're at, just calm down. It's all good. What really stands out for me right now is cleanse, helping the small business owner be successful and grow their business and get excited and passionate and they've created three new jobs for the economy. And I mean, this led for me, this is what I call is, uh, a small business here.
MP: 23:33 And I met my wife, boy says, don't on heroes, heroes or Terry Fox in there, you know, all these great people that have done these wonderful things, saved people from burning buildings. And I'm like, you know what? I don't think so. I that bookkeepers our modern-day small business heroes because when you do a good job and you put more jobs into our communities, it is what builds a strong, healthy community, better families, better education, better promise for the future. And that's what I just absolutely love. And so I'm sitting here thinking, how do I get more business owners to listen to this specific podcast so that they can go and get a great bookkeeper like Lynne, they're all over North America. In fact, they're all over the world. Why would you want to work with anyone other than somebody who's passionate and cares about the business? Like Lynne? I mean it's just for me it's just a no brainer.
LM: 24:28 Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, I know on my local area there's a lot of organizations that work with small business owners who do, would love to have your podcast and have them available to their people because that's where a lot of the small business owners in this area start is by going to that. And they get, they have mentoring and that type of thing through there as well. And I know I can connect with some of the people there because they love getting those types of stuff and they do webinars and things like that for small business owners and teaching them what they need to know.
MP: 25:03 It's it's wonderful outreach. Yeah, it's wonderful outreach. So for the listener, wherever you're at in your business and your, your skill level, all of that. And the number one thing is to actually care about the owner and do your best to actually provide an environment for the finances that helps them get more clarity, have a great file, be able to keep, keep up to date and have the information that's going to help them make better business decisions. That's the first step if you have that, if you actually care, you're on the right track. So then you've been, you, you're a successful bookkeeper already and you decided at some point that you wanted to become a Pure Bookkeeping licensee. Why?
LM: 25:48 Well, when I made the decision to expand my business to be more than me, the first thing I knew was I needed process. And in figuring, I thought there's gotta be something out there. I don't want to reinvent the wheel, there's gotta be something. So I started googling and I came across, um, dentist book, the emails for bookkeepers. And when I ordered that, I then got the seminar that I went up to. And so from there, I went, okay, this is exactly what I've been looking for. This will give me the process and this will allow me to ensure the quality of the work that leaves my office is the same. So when a working paper from my office hid some accountant's office, that accountant cannot tell who in my office did the work. And it's been proven, they can't tell cause I was in a meeting with one of the accountants and he had a client who I, he'd asked me to come in and meet with. And when I explained my process to her and the fact that I have a process and people did, which we follow in our office to make sure the quality of the work is the same even though I have more than one person working for me and they can come. But you do all this stuff that comes in here. And I looked him straight one place and I said, no I don't. And he couldn't believe it. He could not tell the difference between my files. Wow. And that proved to me that the system works.
MP: 27:18 It's remarkable. I mean I love, I know that's the promise, right? It's the promise of system e e myth. Michael Gerber who wrote EMF, the entrepreneurial myth. And the concept is to build a system dependent business, not a people dependent business, which means the systems are operational. The systems tell you what to do, not the people. You don't worry about hiring great people. You first worry about having great systems. And so the concepts are there and is always exciting and rewarding to hear that. Yes, the systems when applied, when, when, when put into place, even though I've heard it a million times, it seems it's still rewarding to hear a story like that where it's yes, systems make the business run smoothly. So, so you've implemented systems and process in your business and what's that been like for your, for your staff? How has it been hiring these staff and the staff love having the process?
LM: 28:13 Cause I'll tell you the, I don't have all my systems and processes in place fully yet. There's still a work in progress. The business has been so busy, it's been hard to keep everything, get everything implemented at once. So I have the staff helped me to put them in place as well. So they like it. Um, the ones where we actually have the full system in place for a specific client, those are the ones that the staff want to work on because it's the ones where they can take it, they can work on the file, they don't need to wait for me, they don't need to ask me questions. They know exactly what's gotta be done. And as we build more and more of that in with our clients, they're more and more excited about working on those clients. So I've found that it's been really beneficial to my business.
MP: 29:12 Exciting. it's very exciting and rewarding to see, see it happening for you and your business in and enabling you to actually scale. What was it like now you use the pure bookkeeping hiring system, which we call the HR system, the human resources system. What was that like for you?
