August 2018 Meeting Notes- Lani Grass, Backstage LLC

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Meeting Minutes- Bullet Points

August 2, 2018

 

·        President Kim Boaz opened the August meeting.  Attendees introduced themselves and provided shout outs for members who helped them in some way during the last month. 

·        Today’s speaker, Lani Grass, an entrepreneur for over 20 years, founded a branding and coaching business called Backstage, LLC.  The main topic of discussion was using our personal brand blue print to promote ourselves.  Branding today is different mainly due to social media.  We need to focus on building core values and attracting clients based upon those values.  She discussed client attraction and what personal branding means to each of us.  Personal brand is what others say about you when you aren’t in the room.  We need to be as consistent in our online profiles as we are in person. 

·        Next, brand promise was discussed.  A brand promise is what the client will receive.  A good brand offers value.  Be intentional about the qualities you want to have or become.  Ideally, others should know how we are unique from the competition and why we should be hired for the job.   Take time to consider what you are personally passionate about and how you can be intentional and consistent with the qualities you wish to be part of your personal branding.

·        We were challenged to answer the question “If I could create change in my community and there weren’t any barriers, what would I do”?  The take away was to find what you love and build on it.

·        In addition to the services each one of us offers to the public, it is important to consider the emotional benefits we offer, such as removing stress and allowing businesses to focus on what they do best.  How do clients feel once we have helped them?  Consider focusing on our benefits on our websites.

·        The time and location of the next meeting is Thursday September 6, 2018 from 11:30 – 1:00 at the Meals on Wheels location at 7710 SW 31st Avenue, Portland OR 97219.   The topic is cyber security.  Our next social event is scheduled for Monday September 24 with the Woodard Group.   If you have any ideas for future social events, please contact Kim.     Please share this group and our website with others you know and on social media.  The more people we have in our group, the greater the collaboration. 

The All-Star Accounting Professionals website is not currently working.  We are looking to move to a new platform.  If anyone knows of someone willing to help us, please let Kim Boaz know.  A PSU student intern was mentioned as an option.  The next Woodard Group meeting is August 13 at the Chapel Pub.

 

April 5, 2018 Meeting, Letters of Engagement

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April 5th Meeting Notes Bulleted Letters of Engagement

April 5, 2018

President Kim Boaz opened the meeting with introductions and shout-outs.  There were new people joining us.  Most people had nice things to say about how others in the group had helped them with an issue during the month but also praising the FaceBook page.  Good to hear how technology is benefiting people

Kim shared that Leslie Gifford, CPA is currently experiencing a health-related issue.  Besides having to deal with the issue it occurred during tax season adding extra stress.  Steve Stegemen of Davis Graves CPA stepped up, is helping Leslie’s clients, at the previous agreed upon price and not taking any of the clients.  They will remain Leslie’s clients.  An example of how the group works to support and help one another.  In that spirit, it was agreed that a donation bowl (or object) will be available at every meeting, all donations will go to either giving flowers or something for a member when they go through a hard time.   Jeff Baker, ASAP Treasurer, will look into how donations maybe made on-line as many members stated they often do not carry cash.

Letters of Engagement workshop: Three participants shared their current Letters of Engagement.  Discussion followed regarding these and some members shared that they don’t use an agreement.  Some of the items that seemed to matter to most members are:

  • Spelling out when payment is expected. One member shared that her invoices go out the 1st of the month and she auto deducts from her client’s accounts on the 5th – the agreement letter states this.
  • Have a line in the agreement stating the rate can adjust or give a new agreement every year with updated rates.
  • Some have more of a Project based agreement which states what they will and won’t do for the client.

Discuss then turned to the approach people take before accepting a new client

  • Most offered an hour or more free consultation where they speak with the new client and review bank and financial statements
  • Some charge if they look at any of the data

Another good meeting with active, informative discussion

  • May 3rd meeting will be a presentation on QBA Management tools. Presented by Alicia Pollock  There will be time for questions.   Meeting will be at Meals on Wheels locationed at 7710 SW 1st, Portland, OR 97219.  11:30-1:00 pm and it is a bring your own lunch style meeting.

May 4th Meeting Minutes - Marketing Tips & Tricks

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President Kim Boaz opened the May 4th meeting by having the board introduce themselves.  Each member present then introduced themselves and provided shout outs to group members who were helpful during the last month. Today’s speaker was Josh Willner with GNSA speaking on the topic of marketing tips and tricks.  Josh covered the importance of having a web presence, which includes a website, social media, blogs, marketing and networking.  He also discussed a social network for local business networking called Alignable.  It is a truism that first impressions count and we should start with a strong web presence.  Our websites must include the products and services we offer.  Having video content on the website is a great medium and easy to send out to prospective clients and other contacts.  Consider adding a picture or business card on your site and including referral sources.  For out-of-state clients, reaching out through linked-in or by telephone call be a great first step prior to meeting face-to-face. If you have a booth at a conference, including pictures of your activities provides helpful content on your website and shows your involvement.

Next, we discussed various marketing automation platforms.  Kim Boaz mentioned that her clients often use MailChimp instead of Constant Contact.  Josh explained that GNSA distinguishes mailings to business partners versus prospective clients.  Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can be used by anyone reaching out to prospective clients.

Josh’s plans for the future entail development of a case study to target an industry.  Satisfied current customers can be a helpful resource for future customers.  You may wish to collect testimonials from your best clients and use to attract future prospects.  He recommended keeping the testimonials to 2 to 3 sentences and requesting referrals from happy current clients.

Josh had our members break into small groups and discuss the following questions.

  1. What has been your biggest marketing success?
  2. What has been your biggest marketing flop?
  3. How much time do you spent on marketing per week?
  4. Have you worked with companies that help create marketing campaigns?

