Is The "Market Rate" Really That Important?

It's not unusual to hear the question "what is the going rate in my area for a bookkeeper?"

This question often saddens and frustrates me. It's especially concerning when I hear justifications for artificial maximum chargeable amounts being geographic area.

I genuinely believe that there is no market rate for bookkeepers.  Some business owners will see huge value in a bookkeeper and others will see little or no value.

When we try to target everyone, the people who see us of value and not, we need to need to price for the lowest common denominator.  This is when we start to feel that there is some low chargeable maximum.

Here's the thing, though, we don't need to.  Not everyone can afford, or sees value in a BMW and that's fine.  Harald Krüger isn't crying in his beer. Nor is he racing to sell his i8 at an amount everyone can afford.  He knows that for the right person the £115,000 is a bargain.  

Like BMW, we don't need to accommodate everyone.  When we choose to work with people who value what we do, we don't need to race to the bottom.

With this comes other bonuses.  When clients value us they don't waste our time.  They don't mess us around. They get us the information we need on time and complete.  They pay us on time.  

Clients who value what you do are the clients you should be looking for, and pricing for.  Not everyone.

Sometimes it can help to have a tool that gives you a clear and consistent price.  We have developed a spreadsheet that will work in Excel and do just this.  It's just a really easy way to price your services.  Find out more