A business owner engages a bookkeeper in March. In January he asks her to sort out his tax return and discovers that she does not do that, has never done that, and that he needed to appoint somebody else nine months ago.
Nobody misled anybody. Neither of them ever said out loud what the engagement covered.
Myth 1: the terms mean the same thing
Reality: they describe different work. Bookkeeping records and reconciles what happens. Accountancy uses that record to produce filings and advice. Many people do both and the distinction still matters.
Myth 2: clients understand the difference
Reality: they do not, and there is no reason they should. It is the practice's job to state it plainly rather than to assume shared vocabulary.
Myth 3: a bookkeeper cannot do anything statutory
Reality: it depends entirely on the individual's qualifications and permissions. Some can do a great deal and some cannot, which is precisely why each practice must publish its own position.
Myth 4: the boundary can be sorted out later
Reality: later is January, with a deadline approaching and a client who assumed it was covered. The conversation belongs in the engagement letter and on the website.
Myth 5: saying what you do not do loses clients
Reality: it attracts the ones who know what they need and prevents the relationships that end badly. Clarity is a filter and a filter is useful.
Myth 6: clients only care about price
Reality: they care about not being caught out. A practice that sets out the boundary plainly looks competent, which is worth more than being the cheapest.
Myth 7: working alongside an accountant is awkward
Reality: it is normal and usually beneficial. Publishing that you work with accountants, and how the handover works, reassures clients and generates referrals both ways.
Myth 8: the client will remember what was agreed
Reality: they will not. It belongs in writing, in the engagement, and repeated at the point it becomes relevant.
Publish what you do
Transaction recording, reconciliation, periodic returns where applicable, reporting, payroll where offered, and anything else. As a list.
Publish what you do not do
Statutory accounts, tax returns, advice or whatever falls outside. Named specifically, with who the client should appoint instead.
Explain how the handover works
What you provide to an accountant at the year end, in what form and when. It is the most valuable thing you do for the client and nobody describes it.
Offer to introduce an accountant
A firm you work with well. It solves the client's problem, it builds the relationship and it produces referrals in return.
Publish it with the fee
Because scope and price are the same question, as in monthly fee questions from businesses comparing bookkeepers and bookkeeping included or extra and why it matters.
Set it out at onboarding
Alongside the software and access arrangements, as in software and handover questions when switching bookkeepers.
Know where to stop
Understanding the limits of what you offer is the same discipline as when not to use a chatbot and what to do instead.
Getting started
Publish what you do, what you do not and how the year end handover works, then answer scope questions at any hour. SpideyChat for accountants and bookkeepers answers from your published pages, plans are on the pricing page, and the chatbot ROI calculator works through the numbers.