Use Busy Season Insights to Grow Your Business, Without Extra Work

For many bookkeepers, the start of the year means an influx of client work. As deadlines approach, it becomes painfully obvious which clients have it together and which ones don’t.

But here’s the secret: the struggles your clients face right now are actually your biggest growth opportunities.

Common Client Struggles at Tax Time

Throughout the year, your clients might be:

• Falling behind on receipts and expense tracking.

• Struggling with payroll and missing remittances.

• Mixing business and personal transactions.

• Underestimating their tax payments and scrambling for cash.

• Missing key deductions due to incomplete records.

• Overpaying taxes because they didn’t track write-offs properly.

And tax time? That’s when these issues really surface.

Instead of just cleaning up the mess, use this moment to offer solutions that will save your clients from repeating the same mistakes next year...

Here's How to Turn Client Struggles into Growth Opportunities

✅ Step 1: Listen for Pain Points (Right Now)

Pay attention to frustrations your clients mention and jot them down.

Example: “I had no idea I owed this much in taxes,” “I wish I had kept better records,” “I always forget payroll deadlines,” "It took me days to get all these documents."

✅ Step 2: Match Pain Points to Services (Post Tax Season)

Spend 15 minutes reviewing your notes.

Match each issue to a service you offer (or could offer), like advisory, payroll, or automation.

Example: A client who never tracks expenses might benefit from a QuickBooks Online + Hubdoc setup with automated bank feeds.

✅ Step 3: Plant the Seed with Clients (After Tax Time)

Send a simple, friendly email.

Example: "Hey [Client], I noticed during tax prep that [pain point] was a big headache for you. I’ve got a simple fix that’ll save you time and stress next year, let me know if you’d like to chat!"

Why Tech Makes It Even Better: Spotting new opportunities is great, but the real game changer is using tech to make your services repeatable, scalable, and effortless to deliver.

Your goal shouldn’t just be to add more services. It should be to build services that run smoothly, solve real client pain points, and don’t create extra work for you.

With the right tech, you can:

• Streamline client processes so they get better results with less hassle.

• Automate tedious tasks like collecting documents, running reports, or processing payroll.

• Make your services easy to scale so you can help more clients without working more hours.

• AND make a real impact on your clients' lives, giving them clarity, confidence, and peace of mind in their business! 💡

Curious how to set up these streamlined, automated processes in your firm? We cover all these strategies (and more!) in The Bookkeeper's Tech Advantage Course.

Let’s all agree next busy season is going to be wayyy easier (famous last words 😆).