Setting Boundaries for Your Bookkeeping Business

Do you set office hours for your bookkeeping business or do you allow your bookkeeping clients to contact you whenever they feel like it?  If you’re not setting boundaries, you’re going to find yourself getting burned out really quickly.

Many bookkeeping clients will automatically assume that because you’re working at home that they can call you whenever they want….evenings, weekends or late at night.  They’ll call with a “sorry to bother you but I have a quick question” or “can you look this up for me”.  Before you know it, you’re working on your time off.

This can get very irritating because you still have your own life and your family’s needs to attend to.  You work hard and deserve a break from your business during your off hours.   It’s so easy to fall into this trap when you’re self-employed.

If you don’t train your clients to only call you during your office hours, they will call you all the time, guaranteed.  So the first step is to inform your clients of when you’ll be in the office to take calls.

This is a double-edged sword though, because sometimes when you’re working in the office, you don’t want to be disturbed if you’re in the middle of doing some intense number crunching.  That’s when voicemail is such a blessing.  Try to call your client back as soon as you’re able to take a break from your task.

The next step in training your clients is to absolutely not answer your phone during non-business hours unless it’s an emergency (and it never is).  If you start answering your client’s phone calls during your non-working hours even once, you open the door for them to do it again.  Don’t risk it.  Let them leave a message and call them back during your office hours.

This goes for answering emails and faxes from clients during your non-business hours as well.  If they’re sending you work (such as payroll) and they get it to you after office hours, you’ll have to make a tough call on whether you’ll put it off until your next work day or not.

I’ve personally made sure all my clients know that I absolutely don’t work weekends.  So if they don’t get me their payroll on time, it has to wait until Monday.  They are all very understanding about my policy and this has eliminated much of the problem.

If you don’t train your clients, they will train you… to be at their beck and call.  So set your boundaries in your bookkeeping business from the start.  You deserve it.

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