I run a small accounting practice. I recently rebranded, but I’ve operated full-time under my parent company for over 20 years.
Before that, I trained at several high-profile consulting firms where client engagement wasn’t just about delivering the service itself, it was about scope management, expectation-setting, communication, and boundaries.
I also mentor new bookkeepers and coach women entrepreneurs who provide professional services. And across every role I’ve held, one hurdle comes up over and over again:
Money mindset.
Not just your own money mindset.
The money mindsets of the people you serve.
Money is an extremely complex construct. It is shaped by life experiences, stress, culture, beliefs, trauma, fear, scarcity, entitlement, and dozens of invisible variables that show up in the way people behave around invoices, discounts, scope, fees, and value.
And here’s the truth most service-based entrepreneurs learn the hard way:
Never assume anyone sees, values, uses, manages, or understands money the way you do.
Not your clients.
Not your prospects.
Not even the people closest to you.
And no matter how much you explain your logic, your numbers, or your rationale, they’re still operating from their internal money model - not yours.
That’s why one of the first pieces of advice I give to anyone building a service business is simple:
Your job is not to change someone’s money mindset. Your job is to create a clear, mutually understood agreement that each party can honor. Nothing more, nothing less.
This principle alone can solve half the conflicts in service-based businesses. (And honestly, it would solve half the conflicts in people’s personal lives too.)
A few examples:
- Don’t assume that working “for free” now will lead to someone happily paying you later—unless that expectation is explicitly stated in writing.
- Don’t assume someone will value your “discount” or be more appreciative of you because you tried to lighten their burden.
- In fact, a discount usually teaches people exactly what price point to expect from you moving forward.
- And don’t assume your generosity will be interpreted as generosity. Many people interpret it as “normal.”
To illustrate this, I want to share a post I recently saw in a bookkeeping group. It was written by a new bookkeeper - someone who is clearly talented, committed, and eager to do right by their clients. Their situation is both painful and incredibly common.
Here’s what they wrote:
“So… I have a client that I am beginning to dread when she emails me or when I have to see her every week to exchange paperwork. She was my first client, and because I had limited experience, I actually worked about 40 hours over a course of a couple months for her for free cleaning up her books. I don’t regret this, as I learned a lot and feel I was paid in ‘knowledge.’
When I finally asked to start getting paid, as another courtesy, I undercut myself pretty significantly… and now I’m beginning to feel like she doesn’t value my services or my worth.
After working with her for 1 year at the low rate, I restructured my business into packages and presented it to her, and to soften the blow, I threw in extra services not regularly included. Trying to be VERY generous and kind, knowing how stressed she is.
Now, ever since I presented the new agreement (which doesn’t even start until December), she’s been snippy, overwhelmed, negative, and questioning my already-low pricing—even though she has $40k in the bank.
She’s asked me to stop sending monthly financials thinking that’ll eliminate the $200/mo fee. I’ve explained twice that the fee isn’t just for reports.
She signed the new engagement letter but is now questioning auto-payments because she doesn’t want me to incur credit card fees.”
When I say I could teach an entire nine-week series on client engagement from this one post, I’m not exaggerating.
There are at least six hard-earned lessons service providers need to pull from this:
Key Lessons Every Service-Based Entrepreneur Should Take From This Scenario
1. Free work establishes value permanently.
People rarely “upgrade” their perception of your worth voluntarily. They anchor to the first number you gave them - even if it was zero.
2. Undercharging attracts high-demand, high-stress clients.
People with the strongest scarcity fears often also require the most support. And they cling the hardest to discounts.
3. The longer you delay real pricing, the harder the adjustment becomes.
Twelve months of a low rate conditions a client to believe that is the true value.
4. Adding extra services to soften a price increase actually erodes boundaries.
It teaches the client that the new price still isn’t enough… because you padded it with extras.
5. Clear written agreements aren’t optional. They’re your protection.
This bookkeeper eventually used an engagement letter - but only after months of scope creep, unpaid work, and unclear expectations.
6. A client’s personal money story is not your business.
Whether they have $40k or $4 doesn’t matter. Their stress isn’t your responsibility. Your job is to deliver the service you agreed to - professionally, consistently, and within scope.
So what should the new bookkeeper do?
Honestly? The issue isn’t the client.
This is a boundary problem, not a personality problem.
And these patterns tend to follow you into your second, third, and fourth client until you fix them. That’s why I use posts like this as teaching tools for the bookkeepers and service-based entrepreneurs I mentor and coach.
Because once you understand money mindset differences… Once you accept that clients come with their own money stories… Once you stop taking their reactions personally…
You can finally set clean boundaries, enforce scope, and build a profitable service business without resentment.
Final Thought
In professional services, your success has far less to do with your technical skill and far more to do with how you navigate the money mindsets of the people you serve.
This is the real work.
And the earlier you learn it, the faster your business grows—and the healthier your client relationships become.
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