Josh stated that he would make his presentation available to those interested.

It was mentioned that we need a speaker for the month of October.  Karla DeSantis volunteered to be the speaker that month.

Terry Marsh has organized the next All-Star Accounting Professionals social event to be held on June 8 (Thursday) at the Punch Bowl Social from 5 to 8 PM.  The location is 340 SW Morrison Street in Portland 97204.  We look forward to seeing you there!

 

May 4th Meeting Minutes - Bulleted Points

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  • President Kim Boaz opened the May 4th meeting by having the board and those present introduce themselves, providing shout-outs to members who were helpful.
  • Today’s speaker was Josh Willner with GNSA speaking on the topic of marketing tips and tricks.
  • Josh covered the importance of having a web presence, which includes a website, social media, blogs, marketing and networking.
  • Josh also discussed a social network for local business networking called Alignable.
  • It is a truism that first impressions count and we should start with a strong web presence.  Our websites must include the products and services we offer.
  • Having video content on the website is a great medium and easy to send out to prospective clients and other contacts.  Consider adding a picture or business card on your site and including referral sources.
  • Next, we discussed various marketing automation platforms, including MailChimp and Constant Contact.
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can be used by anyone reaching out to prospective clients.
  • Josh’s plans for the future entail development of a case study to target an industry. You may wish to collect testimonials from your best clients and use to attract future prospects.
  • Members broke into small groups and discussed the following questions.
  1. What has been your biggest marketing success?
  2. What has been your biggest marketing flop?
  3. How much time do you spent on marketing per week?
  4. Have you worked with companies that help create marketing campaigns?

 

  • Josh stated that he would make his presentation available to those interested.
  • It was mentioned that we need a speaker for the month of October. Karla DeSantis volunteered to be the speaker that month.
  • Terry Marsh has organized the next All-Star Accounting Professionals social event to be held on June 8 (Thursday) at the Punch Bowl Social from 5 to 8 PM. The location is 340 SW Morrison Street in Portland 97204.  We look forward to seeing you there!

 

March 2nd Meeting Minutes, Chuck Palmer, Heartland

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Melissa Barton, our vice president, started the meeting.  She had those present introduce themselves.  Today’s guest speaker was Chuck Palmer with Heartland who discussed the timely topic of professional liability.  Chuck owned a business performing outsourced CFO services.  Chuck provided a real-life example from his personal experience of a roofing company that needed bookkeeping services.  The relationship with the roofing company was positive until a general manager was later hired.  As the relationship was ending, a final bill for $6,700 was submitted by Chuck’s company but the bill went unpaid.  The roofing company filed a lawsuit against Chuck’s company alleging 26 points in a letter.  Of the 26 points, 25 were incorrect and the one correct point was already addressed.  The case went to court.  In the end, the lawsuit was dropped and the bill was written off.  In many cases, litigation has more to do with emotions than facts. Two questions were raised.  First, how do we prevent litigation from occurring?  Secondly, how do we resolve litigation?  One critical step in preventing litigation is screening clients during the client acquisition phase.  Questions you may wish to ask a potential client include:

  1. Why are you looking for a new accountant?
  2. Ask for a copy of the QuickBooks file to review the file for problems.
  3. Use a professional services engagement letter and be as specific as possible
  4. Be clear that business management is not included
  5. Recommend an automated payment policy for payment of fees
  6. Have a solid insurance company. Understand what is covered and what is not.  Sit down with your agent to review your insurance coverage.

Communication and documentation are key.  Email your understanding to your client.  You may also wish to run a bank reference check before acquiring the client.  Document retention is very important.

Linda Lagraff asked how to deal with liability in an engagement letter for clients that provide bank account and credit card access to bookkeepers and accountants.  One suggestion was to recommend password security in an engagement letter.  Another comment recommended use of read only access for bank and payroll for bookkeepers and accountants.

We are looking for speakers for upcoming meetings.  Kim will be the speaker for April and the topic is “What is your Super Power/Niche?”  If you don’t know, we’ll help you discover it.

Our group will continue to meet at the Meals on Wheels site until we have space on the eastside of Portland for 25 to 30 people.

Bullet Points:

  • Melissa Barton, our vice president, started the meeting. She had those present introduce themselves.
  • Today’s guest speaker was Chuck Palmer with Heartland who discussed the timely topic of professional liability. Chuck owned a business performing outsourced CFO services.  Chuck provided a real-life example from his personal experience of a roofing company that needed bookkeeping services.
  • The roofing company filed a lawsuit against Chuck’s company alleging 26 points in a letter. The case went to court.  In the end, the lawsuit was dropped and the bill was written off.  In many cases, litigation has more to do with emotions than facts.
  • Two questions were raised. First, how do we prevent litigation from occurring?  Secondly, how do we resolve litigation?
  • One critical step in preventing litigation is screening clients during the client acquisition phase.  Questions you may wish to ask a potential client include:
  1. Why are you looking for a new accountant?
  2. Ask for a copy of the QuickBooks file to review the file for problems.
  3. Use a professional services engagement letter and be as specific as possible
  4. Be clear that business management is not included
  5. Recommend an automated payment policy for payment of fees
  6. Have a solid insurance company. Understand what is covered and what is not.  Sit down with your agent to review your insurance coverage.
  • Communication and documentation are key.
  • Linda Lagraff asked how to deal with liability in an engagement letter for clients that provide bank account and credit card access to bookkeepers and accountants. Suggestions included recommending password security in an engagement letter and use of read only access for bank and payroll.
  • We are looking for speakers for upcoming meetings. Kim will be the speaker for April and the topic is “What is your Super Power/Niche?”
  • Our group will continue to meet at the Meals on Wheels site until we have space on the eastside of Portland for 25 to 30 people.