I Love Bookkeeping

Latest Episodes:

Disney Movies and Your Favorite Children's Show to Have on in the Background While Working May 05, 2022

Show notes

Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan go over their favorite children's shows to have on in the background while working, and discuss Disney movies and characters that have left a mark.

[0:42] The children's show Melissa has on while she's working is The Octonauts. Hannah is one of those people who can't stand silence – Law & Order SVU and Grey's Anatomy are the "comfort shows" she typically has in the background.

[1:37] Melissa talks about a couple of moments in which tv shows shattered her heart.

[2:32] Melissa and Hannah share their own "toxic traits" when it comes to watching TV.

[3:56] Melissa shares a funny little anecdote about living in San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua.

[6:50] Melissa and Hannah rank their top Disney movies and talk about Disney princesses and characters.

[12:16] The co-hosts go over Disney movies they didn't like as well as other movies that left a mark on them and that they still think about decades later.

Mentioned in this episode:

@BookkeepersDotCom (Bookkeepers.com on Instagram)

success@ilovebookkeeping.com

How to Communicate Effectively May 03, 2022

Show notes

What are different ways you can communicate in a more effective way? And how can you ensure that, as a business owner, your team members feel valued, and instill a great communication mentality in your company? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan discuss how to communicate more effectively as a business owner in different contexts – including with people you don't really like.

[0:44] Hannah and Melissa – who have been working with a communication consultant for almost two years now – find the topic of this episode to be one of their favorites.

[2:14] Melissa believes that the art of communication is something we all constantly work on and have room for improvement for it.

[2:59] Hannah breaks down the four main types of communication: verbal, non-verbal, written, and visual.

[4:52] The co-hosts both admit to struggling with non-verbal communication.

[7:31] For Melissa, communicating effectively and respectfully are both equally important.

[7:56] Hannah sees professionalism as key. Whether you're listening to someone, writing something for them or similar, you need to remember that you're going to be working with these people and you should act, behave, and communicate accordingly.

[9:44] For written communication, both Hannah and Melissa recommend you take a look at Grammarly.

[11:52] When it comes to communicating with her team members, Melissa typically relies on Slack. However, for delegating a task, she's open to the other person using whichever platform, tool, or app they're comfortable using the most.

[13:10] Hannah believes that asking questions and communicating your goals, as well as your boundaries and expectations, could help avoid miscommunication.

[15:59] Melissa likes to learn what other people's goals and boundaries are. She also stresses the importance of asking about these boundaries.

[18:12] Hannah shares what she believes workplaces, business owners, and bosses should focus on to create a happy work environment.

[21:42] Melissa throws remote working into the mix and adds how to address the issues at hand in a remote work environment.

[24:43] There are four horsemen, and in his study, these are the things that Gottman identified to understand whether a marriage will work: criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling.

[25:23] Co-hosts Hannah and Melissa touch upon the importance of trying to focus on communicating and working harmoniously with someone you really don't like.

[30:20] When trying to communicate with a remote team, Melissa thinks it's important to overly communicate in a positive manner.

Mentioned in this episode:

Grammarly

Slack

ILB episode 23 - How to Be a Better Boss and Create a Company Culture Your Employees Will Love

John Gottman's Four Horsemen

success@ilovebookkeeping.com

Work-Life Balance Series: Time Blocking and How to Create a Great Work-Life Balance Calendar Apr 28, 2022

Show notes

How can you leverage time blocking and better organize your calendar to "aggressively" defend your personal life? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan share their top tips and resources you can rely on and make sure that you get the most out of your time for both your personal and professional life.

[1:02] Melissa believes that a great way to "aggressively" defend your personal life is to follow five tips for creating a work-life balance calendar and to let technology assist you in that.

[1:53] For Melissa, the first step is to create your ideal, so you need to think about your availability for work, then set it in your calendar app (in Melissa's case, that's AcuityScheduling).

[3:48] When it comes to setting your availability for meetings and running meetings, Melissa suggests having padding on both ends so that your work days start and end at the times you would want them to.

[4:40] Creating your schedule is something you need to figure out and take different aspects into consideration. Melissa, for instance, doesn't like Mondays, so she takes that into account when planning her work week.

[5:26] Melissa gives a breakdown of what a typical week looks like for her.

