How Accountants and Bookkeepers can help their Small Business Clients Navigate through COVID-19

As most of you know, I am connected to and in touch with so many bookkeepers and accountants and I used to be one myself. In my calls with influential accountants and bookkeepers in the past week or so a lot of ideas have been shared, and I want to share those more broadly as well as issue a challenge to those of you who support small businesses. 

But first, I want to quote John Wayne – he famously stated that “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyways.” This is the attitude we need right now – we need to be really courageous and we need to keep moving forward. YES – it is true that we are facing challenges that we never dreamed we would have to face. Some people refer to this as our “privilege” because we haven’t been challenged in the same ways that citizens of other countries have. So it’s natural that some of us have been in denial that anything could really happen to us.

Well, it’s here, it’s real, and we will get through this. I predict that by the time most of you read this post, your community will have a formal response plan to COVID-19. As I write this, I am entering my third week of enforced working from home (I am very grateful that my company, Intuit, took early steps to ensure our 9,000 employees are practicing social distancing), and California is now under a formal “shelter in place” order. Many businesses are disrupted and everyone is a little shell-shocked, I think.

It’s natural and normal that you may be scared – but we have to saddle up anyways!! Small business clients need their accountants or bookkeepers to provide timely, useful advice. Small businesses provide essential services for their communities, and in the weeks and months ahead their services will still be needed. The challenge they face is how they can continue to serve their clients in this “weird” situation we find ourselves in right now. Some of your clients have had to close their places of businesses due to shelter in place orders, while other clients may be experiencing a huge surge in demand. Both need you.

With all of this in mind, my challenge to you is this: I will share some ways you can 1) Step up to take care of you, your family and your business; 2) Dig in and think about proactively helping your small business clients continue to serve their customers during COVID-19 conditions and beyond and then I want you to 3) Saddle up:  take up my challenge and reach out to your clients to show them the way through this.

Step 1: Step Up: Take care of your own business, employees and family. 

Take care of your own business and your employees. If you haven’t done so already, ensure your employees are able to productively work at home and schedule regular check-ins by video for both social and business continuity reasons. Reassure them that their work is important because your clients need advice (more on this later in this post). To learn best practices about working remotely, Hector Garcia and Michael Ly recorded a fabulous webinar on this topic, and they have graciously allowed me to share the 2 hour-webinar here - it’s worth every minute to watch, and you may want to watch with your team. I have also listed additional amazing resources from Cathy Iconis, Seth David, and Matthew Fulton at the end of this article.

AND, take care of yourself and your family. You can swap the order here with item number one above (this article is focused on how to help businesses, so I won’t go deep here – many would say that family comes first and I won’t argue with that!) but the point here is that to ensure your own business continuity, you and your significant other need to figure out who watches the kids, and coordinate schedules. There are a TON of free resources to help kids stay entertained and educated during school closures. As example, Mint has created a fabulous resource microsite to help teach kids about managing money – check it out here.

Step 2: Dig In: Think through all the ways you can help your clients.

There are so many things you can do here – I am going to list some ideas of my own, plus ideas from several trusted CPA and bookkeeper friends, and I encourage you to add your ideas and suggestions in the comments area below.

In addition to general business continuity planning services, the timely and relevant advice you should consider offering your clients now will likely fall into two themes:

1.  Cash flow analysis consulting - This involves having a (virtual) meeting with your clients to look at money in and money out for the next few months, and helping them figure out ways to make their cash last while still meeting their commitments overall. Note this is different than just preparing a statement of cash flows – instead, you will look forward and help them forecast revenue coming in and money going out. If there is a gap (ie: more money going out than coming in) then you’ll help them figure out creative new ways to sell as well as help them look at ways to delay or defer loans or rent, etc.

 2.  Help your SMB’s discover creative new ways to sell - This is the most creative area – you can help your clients figure out new ways to sell to their loyal customers and even to new prospective customers. The general idea is that businesses offer so many essential services to their communities, and customers still want to buy those services. So how can SMB’s make this possible given the challenging conditions right now? Additionally, there are businesses who are surging right now, and need help in managing the extra workload. You can help them as well!

 Cash Flow Analysis advisory services – a deeper dive

This is something that accountants and bookkeepers are usually very adept at, but some do not think of this as a specific service to offer. Trust me – your clients are very concerned about this. So it’s timely and relevant to offer this service.

Note that it’s not about creating a Statement of Cash Flows – The SOCF is a backwards-looking report, and not relevant at all during a cash crunch time. Instead, you want to do a forward-facing cash flow analysis to help clients understand their true cash position given the changing business conditions they are facing at the moment.

If you don’t already, reach out to all your clients to proactively offer your personalized Cash Flow Analysis service at no extra charge for any of your monthly clients, or at a reduced rate for any new business that needs it (over video of course).

• Tip: This is an area where QuickBooks ProAdvisors will have an extra tool to rely on.  QuickBooks Cash Flow was just released and with the new tools, accountants and bookkeepers can guide their clients through visual representations of current and future cash flow scenarios, including the ability to set aside money in “envelopes” that can then be used for future essential business needs like payroll, or rent, etc.  

