Business Coaching for Bookkeepers – How to engage and coach business clients to success

Course Outline

Do you and your team look beyond the numbers to help business clients?

Bookkeeping is more than being good with numbers. It also means being able to see beyond the numbers to understand what’s going in in the client’s business, then providing the client with advice and support as they grow their business.

How effective are you in getting clients across the line with additional services?

Convincing a business client to take on additional services can be a challenge when affordability is an issue. You need to be able to take the client on a journey that shows them the true value of ongoing coaching and advice. Once clients can see the value, they’re more likely to pay for it.

Do you manage business clients effectively?

Getting the client across the line is just the first step in the journey to being a better business coach. Setting and managing expectations, providing regular feedback and ensuring that the relationship stays fresh are all essential skills for bookkeepers wanting a stronger business relationship with their clients.

What’s this course all about?

This 8 module eLearning course is designed to provide bookkeepers and BAS agents with a step-by step guide to understanding what lies beyond the numbers so they can really engage with their business clients.

Key areas of focus will include:

1. The journey from bookkeeper to analyst and advisor
2. Key areas of focus when looking at the numbers
3. How to check business health and identify causes
4. Principles of financial reporting and client meetings
5. Effective engagement and communication strategies
6. Overview of financial reporting tools and templates

TO VIEW AND DOWNLOAD THE COURSE BROCHURE, CLICK ‘BROCHURE – DOWNLOAD’ UNDER NAVIGATION OPTIONS TO THE RIGHT. YOU CAN ALSO VIEW THE COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES.

Course Content

Modules 1 and 2 – The journey from bookkeeper to analyst and advisor

1. Where are you now and where do you want to go?
2. Core principles of proactive bookkeeping to business clients
3. The difference between descriptive and predictive analytics
4. What the business advisory relationship is all about

Modules 3 and 4  – Key areas of focus when looking at the numbers

1. Key financial ratios and other metrics
2. Understanding patterns and trends in the numbers
3. How to check business health and identify underlying causes
4. Predictive analytics and cashflow forecasting tools

Modules 5 and 6 – Principles of financial reporting and client meetings

1. Overview of reporting tools and templates
2. Preparing monthly and quarterly financial reports
3. Development and implementation of SMART action plans
4. How to run an efficient and productive client meeting

Modules 7 and 8  – Key relationship management

1. How to understand what’s important to business clients
2. Effective client engagement and communication strategies
3. Key client relationship challenges and how to overcome them.
4. Working effectively with internal and external stakeholders

Course Structure

• Learners can complete courses at a place that suits them, within and outside work hours
• Each learner will have a dedicated login to give them personal access to their course
• Module material includes online presentations, workbooks, PowerPoint Slides, templates, scripts and articles
• All modules also incorporate formal qualitative assessment tasks that encourage learners to develop practical actions demonstrating understanding of the concepts
• All assessment tasks are scored, with directed feedback to learners on their response
• As the learner progresses, they develop their personal SMART action list to drive change
• Managers are able to see at a glance how their staff are progressing
• All learners have access to course content for 12 months following their enrolment

Learning Process

Our self-paced eLearning courses follow a 4-step process in relation to learning objectives:

All modules are structured with specific learning objectives and assessment tasks. Learners are expected to demonstrate that they understand learning objectives and can apply concepts through completion of the assessment tasks. A SMART action planning template is used to consolidate specific actions and to ensure that a timeframe for completion is established and followed. Regular review of progress is ensured through commitment to completing the course.