[6:48] Hannah asks Melissa how she deals with something unexpected popping up.

[9:27] Hannah asks Melissa whether she likes to combine all of her different calendars in one space. Melissa has 3 Google Calendars and a personal calendar, all of which are integrated together and map over to Acuity.

[11:19] Both Melissa and Hannah praise the power of writing things down to avoid forgetting them.

[12:25] Hannah asks Melissa about ways she relies on to create a work-life balance within her scheduling.

[13:47] For Melissa, it's crucial that you resist the temptation of manually overriding your calendar when, for example, a client asks to have a call during a time slot that you've marked as booked because you wanted to have some downtime.

[14:52] Hannah shares one of her current struggles: scheduling time for self-care or for something she enjoys doing.

[16:18] Melissa and Hannah discuss the benefits of prioritising self-care and the impact of not doing that.

[20:02] Melissa touches upon the importance of having limits in the scheduling you create with Acuity, or a similar platform, as well as why using padding in your scheduler is a smart move.

[22:43] For Melissa, something you can do as an introvert is to stack your sales meetings so that you minimize the time you need to think about social interactions.

[23:25] Hannah talks about the fact that she prefers to start her days focusing on the biggest task of the day first.

[25:52] Melissa goes over her approach of creating different availability by appointment time.

Mentioned in this episode:

success@ilovebookkeeping.com

How to Be a Better Boss and Create a Company Culture Your Employees Will Love Apr 26, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan discuss how to be a better boss – why you should look at your past "horrible bosses," and what to consider and do to create a company culture your employees will love and that increases their retention.

[0:45] Hannah sees this episode being perfect for those looking to expand their practice, as well as for those who already have done or want to do it down the road.

[1:26] Melissa shares something she struggles with: she doesn't like to think of herself as or being called "the boss." She also warns that if you run a company and think that you'll just be "one of the guys," you're mistaken. You're the boss and are going to be seen and treated as such.

[2:25] For Hannah, having the boss' personality, in the sense of being naturally drawn to take charge of a project, is something that can be seen already from childhood – it was like this for her. Not everyone has that type of personality, though.

[3:04] Thinking about the kind of boss you'd want to have as an employee is something you should evaluate when becoming someone's boss, says Hannah.

[3:59] Melissa advises new business owners to think about the worst boss they ever had and do their best not to become that kind of a boss. Then, think about the best boss or bosses you've ever had and what made them good bosses.

[7:20] Hannah sees being open to hearing other ideas and opinions as one of the hallmarks of being a great boss. That's a difficult thing to do, however, says Melissa. She recommends creating an environment where you aren't afraid to "look like an idiot" and encourage your employees to feel and do the same.

[8:55] Hannah believes that having a heart to heart with employees – about their goals and finding ways to help them get there and check in – is an excellent way to build trust with your employees.

[10:02] For Melissa, everyone just wants to be heard, so it's important to really be listening as a boss. She discusses the benefits of doing that both with your employees, as well as with your sales conversations.

[12:25] Hannah and Melissa talk about the fact that there are 9 different types of motivations – and why it's important to remember this as a boss.

[16:53] Melissa would like to hear from you: what motivates you?

[17:15] The co-hosts touch upon fear-based motivation and why some people may be relying on that.

[19:45] Hannah shares her thoughts on the company culture at Bookkeepers.com.

[21:36] Melissa goes over what she thinks is key in being a better boss and creating a company culture that values your employees.

Mentioned in this episode:

bookkeepers.com

success@ilovebookkeeping.com

What Does It Mean to Be a Working Mom? Apr 21, 2022

Show notes

Parenthood is one of the most life-changing experiences but what does it actually mean to be a working mom? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan talk about some of the challenges of being a working mom and share some tips on how to have a better work-life balance as well as how to feel proud being a mother.

[1:16] Hannah isn't a working mom but Melissa is – she has two kids, ages 4 and 2. She doesn't consider herself a good parent to use as a case-study for the fact that she's pretty free-range.

[5:33] Melissa shares that it isn't easy being a working mom and having good balance between work and motherhood, and that she did most of the things wrong, when it comes to work-life balance.

[10:07] Hannah believes that a lot of mothers can relate to Melissa's story.

[12:21] Melissa discusses having lost the ability to continue with a thought outside of a 60-second window. If she happens to get distracted by her children, whatever she was thinking about is gone, and it will come back to her a few hours later.