The human element and advice that you can give because you KNOW your client’s businesses is extremely valuable. Once you see the forecasted money coming in, and the forecasted money going out, you can make specific recommendations to help the business continue to operate during these changing conditions.

Here is a list to get your creative thought processes going about specific action areas you can hone in on with your client, including recommendations you can make to help them stretch their cash even further:

• Review all receivables with them, customer by customer, and choose which ones they should try very hard to collect on now – as example, large companies will be able to pay and could even be asked to pay early if necessary, while smaller companies may have to be given a bit longer to pay. Perhaps the smaller companies could be asked to make partial payments if they can’t pay the entire amount now due to their own cash flow challenges. And if a customer can’t pay at all, you need to know that as well.
• If your clients don’t accept credit cards, now is absolutely the time to get them set up for that. Customers can pay by credit card and get the points, and your client gets the cash now. Intuit Payments is a great place to start since it integrates directly with QuickBooks. Learn more here.
•  Put all the credit cards on auto-pay, for the minimum required. That way their credit doesn’t get trashed if they forget to make a payment, and they can leverage the additional time to pay.
•  Additionally, it’s worth it to call all their credit card providers, because some are lowering interest rates if you call in and tell them you are affected by COVID-19.
• What about loans? Can any of those be refinanced or consolidated to provide lower overall monthly payments right now? The key is to look at each type of loan one by one and then call the lender to ask what can be done. Some lenders will even allow a payment to be skipped and it gets added onto the end of the loan with no penalty (my own car loan lender offered me this when I had my previous car loan, as example).
• What bills can be paid late or deferred? Again – this is a line by line kind of analysis. You’ll want to prioritize paying smaller companies on time over really large ones, and also on paying vital suppliers faster than non-essential ones. The idea is to ensure that the key things are still available for the business, but that non-essentials can be paid a little late, or even partially, until the business can resume normal operations.
• If the business is an inventory business and their products are still selling, ask suppliers for 30/60/90 terms. This means the order is delivered, but 1/3 is paid in 30 days, 1/3 in 60 days and the last 1/3 in 90 days. However, if your client is sure they will be unable to sell the inventory they now have to pay for, it’s best to ask the suppliers for a return authorization number so they can return the goods and not have to pay for it at all.
• What about rent? Some landlords are offering rent holidays – your clients can ask their landlord if they will consider allowing them to skip a monthly rent payment altogether, or, if they can stop paying rent for a defined period of months, and then add spread out the month(s) that were skipped, over the remaining months in the lease.
• For businesses that are able to operate remotely, have your clients put their employees onto Direct Deposit, so they don’t have to come in to get their paychecks.

Help your clients discover creative new ways to sell

I loved putting this section together – it’s super creative and right up my alley, being an “ideas” person. Please share your own ideas and advice in the comments below this post – all boats will rise if we act together and share our ideas! I want to thank Hector Garcia and Michelle Vilms especially, for their contributions to some of the ideas below. 

The basic premise with the first set of ideas is that each business type has loyal local customers who are working at home, and still employed. 

While their clients cannot go physically to the place of business, they still want to support their favorite small businesses.

Therefore, you will work with your SMB Clients to develop a way to sell to loyal local customers, either via online, or in other creative ways.  

Your clients will need to send a letter to all their customers and let them know they are still “open for business” and would appreciate their support. And if they simply cannot offer the service right now, they should ask their loyal clients to pre-pay for future visits when the shop opens up again.

To make this work, your clients need to be enabled for web sales. Help them get an ecommerce site up and running if they don’t already have one, and make sure it is enabled for Gift Certificates and credit card payment. If this is not possible (due to no money being available, or the business doesn’t lend itself to that sort of sale) then at least have them update their website with a message to their customers, asking for their support and telling them how they can provide that. Maybe it's just a matter of stating “Our shop is closed, but we are taking phone orders - please call us!” And then listing the phone number of course. 

Because each industry is different, I have broken the “letter content” (in other words the offer, and the “ask”) down into different suggestions. 

Nail Salons, Hairdressers and Massage Therapists:

• Since none of their work can be done remotely, the business owner should consider sending an email to all customers and prospects offering pre-paid gift certificates to be redeemed for services once the shop opens up again.
• Anyone who buys one will be given VIP status, with priority access to appointments once the shop opens up again, including a VIP bonus when they come in. (ie: nail polish to take home, or a custom conditioning treatment, or added massage time) etc.
• When the shop opens up, reserve half of all appointments for VIP customers, and leave the other half for customers that are paying on the spot. (This helps to meter cash flow and ensure the owner can pay employees now, and later.)
• Note that most customers will require several emails before they purchase a prepaid gift certificate. Tell your clients not to give up if the first email blast only nets one or two payments. They should send out several waves of emails, each with slightly different content, and make the “ask” each time, plus tout the benefits of becoming a VIP Customer.