LM: 29:30 It was good. I'm, I it, it first I looked at, I went a little this cumbersome but I'll, I hired without it and didn't do well. I hired with it and invested the time it took to do it and it's been extremely helpful because especially with the testing, I know, um, when I hire someone where their strengths are and where their weaknesses are from that testing, which you cannot get in an interview and get a little bit of an idea depending on how technical you get with your questions. But I have clients where I'm dealing with pst across Canada. A lot of bookkeepers don't deal with that and don't know it. So having the testing done, it gives me an idea of where and what other areas. There may be weekends that I need to be able to spend some time with them and make sure they get some training on because I find we're all human.
LM: 30:28 We all have learned from what we've been exposed to, so walking into a firm like mine where I've got different industries and different levels of businesses, some of that just people won't have seen before or they won't know some of the integration that we're using because of the industry that like with the garage that he's now using those new technologies, so I need to be able to know I can train them on that. Using the HR system, that allows me to focus where I need to focus and not have to be double checking things because I know exactly where everybody is at when they walk in the door and they start working so I can put together my plan for them.
MP: 31:10 Beautiful. It is. It's interesting. I'm glad you mentioned the cumbersome part of it because of it, you know, in, in hiring.
LM: 31:20 Yeah.
MP: 31:21 Often when people go to hire any business it, they're hiring and especially a small business, I'll say small business but even happens in the corporate world is that you need those people, right? It's like we need to hire somebody. We need help. We have a business. We need help. So it's not like, oh, you know, maybe I'll go and hire somebody next week. I mean, we don't really need them right now, but you know, we can put it off. It's usually, no, we need to hire someone. So in that environment, what's dangerous is that because you're in a place of where you need something, you can often see and hear things differently than if you were looking at it more objectively because the heats aren't right.
LM: 31:58 You need help. And so, uh, with, with any kind of process, the more, the more you want to do is actually make sure that in those times you're spending the time to actually vet the people appropriately so that you don't make a mistake. And so for all those pure bookkeeping licensees that are listening right now, yes. You know, it is, it is. It does take time. But I always say slow it down. You want the hiring process to take time. There is a great saying. It goes like this. Hire slowly, fire fast, hire slowly, fire fast because when you hire slowly and you get it right, it saves you so much time and frustration. You don't have to fire, you don't, you don't have to do any of that stuff in the long run. But I get it because of where you're at in that and that space as you need the help.
LM: 32:52 So, uh, and then fire fast. Meaning when you see a problem and you've tried to deal with it, deal with it quickly. If it doesn't re repair itself, then remove the person. Because guess what? You'd likely, it won't ever change if the person is, is if you've done your due diligence and you've worked with them to, you know, make sure they're aware of what's not working. And you've had those conversations. If they don't repair, if they don't change their behavior, they're never going to. And so that's another, another, uh, thing that Burns a lot of, is that they hold on and hold on, hoping things will get better and they never do.
MP: 33:30 Yeah. Yeah. No, I completely agree with that. I know it's, um, the hiring process is very expensive because of the amount of time it takes you to do it. And if you do it wrong, it's even more time because training someone takes time.
LM: 33:47 Yeah, stand up. Yes.
LM: 33:49 Speeding. You're hiring too quickly and hire the wrong person and you're doing all that training. It ends up costing you a lot. So it's better to take the time in the beginning and make sure you're hiring in the right person. And I mean, I know because in trouble or can we a told me that, but I'm a person, I was desperate and I didn't do it the first time and I paid the price for it.
MP: 34:12 Well, you'll be comforted to know you're not the first one right now. And I don't think I'll be the last, you won't be the last, even though you know, I'm sure the listener right now is saying, Michael is really passionate about this. You know, it's like there is a reason why I am because I've seen people make that mistake again and again and again. And sometimes making the mistake is what's necessary for people to do corrective actions. And believe me a, we got a long laundry list over here for me, you know, from people, you know, knowing, hey, don't do it. That might that way Michael a while now maybe it will work for me, you know? And so we all learn that way and that's, that's fine. But thank you for sharing that. Those, you know, those have been some extremely great now gets both on the accountants, the systems, the power of systems, the power of hiring and how to hire, hire, how to hire a great team for you. And it's great to hear your businesses is, is rolling now there's one last thing before I ask, you know, if there's anything else you'd like to share, tips and success strategies that you have is I believe strongly in associations and the Institute of professional bookkeepers. Uh, we've worked very closely with them and I know you're a member and I'd just like to hear your take on the value you get from belonging to an association.