[14:51] According to Melissa, sometimes, mothers lose sight of who they are as a person and they may simply think of themselves in terms of being their children's mom, their husband's wife, etc. Some mothers in this situation find their way back to a 'I'm Melissa Honan' kind of moment through work.

[15:49] Hannah praises Melissa for always putting her family first, and for letting her clients know that 'my kids and my family come first'.

[17:59] Melissa believes that the best place to start practicing forgiveness is by forgiving yourself.

[20:38] For Hannah, more moms should remember that they don't know what they don't know and that, sometimes, the best way to learn is by being "in the trenches". You never stop learning.

[22:11] Melissa shares the Nora Roberts glass ball theory. The idea is that you have your personal life, you have your work life, but you don't have to choose between one or the other. You're juggling many different "balls," some are glass and some are plastic. If you drop a plastic ball, it's just going to bounce, while a glass ball is going to shatter.

[23:36] For the Nora Roberts glass ball theory, if it's between dropping a glass or a plastic ball, you need to choose the plastic ball. Sometimes, it's going to be your personal life, while some other times it's going to be your work life. Missing little moments in your kids life or not calling back a sales prospect are examples of plastic balls.

Mentioned in this episode:

BKX

success@ilovebookkeeping.com

Partners in Life…and in Business! Apr 19, 2022

Show notes

What does it actually mean to work with your partner or spouse? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan share their thoughts, advice and experience to help you make sure that, if you work with your partner, you keep animosity to the minimum and that you definitely don't take it home with you.

[0:56] Hannah asks Melissa at which time of her marriage she began working with her husband. Melissa shares that she got invited by her husband to join the business after she had gotten very overwhelmed, and unhappy, about a sales job she was doing at the time.

[3:13] Melissa and her husband worked together for about a year because she got pregnant and developed some complications. Two years later, her husband deployed for a longer period of time and this pushed Melissa to come back, this time, in a more administrative role, before a set of circumstances led her to step in as the CEO.

[6:23] A loud-talker by her own admission, Melissa doesn't share her workspace with her husband, though they have tried.

[7:28] Hannah asks Melissa how she and her husband manage to balance out being in a boss-employee relationship, as well as in a personal relationship as a married couple.

[9:11] Feeling as if she was born a leader led Melissa to clash with her husband who feels he was born a leader too. Melissa was supposed to be a mere employee but had plenty of her own ideas.

[10:12] For Hannah, maintaining a level of professionalism when working with your spouse or partner is a tough thing to do. However, it's key that not only you aren't fighting at work but that you aren't carrying over that feeling of taking it personally into your home as well.

[12:03] Melissa has found a way to cope with the situation: compartmentalize. It's about thinking about the roles her husband has in her life – he's the founder of the company and Melissa's boss, but he's also the Chief of Operations, which is Melissa's subordinate, as well as her husband, and the father of her children.

[14:34] Melissa's advice for someone who's just starting out working with their spouse or partner is to create boundaries and, then, essentially having a process in place to make sure that those boundaries stay in place and that everyone's respecting them. And there's a lot of tough conversations that need to happen, and it isn't going to be easy, even from a marriage standpoint.

[18:21] Hannah sees establishing boundaries early on as one of the key things those planning to work with their partner should strive to do.

Mentioned in this episode:

Slack

ILB episode 20 - Work-Life Balance Series: Strategies to Actually Set Boundaries, Protect Yourself, and Your Business

success@ilovebookkeeping.com

Work-Life Balance Series: Strategies to Actually Set Boundaries, Protect Yourself and Your Business Apr 14, 2022

Show notes

In this new episode of the Work-Life Balance Series, co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan touch upon different strategies business owners can leverage to actually set boundaries, protect themselves, their time, and their business.

[1:09] Hannah feels as if this Work-Life Balance Series has come at a perfect time, especially since it covers something she's been struggling with herself. It has been helpful for both her and Melissa.

[2:16] For Hannah, the topic at hand is a little controversial and it has shown a generational difference. On the one hand, there's the older generation who didn't believe in boundaries as much. On the other hand, there's the new generation that has the topic of finding work-life balance closer to their heart.

