How Self-Employed Bookkeepers & Accountants Can Confidently Take Unplugged Vacations
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Taking an unplugged vacation sounds like a dream if you're a self-employed bookkeeping or accounting firm owner.
But what if it wasn't just a dream???
A survey by Xero uncovered that only 14% of U.S. small business owners could fully check out on vacation. Raise your hand if you’re part of the other 86% (see, you’re totally not alone)!
If you're anything like me, you work for yourself because you want freedom. I started my bookkeeping and tax firm so I could leave my bartending job and stop asking permission to take time off.
There were so many times I had to miss fun trips or family events because I was stuck at work! Finally, I was able to go out on my own and work around a schedule I created.
Now, I'm able to take off as much time as I want (or need) without worrying if I'll still have a business when I return! By setting up robust processes and creating a detailed plan, I can easily pop out whenever life happens and I need to step away.
I've taken a month off just for fun!
I've also taken some time when emergencies came up and I needed to handle life without worrying about work.
In this blog, we're going to discover:
WHY you need to prepare to take time off
HOW to prepare for any length of time you're out of office
Best practices for taking an unplugged vacation
3 Reasons Why You Should Take Unplugged Time Off From Your Firm
As a firm owner, it can be scary to consider taking a step away from your firm, even if it's for something fun! If you have a team, how do you know you can trust them to make decisions while you're gone? If you're working solo, how can you ensure that your clients will respect your autoresponder and leave you alone? What if a deadline slips through the cracks???
Trust me, I've felt that way before too!
If you've avoided taking time off because you're afraid of what might happen to your firm (or you know you'd have too much anxiety to enjoy yourself), here's three reasons to take time off anyway!
Freedom: Flex those self-employed muscles and give yourself the chance to take a relaxing vacation or just simply be prepared for when life happens and you need to take the day.
Mindset: You might not be able to imagine how successful taking time off could be until you actually DO IT. Once you realize its power, taking a leave of absence gets easier every time!
Refresh: It's completely normal to be obsessed with your firm (I'm the same way!), but you're on the fast track to Burnout City if you never give yourself the chance to step away and come back feeling recharged.
How to Prepare Yourself
The first step in preparing to take time off or a vacation is to prep yourself and create a strategic process. Think about how this leave of absence will look for you, for your team, and for your clients.
Create a Project in Asana
Set up a project in Asana specifically for your vacation or time off.
Pro tip: Create a template from this project so you can reuse it every time you take a leave of absence! If you don't want to make one for yourself, you can snag it and 30+ more done-for-you templates in Kickoff with Asana for Bookkeepers & Accountants!
This is a great place to keep track of all the tasks that you'll need to take care of before you take your leave AND anything that your team will need to do in your absence.
Create a Notion Page
Head over to Notion and create a page to house any important information about your time off outside of the tasks. This could include your flight itinerary, emergency contact info, guidelines for your team, and sooo much more!
Psst! If you're not familiar with Notion or the idea of building out a page like this sounds like a lot...we've got you! Breakthrough for Bookkeepers & Accountants has in-depth lessons and templates on how to use Notion to take time off and streamline your entire business!
Pull time tracking reports
Image credit: Clockify.me
Hop over to your Clockify app and run a report of your daily tasks. Scan the report for any tasks that you won't find in Asana. As a firm owner, you're always going to have tasks on your plate that don't necessarily belong in your project management system, but are still super important! Check your time reports for any of these tasks that you'll need to pass off or take care of before you unplug.
Create SOPs
Now that you know which tasks you'll need to delegate to your team members, it's time to double check your SOPs! If there's a task that doesn't have an SOP tied to it, you'll want to make sure you create one before you go so that the person taking care of that task has ALL the information they need to be successful!
Notify Your Clients
As a courtesy, shoot your clients an email letting them know that you'll be unavailable for a certain period of time. If possible, let them know a week or so before you leave so they can ask any questions beforehand. If you are leaving a team member in charge, provide your clients with the contact information for your designated team member!
How to Prepare Your Team
Next, you'll need to prep your team for what exactly they’ll need to do when you're out of office. Add them to the Asana project and your Notion page so everyone has access to the important information!
If you don't have a team, you'll need to create a plan for how to get all the major tasks done before you leave. Just focus on those tasks that have non-negotiable deadlines and rearrange any tasks that can wait for your return. Bonus points if you’re able to automate any parts of your process to save even more time!
Brief Your Team
Hold a team meeting (either with each individual or as a group) and lay out any important information. Break down what you expect from each team member so there's no confusion while you're gone!
Delegate Your Tasks
Now it's time to officially delegate your tasks to your team members and give them a chance to come to you with any questions before it's time for you to peace out!
Create an Emergency Plan
Choose one person on your team to be in charge during your time off. Let this person know which instances constitute an emergency and how they should contact you if something were to happen. I highly recommend only choosing ONE form of communication where you'll be available for contact in an emergency situation.
Take Your Unplugged and Guilt-Free Time Off
YAY! Now you can officially set that autoresponder, turn off your laptop, and focus on whatever reason you're taking a leave of absence. Don't waste your time off worrying about your firm! If you've done your prep work and built out a process, there's nothing to stress.
It may not be perfect the first time, but that's totally OK! Like I said, every time you take time off, you'll be able to iron out more kinks and make improvements.
In order to be super successful in confidently taking a vacation, I've got two more tasks for you:
Set boundaries with yourself! You've already set boundaries with your team and clients by letting them know you won't be available, but you've got to follow the rules too! Make sure you stay off of Slack, out of your work inbox, and only focus on personal stuff.
Delete your apps! Or, if you don't want to re-download them, you can just turn off or mute all notifications until you return. Remember to keep one line of communication open for your team member in charge to contact you, but everything else needs to go!
After Your Leave of Absence
When you return from your vacation or personal time off, set up a meeting with your team. Give them this opportunity to debrief you on anything that came up during your leave that wasn't an "emergency" but still needs to be addressed. This feedback is crucial to ensuring that the next time you take a leave, it's even more streamlined!
There you have it! It may seem like a lot of work up front to set up the processes and SOPs you'll need to confidently take time off as a firm owner - and it is!
The beauty of this is that once you actually set up and execute this process once, you can build on it each time to make it more streamlined.
Next thing you know, you'll be taking time off for retreats, long vacations, and anything that may come up when life happens and you just have to GO.
And you can do it without sacrificing your clients' experience or the quality of your work!
If you REALLY want to create efficient workflows for your firm, but you don't want to create them all from scratch, Kickoff with Asana for Bookkeepers & Accountants is for you! We hand over, over 30 done-for-you Asana workflow templates for you to import into your Asana (or other project management system) and start using right away!
Now, if you're an established firm owner, and you want to learn the ins and outs of creating deep internal systems for your holistic business...it's time to check out Breakthrough for Bookkeepers & Accountants! This high-touch group coaching program is the ultimate resource for firm owners who are ready to truly rise to the next level. We'll even show you how to take an extended leave of absence or remove yourself completely!
Both of these incredible programs were designed specifically for bookkeepers and accountants who want to be more organized firm owners. Over 1,000 students have already changed their lives with our courses and programs, will you be next?
