When Jane launched her bookkeeping practice, Digital Advisory Bookkeeping, back in March 2025, she knew she wanted to do things differently.
Jane wanted to keep things straightforward for herself and her clients, no endless back-and-forth, no unnecessary admin, and no confusing pricing and billing processes. Her goal was simple: to build a modern, transparent practice that felt professional yet personal.
Fast forward a few months and she’s done exactly that. What started small has already grown into a thriving business, one that runs smoothly, bills confidently, and gives clients complete clarity from day one.
We caught up with Jane to hear more about her experience building her service offerings and pricing from scratch, including billing and payments with the Xero and Adfin integrations, and how the software is fitting with her day-to-day processes.
Putting Clarity and Transparency First
Proposals are often the first impression a client has, and Jane wanted hers to be crystal clear.
Socket’s structured proposal system helped Jane develop her pricing strategy and present her services clearly.
“Socket is great for clients because they get a clear ‘menu’ showing exactly what they’re paying for. Everything is broken down per service, which improves transparency. The Proposal Options feature also helps clients understand which services I recommend, but they can still choose differently if they prefer.”
Jane shared that making her clients feel informed and confident in their decisions meant she could focus on guiding them through their options without the stress of explaining confusing fees.
Socket’s set-up also meant that Jane can move away from billing in arrears, to a more modern approach.
“I’ve previously worked in practice where the invoice is raised at the end of each assignment on 30 day terms, and in some cases the team would have to chase clients for overdue payments. As a small business owner, I can’t afford that kind of cashflow delay”
“I feel lucky because I started this from nothing, so I can do things the way I want. I raise my fees up front and charge a fixed monthly fee.”
“From the client’s point of view, I’ve set up my prices like a subscription model and that makes sense to them. I tell clients during our call that it’s similar to their Xero or Dext subscription, and they pay for the work for that month. I’ve found that very few people push back, because it’s clear and easy to understand.”
That clarity also removed friction from conversations about pricing. Clients instantly understood what they were getting and what they were paying for. For Jane, that meant easier pricing, secured cashflow, and more focus on delivering real value.
💡 Want to see how Socket could help you create clearer, more professional proposals? Start your 14 day free trial today.
Streamlined Billing and Peace of Mind
Jane praised Socket’s monthly billing functionality along with the Xero and Adfin integrations for helping improve cashflow. By raising invoices at the start of each month and automating collections through Adfin, her billing process became smooth and reliable.
“I’ve recently started using Adfin. It gives me great peace of mind knowing the invoices will all be sent out and the amounts due will be collected by Adfin. I know the money will be in my bank account later that week.”
Previously, billing in arrears meant chasing payments and spending time on tedious admin. Now, using Socket with the Adfin integration, Jane has peace of mind and has freed up her time to focus on clients and growing her business.
“The real game changer has been the lack of admin. I don’t have to chase anyone for payments or think about setting up standing orders or anything like that. It’s been brilliant.”
LoE Efficiency and Compliance in One Place
With proposals and engagement letters managed in the same system, Jane now has both initial client engagement and compliance in one professional, and structured, workflow.
“I really like the Socket Engage engagement letters. It’s great knowing there’s a dedicated bank of templates I can pull from. It even tells you which paragraphs to edit, which makes it really user-friendly. That lets me focus on ensuring the services I’m delivering are clearly included in the engagement letter without worrying about compliance.”
Jane has found that consolidating the engagement letters into the proposal process eliminates unnecessary manual admin.
“It’s also really useful that when clients sign a proposal, a copy of the engagement letter is automatically filed. It makes the jurisdictions and terms very clear.”
“I also have a few clients who purchase one-off services through a TidyCal link that takes payment at the time of booking. In those cases, I raise the invoice in Xero and send a standalone engagement letter in Socket.”
By keeping everything in one place, Jane has created a system that’s efficient, professional, and easy to maintain.
Getting Started, and Webinars That Add Value
As a brand new practice, Jane was starting from scratch and found the set-up took less than a day. Jane needed to refine her service’s pricing menu and build engagement letter templates to get started, but the payoff was immediate.
“The first proposal I created took me a few hours, not because the system was difficult, but because I was brand new to it and had to set up all my services and engagement letters from scratch. Since then, each one has been much quicker and smoother, and I can see it getting even better.”
Jane also credits Socket’s webinars for helping her discover strategies to structure her newly defined services and proposals.
“I really like how many webinars Socket puts on and how value-adding they are. They’re interesting, practical, and you actually take something away from them. They’re not just a sales pitch, they’re genuinely useful and bring in great speakers.”
“I watched Jonathan and Stuart Hurst's webinar about a month ago where they gave their pricing strategy tips. I thought that was brilliant.”
Support That Stands Out
One of the highlights of Jane’s experience has been the friendliness and responsiveness of the Socket team.
“Every interaction I’ve had with the team has been excellent. From my very first meeting with Emma, everyone’s been friendly, open, and understanding. I’ve also used the chat function a few times, usually on a Friday afternoon when I’m trying to get a proposal out, and everyone’s been so kind and quick to respond.”
Jane shared how much she values that support isn’t just reactive, and it’s a part of the product experience itself. When Jane had more specific questions, the team went above and beyond.
“When I had specific questions, not only did the team reply, but in one instance they actually wrote a new support article about it and sent me the link, saying, ‘Thanks, we hadn’t thought about this!’ That showed me Socket is actively listening and improving the product, which is great to see.”
Advocacy and Looking Ahead
Socket is now central to how Jane manages client relationships, and we were pleasantly surprised to hear that Jane is already sharing her experience with other bookkeepers.
“I’ve hosted a couple of bookkeeping event days where I actually told other bookkeepers about Socket as a proposal software because it’s worked so well for me.”
“When I’ve recommended Socket to another bookkeeper, I say it’s incredibly user-friendly. It keeps everything in one place and ensures consistency in pricing and client documentation. It also stores your engagement letters alongside your proposals and integrates with Xero, which is very handy.”
“It's worth looking at all of your pricing for your client-base now, and if you're thinking of starting on a proposal software like Socket, now is the time to do it.”
Ready to create clarity and confidence in your own practice?
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