Tax Savvy Bookkeeper Course Review

Kate: Hi everyone, this is Kate from the Bookkeeping Side Hustle group. I am tickled today to get to interview Meagan Hernandez from the Tax Savvy Bookkeeper. She and I have met in the Facebook group a while. I’ll let her introduce herself, but she’s got a course she has already started offering. She’s already had students go through it, and I think it would be a great fit for some of you all. 

Before Meagan introduces herself I want to give a disclaimer that I always give. I haven’t taken Meagan’s course. My goal here is just to be a conduit of information. If you want to support the group Meagan has given me an affiliate link which I will share, and I would appreciate you purchasing it that way. But I come at this from the position of not  endorsing things I’m not familiar with. But I know there are products out there that are a great fit for some of you. 

So let’s get started! Meagan, tell us about yourself and your background. 

Meagan Hernandez: Thank you so much for having me on. It’s been a pleasure. I’ve really enjoyed being in your group and interacting with all of your group members. It’s been a lot of fun. 

A little bit about me, my name is Meagan Hernandez. I am from Mississippi originally and my background is accounting. I did go to school for accounting. I have an accounting degree. I spent about 10 years in the industry in the private sector doing some tax, financial management, but for private companies like franchises, smaller companies and things like that.

I ended up starting my company last year at the end of April. I just wanted a way to stay home with my son. It’s the same story a lot of moms have I’m sure. I had my son last January 2018, and I just couldn’t bear to be away from him. But I loved accounting and bookkeeping and I wanted to hold onto that. I was able to start my own company from home. I took the advice of some people starting out as a virtual assistant and got a little bit of the background working virtually from that. Then I was able to take my previous knowledge and experience to implement my tax, accounting, and bookkeeping knowledge and start my business.

I started out as an accounting firm last year. Then I developed this training in January of 2019. 

Kate:  Okay. Just to get the timing clear, we’re recording this in December of 2019. So you started your practice in 2018 after your son was born. So you had a year under your belt before you realized you can now teach people to do what you’ve proven.

Meagan Hernandez:  Right. 

Kate:  Okay. Well tell us more about what motivated you to create the course. You could’ve just kept growing your practice, and I’m sure you’re still working on that some, but what made you pivot to creating this course?

Meagan Hernandez:  Yeah. If you go to my sales page you’ll see it’s divided. It’s the same course but it’s divided into one focus for entrepreneurs to do it themselves and another focus for bookkeepers. But the reason it’s divided is because it started out as a course for entrepreneurs. When I got out into the marketplace I ran into a lot of freelancers and people just starting out in their business who didn’t necessarily have the funds to hire a bookkeeper monthly, but they desperately needed help getting their finances in order for growth and tax purposes. So naturally I wanted to help them, and along the way I realized I could monetize that and turn it into a training to teach them how to do it. 

So in January I started teaching entrepreneurs how to run their own finances. How to take care of their own bookkeeping, preparing for tax season, and everything like that. As the months went on I started getting some attention from other bookkeepers that wanted to make it online as well as potential bookkeepers that were interested in doing this. I realized that my training for entrepreneurs was applicable to people wanting to learn how to offer bookkeeping as a service. So I just added onto it to teach them how to build their own practice, make it their own, and find clients on their own.

Kate:  That leads perfectly into my next question. Dive into what this course is about. You don’t have to talk about the entrepreneur one, but the bookkeeper course that this audience potentially would take. This audience is people who have an interest in building a bookkeeping business. What does your course provide that would help someone on that journey?

Meagan Hernandez:  From start to finish I set out teaching you how to set up your own business. A lot of people start freelancing and taking on clients without realizing that makes them a business and transforms them into a business owner. So I go through the different steps and options you have for different business entities, how to get started and things like that. And that not only helps you in your business, but it can also give you the skills to help guide your potential clients if they haven’t reached those steps either. 

And then I dive into an introduction of all the different accounting platforms that I work off. That’s where the four accounting platforms comes into play.

