Small-business accounting software provider FreshBooks has launched its Accounting Professionals Program, aimed at strengthening the relationship between accountants and the software vendor’s small-business customers.
The program is headed by Twyla Verhelst (pictured), a CPA who joined the Toronto-based company two months ago.
“As an accountant, I have experience in the accounting industry, with the modern accountants, how the role of the accountant has changed,” said Verhelst, whose background also includes co-founding a cash-flow app in 2018. “The program was designed to create a relationship between business owners and accountants using the software to provide more insight and value in the numbers, of how business owners are doing.”
The program was created for accountants who serve FreshBooks customers — small-business owners who use the software to manage their day-to-day bookkeeping. Accountants participating in the program will continue to advise these clients through the software, but with more focus on analysis and advisory services, leveraging the collaboration and best practices of the Accounting Professionals Program.
Specifically, program participants will receive commissions for recommending FreshBooks to clients; receive their own FreshBooks subscription at no charge; pass discounts on to clients; and have access to the program’s community with the potential for future client referrals.
According to Verhelts, the program aims to represent the modern and collaborative accountant, who provides as much business strategy coaching as financial analysis. This is especially critical in the time of the coronavirus pandemic, she added.
“The program was designed for accountants with a leading-edge use of technology, and in the services they offer — the type of modern accountant wanting to provide more value to small-business owners, in how to survive this — what to do in their business to survive this; what information is relevant based on the challenges on hand from COVID-19?”
The program is being launched with a three-part webinar series hosted by Verhelst, “The Future Is Collaborative,” starting Friday, June 12. More information on that series is available
