The Receipt Bank Blog

News, advice and tips from the world of cloud accounting

How To Grow Your Cloud Bookkeeping Business Faster with Receipt Bank

pexels-photo-285173.jpeg

The cloud offers accountant and bookkeepers more flexibility than ever to build the firm they really want. The question then becomes, as with any situation with so many choices, where to start when looking to grow your cloud bookkeeping business?

After all, moving your accounting or bookkeeping practice to the cloud is much more than the software you use.

There are workflows, pricing, marketing and more to consider. The process is different for every practice depending on your particular market niche, clients, team, structure and goals.

Over the last five years, our account management team have worked with hundreds of firms all over the world. Our goal is to help them build their bookkeeping efficiency and focus on what they do best – helping their clients.

To learn more about the difference that working with an Account Manager can make to your firm we spoke to Paul Miller, Founder of Cornish Accounting Solutions. Here, he discusses his experience with Receipt Bank over the last 4 years.


How did you get started with Receipt Bank?

We were involved with Xero early on, and that’s how we were introduced to Receipt Bank. We believed in the product from the start, but early we were struggling to really sell the benefits to our clients.

How did you go about fixing this?

After discussing the issue with our Account Manager, Alex Clark, we arranged to have an on-site review of our business processes.

For this, Alex and [Receipt Bank Customer Experience Manager] Steve Lucas came down to Cornwall. Together, we came up with a plan for how to use Receipt Bank more effectively in the business and grow the bookkeeping part of our business.

After talking through our bookkeeping workflow and how we managed jobs, we were able to work out a new system to integrate Receipt Bank into our systems and processes.

Alex and Steve identified a process to break down bookkeeping tasks internally. Then we could then look at each part and work out how to use Receipt Bank to streamline the process.

For example, in the early days we used to send our clients’ invoices to Receipt Bank by post. Not only was this slower, with potential post delays, but clients lost their copies of their items. We have now switched to having clients email them in or snapping them with the app.

How did you communicate the value of Receipt Bank to clients better?

One thing we had overlooked was actually looking at how we were doing bookkeeping for our own business internally. We hadn’t thought that was on the menu, but when we were discussing processes with Alex, he also dug into the way we kept our own books.

We realised there was a lot of room for improvement, so we started using Receipt Bank to track our own internal accounts, which cut down admin time by a third.

Now when we meet clients, we can put our money where our mouth it. When they ask what different Receipt Bank will make to their business, we can point to our own experience, which really builds trust.

Receipt Bank then provides letter templates that our clients can use contact suppliers and arrange new submission processes for their invoices.

What difference does it make working with your Account Manager?

Receipt Bank are the biggest add-on in their area, and they’ve worked with a lot of accountants.

With the number of partners using Receipt Bank, they’re going to know people who have overcome some of the obstacles we’ve had and that knowledge and experience is then relayed to us. After all, the best way is to learn by going through it.

It also helps to have an outside view on your processes. There are those times when you need a bit of a prod.

It happens to all of us. It’s hard to see the wood from the trees when you have your head buried in the work day today.

I’ve been in the accounts profession for 30 years. I have lots of ideas, but sometimes you need someone to help you implement them, especially as you grow your cloud bookkeeping business.

In the early days you pick the easy wins, because change is hard, and this can get outside your comfort zone. Our Account Manager really helped with some of the more challenging situations. One early example was those difficult clients not wanting to engage with technology.

In the end, my goal is to help my clients. With legislation in the UK like Making Tax Digital coming, we need to be able to accomplish compliance tasks in the most accurate and efficient way possible. The only way to get there is by using technology like Receipt Bank, and no one knows how to better than them.


Grow your cloud bookkeeping business together

Receipt Bank is not an accounting software, but a productivity tool. To that end, your Account Manager is a productivity partner. And that means they’re here to help.

Your Account Manager is here to let you focus on what you do best. No one knows your clients better than you. That’s why we leave looking after clients in your hands, while we help with your bookkeeping productivity.