Kate:  Yeah, dive into that a little bit because I’m mind blown about that. Truthfully, I’ll tell you I’ve been trying to help people learn how to do this too and I recommend people who are just starting to focus on just one. So I don’t know if that’s part of your advice as well, if you introduce four but then say to deep dive into one. Tell me about the four because I’ve interviewed several people and I don’t know anyone who teaches four.

Meagan Hernandez: The four that I teach on are QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, and Wave. Most of all my clients are split about 50/50 between QuickBooks Online and Wave. But I do have some clients on QuickBooks Desktop. The main reason I even teach QuickBooks Desktop at all is to show you how you could still work with a client remotely if they’re on QuickBooks Desktop because a lot of times people think that is a game changer and they’re not going to be able to help them. But there are so many desktop options out there or ways to remote into their system. 

Now some people still go the old school route of saving backups and emailing them and stuff like that, but eventually it gets too big to share. So I try to show them the platform and the basic things it does. Obviously I don’t do a deep dive into QuickBooks Desktop. It is so robust that I don’t do that. But I do show them enough to get started and how they can work with a client remotely if they’re on that system. 

Same with Xero. I don’t do a deep dive in Xero. I’ve seen you mention that Xero is a platform that you are familiar with, I think.

Kate:  Well, I only have clients in QuickBooks Online. But I have a mission to let people know that QuickBooks Online is not the only thing that’s out there. Xero doesn’t pay me. I don’t get anything from them. I just want them to know you don’t have to go because that’s the name people have heard of. And a lot of people really do like Xero better. Anyway, so you do introduce Xero?

Meagan Hernandez:  I do introduce Xero. And one thing I like to point out is different industries will do better on different platforms. I’m sure you guide people that way too. Like you said, it’s not all QuickBooks all the way across the board. Obviously getting QuickBooks certified is helpful to you to get to know the platform better, but I don’t like for people to think that’s their only option or the only way to go. If you want to do bookkeeping and be this accounting professional in the field you need to expand your mindset. There are other things out there and you want to be able to guide your client to the best platform for them. That’s why I teach a little on Xero as well. Just the basic, basic stuff. But the bulk of the course focuses 50/50 on QuickBooks Online and Wave.  

All of the basic bookkeeping tasks that I go through, like I teach you how to do transaction coding, bank reconciliations, invoicing and things like that I teach you in Wave and QuickBooks one right after another.

Kate:  Interesting. So you teach the four platforms, then how does the course go from there?

Meagan Hernandez:  After the four platforms we go into the bookkeeping stuff. The transaction coding, bank reconciliations, some of the specific tasks. I call that the basic bookkeeping framework. Then I move on to my advanced accounting section. That’s where I teach more so on concepts and thinking outside the box. We go through cash flow management, why that’s important for some businesses and how sometimes it won’t even come into play. If a business does not struggle financially when you do their accounts payable then it’s just as simple as writing a check whenever you have the time. But if they have cash flow management issues then it turns into a whole different game. So we go through that. We  talk about budgeting. We talk about setting up a budget for the client. How you can teach them to use that budget to do the financial planning and some off those next steps.

Because I feel even if they don’t necessarily offer that as a service to their client, them having that knowledge will make them more valuable. Especially when their client reaches that level. Because some of them aren’t there yet, but they’ll get there.

Kate:  I want to go back. You said you had a section on advanced accounting concepts. Do you have a section on beginning accounting concepts like assets equals liability plus equity. Would someone who has never cracked a textbook or had a single accounting course, or even read Investopedia, would they know how to take your course? Or is it better for someone like you who already has an accounting background who just wants to transition to being an entrepreneur in this field?

Meagan Hernandez:  I do touch on that actually in the bookkeeping section. I teach doing manual journal entries and how you figure out how you’re even going to do them, what goes into them. That’s where I touch on that part. As far as how I named the sections, the basic bookkeeping does cover accounting 101 stuff too. And then the advanced accounting is more like those advanced concepts.

Kate:  Do you find most of your students so far coming to you with some sort of  accounting background? Or you have a hair stylist in there and a vet tech in there? What’s your student profile?

