Hi, I’m Cait, a Dubsado expert who specializes in creating tailored systems for businesses looking to streamline their operations. I recently had the pleasure of working with Valerie, the founder of Bon Vie Bookkeeping, a unique practice focused on untangling and sorting messy books. Valerie’s sharp strategic thinking and dedication to creating custom solutions made her an ideal candidate for a Dubsado transformation. Here’s how we partnered to bring automation and structure to her workflows.

Meet Bon Vie Bookkeeping

Bon Vie Bookkeeping isn’t your typical bookkeeping firm. Valerie’s clients rely on her for complex, one-off cleanup projects that demand a high level of customization and expertise. With years of experience, Valerie excels at turning chaos into order, empowering her clients to move forward with clean and organized books. However, the manual processes involved in scoping projects, communicating needs, and managing deliverables were time-consuming and unsustainable as her business grew.

Valerie’s goals for her Dubsado setup were clear:

• Simplify the onboarding process for her three primary services: Turnkey Cleanup Projects, Books Inspections, and Strategic Consults.
• Improve communication with clients to ensure they understand the steps required for successful project completion.
• Increase efficiency by automating repetitive tasks without sacrificing her highly personalized approach.

The Plan: Building Workflows That Work

To address Valerie’s needs, we broke her services into three distinct workflows:

1. Turnkey Cleanup Projects
   • Onboarding: A lead capture form on Valerie’s website funnels inquiries into Dubsado. From there, an automated workflow sends a project scope questionnaire to collect essential details. This step eliminates email back-and-forth while ensuring she has everything she needs to prepare a quote.
   • Proposal and Booking: Once Valerie reviews the client’s information, she customizes a proposal that includes a clear breakdown of deliverables. Upon acceptance, clients receive a contract and an invoice to pay their 50% deposit.
   • Needs Collection: After booking, clients are sent a “needs checklist” form. This intuitive form allows them to confirm they’ve provided all necessary documents, such as bank statements and transaction logs, streamlining communication.
   • Execution: Automated reminders nudge clients to complete the checklist, ensuring projects stay on track. Once the checklist is complete, Valerie gets to work, keeping clients updated at the 75% completion mark with a brief progress report.
   • Delivery and Wrap-Up: Upon project completion, Valerie delivers a detailed report and schedules a wrap-up call to review findings and answer questions.
2. Books Inspection
   • This service focuses on assessing a client’s books and providing a diagnostic report. Clients pay upfront and receive an actionable report within 5 business days. The streamlined workflow ensures Valerie can efficiently deliver value without unnecessary steps.
3. Strategic Consults
   • These sessions allow Valerie to guide clients through specific challenges or projects. After scheduling a consult, clients receive a recording of the session along with an outline of recommendations, suggested workflows, and next steps. A follow-up questionnaire helps them report progress and flag any remaining questions for Valerie to address in a final review.

Challenges and How We Overcame Them

Every setup has its complexities, and Bon Vie Bookkeeping was no exception:

• Creating Custom Needs Lists: Valerie’s projects require highly specific inputs that vary from client to client. We built a dynamic form system that Valerie could easily customize for each project. This eliminated repetitive manual drafting and ensured that every client’s unique needs were captured efficiently.
• Maintaining Personalization in Automation: Valerie’s business thrives on providing tailored services. To balance automation with her personalized approach, we used Dubsado’s smart fields and conditional logic. This allowed for automated communication that felt personal, such as tailored follow-ups based on a client’s responses or project phase.
• Managing Client-Induced Delays: A common challenge in Valerie’s work is delayed client responses, which can halt progress. We implemented automated reminders and built-in deadlines into her workflows to keep clients accountable. Additionally, we added status tracking for projects, so Valerie could easily see where each client stood in the process.
• Handling Multi-Service Clients: Some clients require multiple services, and tracking them across workflows was initially cumbersome. To solve this, we introduced project tagging and streamlined handoff processes, ensuring that clients seamlessly transitioned between services without duplicate work or confusion.

The Results: Transforming Bon Vie Bookkeeping

The impact of the Dubsado setup on Bon Vie Bookkeeping was transformational. Here’s how Valerie’s business was enhanced:

• Clarity for Clients: Clients now receive clear instructions and reminders at every step, reducing misunderstandings and delays. This improved communication has made projects run more smoothly, enhancing the overall client experience.
• Streamlined Processes: Valerie no longer needs to manually send emails, follow up on tasks, or track project statuses. Automated workflows handle these tasks, giving her more time to focus on strategic work.
• Increased Confidence: With systems in place, Valerie feels in control of her growing business. She can confidently take on more clients, knowing her workflows can scale alongside her operations.
• Professionalism: The polished and cohesive client experience, from branded forms to timely follow-ups, positions Bon Vie Bookkeeping as a professional, high-value service provider.

Lessons for Bookkeepers

If you’re a bookkeeping professional, here are actionable lessons from Valerie’s journey:

1. Tailor Your Workflows to Your Niche: Bookkeeping isn’t one-size-fits-all. Identify the unique needs of your clients, whether it’s cleanup projects, monthly reporting, or consults, and design workflows to match.
2. Use Conditional Logic to Simplify Communication: Dubsado’s conditional logic can automate client communication based on specific inputs. For instance, if a client selects a particular service, they can automatically receive targeted forms or resources, saving you time and delivering a more personalized experience.
3. Leverage Automated Reminders to Reduce Delays: Clients often require multiple reminders to submit forms or documents. Automated follow-ups can keep projects on track without you needing to send manual nudges.
4. Track Projects Visually: Use project tags or statuses to organize your workload. For instance, Valerie uses tags like “Needs Checklist Pending” or “Waiting for Client” to quickly assess where projects stand and focus on what needs immediate attention.
5. Upsell Services with Confidence: Create workflows that offer add-ons or upgrades at the right time in a client’s journey. For example, Valerie’s clients can move seamlessly from a books inspection to a turnkey cleanup project, with automated proposals and workflows facilitating the process.
6. Invest in a Professional Client Experience: From branded forms to detailed onboarding processes, your systems should reflect the professionalism of your services. Clients will appreciate the clarity and consistency, making them more likely to return for future projects.

Ready to Streamline Your Bookkeeping Business?

Working with Valerie was a rewarding experience, and I’m thrilled with the results we achieved. If you’re ready to transform your workflows and free up time for what matters most, I’d love to help. Let’s build a system that works as hard as you do—schedule your free consultation today!