Fitness Centers, Gyms, & Yoga Studios:

Encourage your fitness-related business owners to send a heartfelt letter to all members, past and present, thanking them for their support, and emphasizing the community they have created at the center. In the letter or email, ask them to consider not cancelling their memberships during the enforced period of closure, because you still have a great service to offer them:

• Anyone who doesn’t cancel, can attend virtual fitness classes that will be available at X,Y and Z times every day.
• Also – when the fitness center can re-open, the folks that kept their memberships active during the closure will receive a special thing as a thank you. This could be a t-shirt, a free class or two, or a special coaching session with one of the trainers.
• Also ask them to refer their friends to the online classes, available at $X low fee, and payable by PayPal, credit card, or Venmo.

They should also continue emailing their customers throughout the closure period, because again, it often takes several emails to get some people to take action. Plus, they want to show their clients that they care about them by including fitness tips and recipes etc., in each mailing (along with a request to keep their membership active!)

Bookshops, Gift Stores and other Retail Businesses:

If your client’s retail business is already enabled for online sales the first thing they should do is let their clients know they can order online from them! Then, think of ways they can make their customer’s online shopping experience the same as the wonderful in-store experience.

• Offer free consultations by chat, or phone, and offer free shipping if possible.
• Make sure customers know how much their business is appreciated by including a little delighter or hand written card in every order
• Also include a direct ask that they tell their friends, including a pass-along coupon for new customers.
• Offer to provide curbside pickup for the items ordered, or, if your community has already put social distancing measures in place, offer free shipping.

As with the examples above, repeated contacts and social marketing will be needed to get customers to purchase.

The second set of ideas are relevant for businesses who are experiencing a SURGE in business due to COVID-19:

These businesses primarily provide services to infrastructure businesses like Grocery Stores, Health Care, etc; or, they provide services to homeowners, or deliveries in general.

Because these businesses are likely to experience a surge in business, they actually will need help in different ways. They’ll need help with their business books, streamlining their invoicing and payments systems, plus, they probably need additional workers as well.

Home Service Businesses (HVAC, Plumbers, Appliance Repair, etc):

More people are working at home than ever before, and things are going to break down. Here’s how you can help them at this very busy time:

• Offer to move their business books onto a cloud-based solution like QBO. That way they can meet the increased demand more easily, and not have to catch up on paperwork every night or weekend.
• Or, offer to take over the bookkeeping entirely to take that off their plate.
• Ensure they can take payment on the spot, to help cash flow coming in.
• And lastly, ask if they need more workers! (see section below for where these workers may come from)

Delivery Businesses (Food delivery, package delivery, drivers, etc):

I expect to see a huge surge in demand for home food delivery and other types of delivery providers. My recommendations for how you can help them are the same as for the Home Service Businesses above.

But where can they get trusted workers? Especially if the demand might be temporary in nature, and, if they need them right NOW?

THIS is where you can work your best magic!! As an accountant or bookkeeper, take a look at your client list and see who has had to let their workers go, and then look at who is experiencing a surge and can’t keep up.  Then, you make the match!!  

Your café and restaurant clients (as example) have lots of able-bodied people who might now be laid off while the venue is closed. What if you were able to call up those business owners and tell them that your Farm Box Delivery client (as example) needs 5 more drivers to keep up with demand? I am 100% certain that your restaurant business owner would be delighted to send a job lead to their best workers. And your Farm Box Delivery client will be delighted because they get a new workforce that knows each other, are dedicated to serving customers, and come with a fantastic referral (your restaurant business owner client).

What if your surge clients need more supplies to meet new business demands?

No doubt you will think of more ideas and creative ways to match your clients who are hurting, with your clients who are overwhelmed with sudden new business. Perhaps there are suppliers who can be matched with clients who suddenly need more supplies? Or businesses that can work together collaboratively to meet each other’s needs?

Your pivotal role - The key here is that YOU are in the cat-bird seat. YOU have the forest-level view of your clients and who needs what. Once you look at your client list like this, you will never think of it in the same way again. You’ll think of all sorts of new ways to help your clients survive and even thrive!

Step 3: Saddle Up - It’s Time!

I hope you will take up my challenge - now is the time for you to proactively reach out to all your clients to let them know how you can help.  

Call or email each one of your clients and offer to conduct a cash flow consultation with them, as well as to help them discover ways to sell to their customers while COVID-19 is disrupting their normal business operations. Make matches between struggling clients and clients whose businesses have surged. Your call will be appreciated and your clients will know they are in the right hands working with you.

Friends – I hope this has been helpful. My goal here is to spark your creative juices and get you thinking about how you can creatively help your small business clients navigate these uncertain and changing business conditions, so they can survive now and thrive in the future.

And lastly, if you need further inspiration or guidance, I recommend you check out the following resources created by top Accountants and Bookkeepers in my community:

• Seth David video: Tools for working remotely
• Matthew Fulton video: Applying for SBA Disaster Relief Loans Video Overview
• Cathy Iconis article: Helping Your Small Business Clients Get Through The Coronavirus Pandemic

Please add your suggestions and ideas in the comments below – all boats rise when we share our knowledge with each other!