[3:24] Melissa sees a connection between setting boundaries and delegating. One of the reasons people don't delegate is the assumption that they will be seen as lazy if they essentially put their work off on other people. Younger generations see the difference between delegating to set boundaries and being lazy, but others may feel as if someone who's delegating and isn't working a certain number of hours each week is lazy…

[5:37] Hannah shares that one of the ways to set boundaries is to do more by doing less. The key is to focus on getting quality work done instead of little tasks that get you nowhere. For Hannah, the best way to do that is to delegate – and learning different ways to delegate, so that you don't feel like you're pulled in many different directions, is key. This is something Hannah is learning.

[7:16] Many "naysayers" of delegating make the argument of not having someone to delegate their work to, says Melissa. She recommends delegating to your future self.

[8:07] Melissa is a fan of prioritizing tasks using an ABCD approach: A stands for things that have to be done today, B refers to tasks that would be nice to take care of today but if they don't get done today, they can get done tomorrow. C is about tasks that should be completed either this week or next week, while D is for something that needs to be done but that doesn't have a due date or clear timetable attached to it.

[9:38] According to Hannah, overscheduling and spreading yourself too thin are something that negatively impacts your work-life balance. By her own admission, she's guilty of this.

[12:09] Hannah suggests not giving out your knowledge and energy for free because it can become taxing to just give, give, give. Melissa asks Hannah how to do that, especially at a time where most people expect to get free advice through social media content, for instance.

[17:17] Hannah explains that you shouldn't necessarily reject people who are breaking your boundaries because you can redirect them to something that does work for you.

[18:56] Melissa shares something she has learned from her business coach: you can't control what other people do, but you can prepare for how you'll respond to it.

Mentioned in this episode:

ILB episode 19 - Work-Life Balance Series: Work-Life Balance is a Good Habit with Alyssa Lang

success@ilovebookkeeping.com

Work-Life Balance Series: Work-Life Balance is a Good Habit with Alyssa Lang Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

The Workflow Queen Alyssa Lang joins co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan to discuss the role of work-life balance, why it's a good habit, and the way it has shaped her company and team members.

[2:21] Alyssa shares where her passion for great white sharks comes from, and discusses how she hasn't been able to go shark cage diving, yet.

[3:50] Alyssa started her bookkeeping and taxes firm six years ago, before ending it in February of 2020. She started Workflow Queen on Valentine's Day of the same year when she found out that many other bookkeepers and accountants also struggled with trying to create systems and processes, hiring people, and getting support, just like Alyssa did. In January of 2022, she partnered with her Workflow Queen operations manager to start a new bookkeeping firm.

[5:30] Alyssa isn't sure that she has mastered work-life balance just yet.

[6:34] When starting her first business, Alyssa had no idea about the importance of systems and processes – now, though, with her new business, she really wants to document and outsource the work right from the get-go.

[7:48] When it comes to communicating boundaries and expectations to clients, Alyssa feels that things are better now.

[9:51] Alyssa's way of doing things may not always sit well with prospects, but she talks about how that has actually been an important thing, despite it being a little bit of a constant struggle.

[13:50] For Hannah, the way you communicate your boundaries or expectations is similar to how you wrap up a package and deliver it to people.

[16:09] Massages, getting her nails and hair done, as well as cooking, and off-roading are Alyssa's main acts of self-care related to her work-life balance (though, now, it's harder for her to get them done because of the remote location she's currently living in).

[18:55] While she initially struggled with work-life balance, as of late, Alyssa has made an effort to put herself first – like during a recent mastermind in Key West where, instead of working and networking like other participants, she decided to take a break because she needed a vacation.

[21:59] Melissa shares how, for her, work-life balance is a habit and that's very easy to fall out of good habits. She stresses that it's important to identify that, and then get back on with those good habits.

[22:35] According to Alyssa, 'slow down to speed up' and pre-projecting things to do – in her free time – after having completed a work task are two good things to follow and do in order to get into the good habit of work-life balance.

[25:49] Melissa opens up about going through a burnout, and how, now, she realizes that she did fall out of the good work-life balance habit. Alyssa shares a story about a recent time when she informed her team that she needed to take some time off.

[27:31] Melissa talks about the importance of choosing to rest and some challenges she has faced in recent times – and the role Hannah has played.

[29:12] Alyssa is a big advocate for work-life balance for her team as well. She has had team members letting her and others know that they would be taking some time off, and Alyssa is a fan of that. One of her main goals is to protect her team's personal time.