Meagan Hernandez:  I have people from both. Not that specific background, but one example is someone who came from financial aid background. She lay had the spreadsheets and math background, but she had never done anything bookkeeping or accounting related. Maybe her background helped her a little bit more in that area. She’s one of my best examples of someone who went from knowing absolutely nothing to now she’s killing it getting her own clients in some of these more advanced areas as well, not just the basic bookkeeping. And she’s gained the confidence that she can learn it as well.

And that’s part of it with any of us in any of our courses, if we get to the level where we know we can learn something that maybe we don’t already know but we know we are capable of continuing down that educational path to keep growing.

Kate:  Yeah. I have had accounting classes too. I wasn’t an accountant before doing this. I don’t get out textbooks anymore, but I get out the 2019 equivalent. I’m googling how a specific equation will work, or draw my T-charts to see how stuff would flow. You definitely have to keep learning. 

Okay. So you got us through the advanced accounting concepts of your course, is that where the course stops? 

Meagan Hernandez:  No. I also include a tax section. I don’t think it’s complicated. I’ve been able to break it down into a very understandable section. The reason I say this is I’ve been able to teach the entrepreneurs that aren’t even interested in doing bookkeeping for anyone else these concepts to do their own taxes. That’s why I feel that I’ve gotten it down to a level that’s understandable and easy to apply to their own personal situation and numbers. That’s my favorite section of the whole thing. 

Kate:  Yeah, I would say that’s pretty unique too. My bookkeeping Business Launch had a whole separate course offering that we had to take called Tax Business Launch. I would say that’s a pretty  valuable module that you offer. Anything more you want to say about that? 

Meagan Hernandez:  I’ll tell you the reason I added that in the first place. Because I do have a background in accounting concepts, tax and things like that that goes back 10, 11 years that I started doing accounting. I didn’t start doing bookkeeping until about five years ago. I noticed right away when I was doing the bookkeeping that I was bringing in that knowledge, and that was what was helping me keep a better set of books for my employer. But then when I started my own practice and bookkeeping became the main thing I did I noticed it was almost vital that I had that knowledge. 

I’m just talking about some of the things as simple as what tax-deductible expenses are included. But also, how they rank. Different tax-deductible expenses have a different weight as far as how deductible they are. That’s something a lot of business owners, and maybe bookkeepers in general, don’t realize that advertising expenses and office supplies expenses have a different weight. That means advertising has a higher weight. It is going to get them a better tax situation. They’re going to have a less tax liability if the bulk of the items are in the advertising category.

The example I like to use for people is business cards. If you’re a bookkeeper and you see a transaction come through for business cards you may think it sounds like it might be an office supply but it could be an advertising expense. They may not realize that it makes a big difference which of those categories they put it in. If they put it in advertising expenses it’s actually deductible closer to 80% of costs. Whereas if they put it in office supplies it would be closer down to 60%. So just simple things like that. But we go through a lot of examples of what is counted in which category, which ones are higher weighted. And that’s where you can start to use tax strategy to get your client a better tax situation.

Kate:  So to be clear, this course is not going to teach someone how to launch into a tax practice. It’s just giving you some more robust knowledge to make you a better bookkeeper. Am I interpreting that correctly?

Meagan Hernandez:  Yes.

Kate:  So this is not the course to buy if you’re wanting to become a hardcore tax preparer where you grind through April and then do business taxes the rest of the year. This is not the course for that.

Meagan Hernandez:  Exactly. No, it’s not.

Kate:  Awesome. Anything else about the course? Do you do marketing? Do you help people who are scared? Any networking tips or first client onboarding?

Meagan Hernandez:  Yes. I actually share a lot of my own documents that I created. My onboarding questionnaire. I have a contract that I had vetted by an attorney that was actually a client of mine, so it was in her best interest to make sure that it was very well laid out. I share that. I share my proposal template. I share a ton of different documents. We have a home office tracker that is kind of like a bonus. There’s a whole bunch of PDFs and  downloadables in there.

But for the marketing aspect I have a whole module at the end that goes through how do you get out there, put yourself out there to get clients, and some of the strategies that I’ve used. I will brag for just a second that from January to now my firm has grown to over 50 clients. I have found 95% of them in Facebook groups. I have learned a really good strategy of how to stand out online and how to make myself seen in this ocean of bookkeepers and financial professionals. I’ve been able to figure out smof  those tricks. So I do teach that. But as well I have gone to in-person networking events and I have done the in-person route. I know a lot of people like to have that be their primary focus, so I do go through some tricks and advice there too.

Kate:  Are you using Facebook ads? Or are you just being valuable? That’s all free client acquisition.

Meagan Hernandez:  Yeah, it’s all free. Well, now I’ve gotten to the point where I do get referrals and things like that. And I do talk about that too, where you get to the point where you’ve made yourself seen. I worked with a business coach a while back, and an example she likes to use for some of her audience that I go into a group with a little bit of selfish motivation. I want to be seen, but I want to be helpful as well. It’s a mix of both. You want to go in and you want to  help others without expecting anything in return. But what that actually does is it makes you be seen as someone who is helpful and doesn’t expect anything in return. So it plays off of each other and I use a lot of examples. I have some challenges in there and I tell you to go out and try some different things that I’ve done and found to be successful. I like to think I’ve helped a lot of people in that area too.

I know one of my bookkeepers that have only been in my course for about a month and a half, she dove in and she went straight through all the modules and got to that section and she’s already found a client using some of those techniques that I’ve suggested. She was probably my quickest one to dive in and get everything done.

Kate:  Okay. Well, besides her, tell us who else is successful in your course, and also maybe who isn’t as successful. 

Meagan Hernandez:  Well, from what I’ve seen from people that have joined my course, the ones that are very motivated and really want to do the work and dive in. The ones that do a couple lessons a week. The ones that follow the challenges. The ones that attend our monthly free group coaching calls and ask questions. The ones that post questions in our private group. Those are the people seeing more results overall. 

I’ll be honest, I have had some people join that watch the intro video and they haven’t watched another video yet. I try to think of ways to keep them motivated and bring them back in. But I know that happens out there. So the ones that are seeing results are the ones diving in and doing the work.

Now as far as backgrounds, I have all different kinds. I will say a lot of people in my course have had an interest in bookkeeping for a while, they just didn’t know where to start or what route to take. So those are the ones I think are the most motivated and dive in because they’ve been searching, they just didn’t know the right steps. So as soon as they join they hit the ground running. And they have done very, very well. And they keep good communication with me. I like to think that I’m very present in the group and that idea answer questions, offer advice and things like that. So those people have done very well.

I will say something I’ve noticed, I have had people join from other countries and what I’ve told them when they asked how they can use this knowledge to help people outside of the U.S., they can definitely use the concepts and the ground work but I have no idea how taxes and business setup work in other countries. I can’t speak to that as well.  So no matter where you live, if your goal is to help people in the United States with their bookkeeping needs then this course can definitely help you. But if you live in another country and want to serve people there this might not be the best course for you.

Kate:  I like the honesty. Can you share a favorite student success story?

Meagan Hernandez:  Yes. I briefly mentioned earlier that I had one student that actually finished the course in a week. She dove in and got through module five. She was super motivated to get in there and do it. She was one of the ones who didn’t have a whole lot of previous experience, but she got a taste for it helping a friend do her bookkeeping. So she fell in love with it and knew that’s what she wanted to do. She just didn’t know where to turn. So when she found the course she dove in and went straight through the modules. She reached out in the group. She got on every single coaching call. She got on several potential calls. Sometimes it’s a numbers game so it’s good to talk to more potential clients. But she got that first client and she is just soaring. I can see her in different Facebook groups that I’m in, she is always making herself seen by me. I’m friends with a lot of people and I see a lot of people out there. I don’t particularly follow her but I see things that she posts and she’s just doing amazing. It’s been such a transformation getting that confidence to put herself out there and be seen she’s getting referrals already from people she’s helped. She’s building her practice, and it’s really exciting to watch.

Kate:  Wow. How much does your course cost?

Meagan Hernandez:  It is $347 until 11:59 PM on Thursday.

Kate:  Okay. Wow. I’ve got to make sure I get this video uploaded quickly then. What happens on Thursday?

Meagan Hernandez:  I am raising the price because I have added some additional content that I didn’t plan on originally. Some of it is pretty robust. So I definitely think my course is at a different price point now, but I definitely wanted to give everybody in this group an opportunity to join at  my original price point. I’ve really enjoyed meeting a lot of the people in your Facebook group and connecting and collaborating. People ask great questions in there. I can tell people are just wanting to serve clients in the best way and get out there. So I wanted to give people a chance at the lower price point before I raise it. But I’ve been able to add a lot more to it, so that’s why I’m raising it.

Kate:  Okay. How can people find out more about you? Obviously folks, if you’re listening to this and you do end up purchasing you can message me or search the Facebook group for the affiliate link for the actual purchase. But are you anywhere else online if people want to see you in action more? Are you a YouTuber? Are you a blogger? Can they find out more about you and your background before purchasing anywhere else? 

Meagan Hernandez:  Yeah. I have a Facebook group. It’s called Online Entrepreneur Connection. It actually has a mix of both audiences, so there are some potential clients in there as well. But I give business finance tips, tax tips. I would welcome anybody to join that group if you are interested in it. I do Lives in there as well. My Facebook business page has some reviews and testimonials. And I also have another website that has some reviews and testimonials as well if you wanted to check that out. I can provide you all the links to those things.

Kate:  Sure. I’m trying to figure out how we’ll get them on here. How about people tag you in the Facebook group if they are wanting those extra websites? Everyone, even if you are listening to this later, Meagan is in the Bookkeeping Side Hustle Facebook group so that might be the best way. We had some technical difficulties getting this as a Facebook Live so it might be hard to drop links. I don’t want us to slow down by getting this video uploaded. Chime in and ask for those locations if you want to keep learning more about Meagan before you purchase. 

So you’ve got my head spinning about this tax situation. I don’t know anything about taxes really. We do our own taxes. But I’m hoping to volunteer as a tax repairer this year because I know I need to get my head more in the tax game. I don’t know that I was even following everything you were saying about all this tax strategy and different deductibility and things like that. So I am thinking I have a big gap I need to fill.

Meagan Hernandez:  Yeah, it’s a great selling point when you’re talking to potentials too to tell them you have that tax strategy knowledge. Once you get some statistics and averages of how much money you’ve been able to save people just by doing their bookkeeping with that in mind it’s good. 

Kate:  Okay. I don’t have any more questions and we’re not live so I connect get any from the audience. But I have enjoyed talking with you. They for being flexible with the technical difficulties. It sounds like you’ve got a great program and you’re growing. I just have one more question, once you join you’re in for life? You have access to your group and all the new stuff you’re going to be adding?

Meagan Hernandez:  Yes. Now to be honest with you, I don’t know that I’ll offer that forever. But since I’m still in the first year of building everything I have the free group coaching that goes with it. I have the membership site that I will continuously add to as I continue to learn things or as I encounter things. The cash flow management, that was something I added after the fact because I had a client that had the issue with it. 

Yes, you have lifetime access to all  of those things and you would be grandfathered into the monthly group coaching if you join now. Probably starting in 2020 I will offer that as an add-on for anybody that joins later. But anybody that joins before the end of this year will be grandfathered into that for the life of the course.

Kate:  Okay. Well, I’m going to let you go. I’ve asked a lot of questions. I really appreciate talking with you. Thank you. I wish you luck as you build your business. Please keep commenting in our group and offering your advice and helping folks who are on their way. That’s the goal. 

Meagan Hernandez:  Yes, thank you so much for having me.

Kate: You’re welcome. Okay. Bye.

Meagan Hernandez:  Bye.