Many business owners can avoid disagreements if people take the time to set, comprehend, and adhere to the “scope of services.”  What is the scope of services?  The scope of services explains the requested services and the outcome or deliverable.  The Scope of Services is an essential part of the proposal, and the service agreement confirms both parties understand.  You cannot change this agreement without proper notice and a discussion.  If you do, you will be upset.

Depending on the type of contractor you hire, your expectations will be different.  Each type of contractor will deliver different services and possibly different products similar to retailers.  Learn more about the top 3 categories of contractors in this blog:  “What to Expect When Working with A Contractor.”

If you need someone to train you and share their professional knowledge with you, hire a professional contractor.  The deliverable here would be to apply their professional training and experience in this field.

A professional service provider applies our knowledge, experience, and skills to your benefit.

1. A professional fixes issues applied by non-professionals or inexperienced.
2. We build a correct plan for beneficial processes in certain fields like accounting.
3. We train you on the correct processes.
4. We give you a plan of action for continuing forward.
5. We help you update, maintain, and monitor the process.

Many people hire a professional accountant but don’t understand what we do, and often their expectations are not met.  Why?  Many people do not realize that accounting is more than bookkeeping. Many business owners also do not realize how to use accounting processes to create bookkeeping transactions. Most business professionals think professional accountants make things harder than they have to be so that we can earn money.  Yes, there are some people that will take your money and enter whatever the untrained business person what’s entered.  However, I will not do this because we have to follow procedures and compliance.  Combining our accounting knowledge with technical knowledge of how this works in your software is essential.

Most people hit an easy button by deleting steps or purchasing software without understanding accounting principles, and they think the software will work without this accounting knowledge.  Accounting does not have an easy button.  Using accounting software without accounting knowledge will create incorrect accounting processes and make your software reporting inaccurate.  People waste money jumping from software to software because they think the software is the problem.  Understanding the purpose of accounting software and seeking training from qualified accounting professionals with experience in your software will help you in the long run. A client needs accounting statements or bank reconciliations, we have to follow a procedure to create accurate information.  

Scope of service will list the services we need to perform to give you the delivery. Scope of services also is provided for product creators (manufacturers). A manufacturer is someone that creates their product and can be one person. A manufacturer normally buys parts or pieces that they do not create from other vendors to use them to create the products.  The pricing would include this deliverable, and when you try to add services, you will change your price.  I recommend being honest upfront about the history of your file and your level of understanding.  You will find that yes, the price is higher than you want to pay, but your file will be correct.  A correct file will benefit you in the future.

Scope of services is, therefore, a tool for documenting the services or products you will provide to the client.  The scope of services may or may not have a timeline.  Timelines are for employees and for internal practices for the business owner. If a client requests a timeline it is because they think you work for them instead of with them.  They want to control you.  You are welcome to decline this unreasonable request.  Therefore the scope of services could possibly give a date of delivery but it depends on your service or product.  Accounting requires participation from me and the client.  Normally clients that ignore my deadlines delay delivery.  The scope of services reminder will help keep this in perspective.