[31:02] Daily check-ins – with today's concerns and intentions – and check-outs for her team members have been a key resource that has helped Alyssa identify whenever a member of her team seemed to have been in need of some time off.

[33:18] Alyssa discloses that they're currently hiring at both Workflow Queen and her firm Magnetic Bookkeeping and Consulting.

Mentioned in this episode:

WorkflowQueen.com

support@MagneticBookkeeping.com

@WorkflowQueen on Instagram

success@ilovebookkeeping.com

Setting Boundaries as a Business Owner Apr 07, 2022

Show notes

How do you go about setting boundaries? When and how should you add boundaries in your business)? Co-Hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan dive into the world of boundaries, share their importance and go over some situations you may find yourself in – and how to navigate them.

[0:23] Melissa discusses how she went about things when she got started with her business.

[2:13] Hannah talks about something she struggled with in regards to productivity for networkers.

[2:54] Hannah asks Melinda what was one thing she wasn't willing to compromise.

[3:23] Melissa goes over the first thing she does when trying to work with somebody on time management is having them create their ideal work schedule.

[7:32] For Melissa, setting boundaries is something that should be taken care of right off the bat – and she shares an example of how she deals with that in her business.

[13:38] Hannah and Melissa touch upon the issue of trying to set boundaries after the relationship with a client has already been established – and the potential consequences of that.

[20:19] Hannah shares the fact that a lot of women come to fear being negatively labeled.

[23:34] 'Just' is a word that Hannah was invited to omit.

[27:06]: Hannah points out that you can't control other people's reactions. Sometimes, you'll say things as nicely as possible, and if they react horribly, then it's ok. You have to prepare yourself and hold onto your power for people who are going to break your boundaries.

[32:04] Melissa talks about the reason why women should stop saying 'I'm sorry' in a professional context.

[33:15] Melissa explains why, as a business owner, you should stop apologizing.

Mentioned in this episode:

QuickBooks

success@ilovebookkeeping.com

Creating and Leveraging Process in Your Bookkeeping Business with James Rose of Content Snare Apr 05, 2022

Show notes

Processes are something every bookkeeping business needs. But how do you go about creating and leveraging them? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan interview Content Snare Co-Founder James (Jimmy) Rose – they discuss systems, automation, tech stack, and "shortcuts" that will help bookkeepers win time back and better streamline their workflow.

[0:41] Brisbane-based Jimmy Rose is the Co-Founder of Content Snare, a software platform that helps bookkeepers collect information and documents from clients. A former automation engineer, he now focuses on helping business owners regain their lives and be more productive.

[2:19] Hannah asks Jimmy what made him want to pivot away from running a digital marketing and web design agency.

[3:48] Based on his experience and conversations with bookkeepers, Jimmy sees wasted time chasing clients for documents or similar as the biggest pain-point for bookkeepers.

[6:07] For Jimmy, even after asking for client documents there may be challenges, as those documents may be forwarded to a bookkeeper in many different emails and attachments.

[9:05] Melissa talks about how Content Snare has helped her bookkeeping business when it comes to onboarding new clients and how surprised she is that the platform wasn't initially created for bookkeepers.

[10:04] Melissa asks Jimmy what he would recommend, apart from Content Snare, for new bookkeepers to do to make their lives easier.

[10:35] According to Jimmy, many people make the mistake of trying to put systems in place before they've actually done the work manually.

[13:31] Jimmy shares how using something like TextExpander can help bookkeeping business owners.

[16:25] Hannah asks Jimmy what's something that helped him in the early stages of his journey from a tech standpoint.

[16:49] Jimmy considers having a Get-Things-Done system the #1 thing everyone needs.

[18:30] Hannah asks Jimmy whether there are tech tools that can be used to easily put processes in place.

[21:49] Melissa points out that new business owners often get stressed out by not having everything perfect in place. It's about things being nice and perfect, though, it's just about getting it done.

[24:10] Hannah, Melissa, and Jimmy discuss additional things TextExpander can come in handy for.

[28:23] Hannah asks Jimmy why it's important for Content Snare to help business owners build and maintain relationships with their clients.

[32:09] Melissa shares an automated process she uses whenever a new client signs a contract.

Mentioned in this episode: