Why I Stopped Training Small Business Owners to DIY Their Bookkeeping

For years, I offered 1:1 coaching and training programs designed to help small business owners learn how to manage their own bookkeeping. The idea seemed empowering: teach entrepreneurs how to handle their financials so they could save money, stay informed, and take control. And while the intention was good, the reality looked very different.

Over time, I discovered that this model wasn’t serving my clients or my business, the way I wanted it to.  Here’s why I made the shift away from DIY bookkeeping coaching, training, and review services, and what I learned in the process:

1. Training + Reviewing = Time-Consuming & Inefficient

Teaching bookkeeping properly takes time. Reviewing the work afterward takes even more time. Cleaning up mistakes takes even more time.

While many small business owners learned the basics, very few had the bandwidth to maintain accurate, compliant, and complete books month after month. Because of that, I often found myself:

• Re-explaining how bookkeeping systems work

• Fixing recurring errors

• Untangling categorized transactions

• Rebuilding outdated or incomplete reports

By the time the books were cleaned and corrected, the “DIY savings” were gone and the process became frustrating for both sides.

2. DIY Bookkeeping Keeps Business Owners as the Bottleneck

Ironically, the very thing that was supposed to help entrepreneurs grow was actually holding them back.

Bookkeeping requires focus, time, organization, and consistency. For a CEO or small business owner wearing 10 other hats, it quickly becomes a burden. DIY bookkeeping creates symptoms such as:

• Delayed financial reporting

• Inability to make informed decisions

• Avoidance of financial tasks

• Anxiety around taxes

• Missed growth opportunities

Most importantly, it keeps the owner as the bottleneck in the business. Instead of delegating, building systems, and scaling, they end up spending nights and weekends reconciling accounts.

That’s not freedom, it's another job.

3. My Time Should Be Spent on Value, Not Just Tasks

I also realized something about my own business: when I was coaching, training, and reviewing books, I was trading hours for dollars. My expertise wasn’t being used to solve bigger problems; it was being used to teach people how to do a job they didn’t really want.

Bookkeeping is not just about categorizing expenses. Done well, it:

• Reduces stress

• Supports better decision-making

• Ensures compliance

• Improves profitability

• Makes tax season seamless

• Creates financial clarity

When I step in and take bookkeeping off a business owner’s plate entirely, I’m providing real value:

✔ less stress

✔ more freedom

✔ more accurate financials

✔ more time back with family, community, and the work they love

✔ better strategic outcomes

That’s worth far more than a training session.

The Shift: From DIY to Done-For-You

This year, instead of teaching business owners how to do their books, I focus on doing the books for them at a higher standard and with far greater impact.

Because the truth is this:

Most entrepreneurs didn’t start a business to become bookkeepers. They started a business to pursue a passion, serve a market, and make a difference.

By stepping out of the DIY bookkeeping model, I help them do exactly that.