LM: 35:26 Oh, I've been a member of ITBC since 2013 thanks. When I first became a member and I did not attend their stuff, I was just a, it didn't do a lot for me. When I finally decided, you know what? I'm going to go to the conference, I'm going to get involved in the webinars. I'm going to start learning to stuff that they're offering me and a lot of it for free on. It's amazing the transformation it did on how I look at my business and it's been buried. It's been one of the most successful things other than the trooper came systems. Those are the two that are really spearheaded me to grow my business and learn the new technology that's out there and embrace it. Not all my clients want to embrace it, so I do both, but I always want to look to see what's out there that will help me streamline my business, make things more efficient, and the tools that ITBC does are just amazing for that. Their conference with the trade show is priceless. Like that's just priceless. For someone who's trying to build a bookkeeping business, to be able to go there and see all of those people at the same time and get the information and talk to all of them. The other bookkeepers sit down and kind of with their experience. That's what the staff, I've just found that to be invaluable to the growth of mind. Their phone.
MP: 36:55 Beautiful, beautiful to hear it. Love, love sharing, sharing that message. And the IPBC is always having a national conference. It's in the fall. You can check out, just go to ipbc.ca check out where the next one's coming up and go. I mean, to go to the event, it's, you know, five, $600. Incredible, incredibly great, uh, investment, um, for what you get out of it. Uh, so I, I'm a big fan of it and I'm glad you shared as well. There is other associations wherever you're located, please just find an association. Ask around, ask your colleagues. Uh, there's the ICB USA, which is a, a very strong one. Uh, ICB, uh, global. It's one of the largest associations on the planet. Go find out more. Get involved. It's the mindset, as I said before with you, Lynne, is you really have the mindset of an entrepreneur, you, you, and you want to help the fellow entrepreneurs that you work with. And it's places like the Ice Sea IPBC, uh, and ICB, um, the Institute of certified bookkeepers that are gonna be more people like you. And that's why, you know, when you said the two things that have been successful, I've had maybe successful as the IPBC and pure bookkeeping. It's one of the reasons why every single licensee that we have, we ensure that they join an association, the very best association in their marketplace.
LM: 38:31 Yeah, no, because the information, I mean, to me, you, I don't, I don't want to have to learn everything the hard way. It's nice to have people around me that I can talk to. Um, I love getting together with other bookkeepers who are either have gone and been through what I'm already been through, but even once we were just starting out because everyone can bring value and bring knowledge to you because their experience is different than yours and just their experience and giving you valuable knowledge so that I don't have, even if they've just started out, there's stuff that they're learning because they started in the industry later than I did and they're in this industry with all this new technology out there that a lot of the new bookkeepers I get a lot of information from because they know that stuff better than I do. And it helps. And I think it's, no, I didn't stay in a silo on your own as a bookkeeper is one of the worst things you can do for yourself. You need to get out there and get involved with other bookkeepers.
MP: 39:34 Absolutely. And a, I will say that I've been blown away by our Facebook group, The Successful Bookkeeper Facebook group. It's completely free to join and the conversations and support. Ah, really that's what it is. It's a supportive community for bookkeepers to go and get that kind of support and connect with each other and build relationships and for their own business. So, uh, I've been blown away by watching that happen in that community as well.
LM: 40:04 No, it's just amazing.
MP: 40:06 So Lynne, it's been a great conversation. I'd love for you to share if people wanted to get in touch with you or to contact you and by chance, there are business owners that love to hire you, a which is unlikely. I will say, you know, we are our community as bookkeepers, but you never know how can they get in touch with you.
LM: 40:27 Um, they can reach me at my office. The number there is not oh 75157068 or they can email me at Lynn, l y n n e@lamconsulting.ca.
MP: 40:41 That's beautiful. And we'll post links of your LinkedIn profile as well if people want to connect with you online and, and network with you as well. Lynne, it's just been absolutely great. I'm so thrilled your business is growing, and thank you so much for giving your time today. I know you're super busy with everything that's going on in your life and in your business, so thank you for being on the show.
LM: 41:05 Oh, no problem. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much, Michael.
MP: 41:08 My pleasure. That wraps another episode of The Successful Bookkeeper podcast. To learn more about today's guest and what a wonderful guest she was, and to get access to all sorts of valuable free business-building resources, you can go to Thesuccessfulbookkeeper.com until next time, goodbye
