What is the monthly subscription fee for bookkeepers to access the platform?
Adjustable. We may start with an introductory price and go to full price after we have been in business for a while. We may increase with inflation. Therefore this needs to be configurable in the backend by admins.
How long is the free trial period (days)?
Configurable in the backend. My initial thought is 30 days but we need to be able to adjust.
What is the price per lead purchase in the MVP (exclusive model)?
This will depend on lead quality. A lead that has 1000000 in annual revenue is worth much more thana lead with 50000 in annual revenue. A lead that answered all of the questions completely is worth more than one that answered the name and email only.
For future shared/exclusive model: What are the proposed price points for each?
Again, configurable based on quality. This may be automated with an option to override. For example, a rule that says 10000 to 50000 in annual revenue is priced at 100 for shared and 250 for exclusive access but an admin can override this based on other info that may warrant a higher or lower price.
Should bookkeepers pay subscription + per-lead, or is the subscription just for platform access?
Subscription is for platform access but does not include any leads. It only includes access to the leads in the 'limited' version. They will need to pay for access to all of the lead info.
How will payments be processed? (Stripe, PayPal, other payment processor preference?)
My initial thought is stripe but I am open to others. I am also open to starting with stripe and adding optional processors in future versions.
Do you want subscription auto-renewal, or manual renewal?
Auto renewal
What happens when a bookkeeper's subscription expires? (Lose access immediately, grace period, etc.)
I hadn't thought of that. I'm thinking of immediate loss but we need to send increasingly frequent reminders as the exp date gets closer. Maybe a banner type warning when they are logged in as well.
Lead Management
When can a lead be "reactivated" after initial purchase? Who decides this - admin, business owner, or bookkeeper?
Lead can contact us and let us know the original bookkeeper did not work out. Alternatively, the bookkeeper can contact us to let us know it did not work out which would prompt an email to the business ownr asking if they would like to re-activate. The bookkeeper may be entitled to a partial or full refund depending on the circumstances but that can be manual for now. Actually all of this can be manual for now with a note saying to contact us with any problems.
How long does a bookkeeper have exclusive access to a purchased lead before it can be reactivated?
Whe they purchase the lead with exclusive access, they own the lead until/unless we hear from either party.
Should there be a limit on how many leads a single bookkeeper can purchase per month?
No. If they want to pay for a lead we will happily accept their money. If they are consistently purchasing leads and making business owners unhappy, we will address that manually with account suspension or deletion.
What happens to unpurchased leads? Do they expire after a certain time?
Probably not but mayba an automated process asking them if they want it to remain active. Maybe a weekly automation but let's save that for a future version. Addressing this can be on the roadmap.
Should leads be displayed in any particular order? (newest first, by location, by business size, etc.)
Initial view should be 'Newest First' with every heading being sortable.
User Roles & Permissions
Business Owners (Lead Submitters)
Do business owners need to create an account, or just submit a one-time form?
By submitting the form, they are creating an account. They can use the account to follow the progress (bookkeeper claimed their lead, maybe the bookkeeper(s) name and star rating (future implementation?) and other things like that). If they never log back in to their acct, they will still receive email updates regarding their submission so logging in is not a necessity.
Should business owners receive confirmation emails after submission?
Absolutely.
Can business owners edit/update their submission after submitting?
Yes.
Should business owners be able to see which bookkeeper purchased their lead?
Maybe. My initial thought is 'Yes' but I haven't thought through the potential consequences of that answer.
Do you want business owners to provide consent for their information to be shared?
I am a big privacy advocate. The info will be shared only with bookkeepers that purchase their info. However, that is still 'sharing' and even 'selling' their info so consent is probably a good idea and possibly even a requirement.
Bookkeepers
What is the registration/onboarding process for bookkeepers? (Email verification, profile creation, background check, admin approval?)
No background check (yet) but yes to all the others.
What information should bookkeepers provide during registration? (Business name, license number, service area, specializations, etc.)
There are no license requirements in most jurisdictions but all of their basic business info will be required. Name, contact info, specialties, optional services (payroll, cfo services, etc.), certifications, service area maybe?, etc.
Can bookkeepers have team members/sub-accounts under one subscription?
Excellent idea but lets add that to the roadmap. Not for the mvp.
Should bookkeepers have a profile page visible to admins or other users?
Yes. Just admins for now. I can see a use for profile pages with limited info where a business owner can click 'Connect with Bookkeeper' on their profile page and the bookkeeper would be notified that they can pay for the lead or something like that.
How should bookkeepers contact leads after purchase? (Direct contact info revealed, through platform messaging, etc.)
Direct contact. All info revealed to the bookkeeper in their account page. That becomes their info that they can do what they want with (within reason of course and that 'within reason' shuld probably be spelled out and agreed to in the terms of use.)
Admin
What admin capabilities do you need? (User management, lead management, payment oversight, analytics, etc.)
Yes. All of the above.
Should admins be able to manually create/edit/delete leads?
Yes.
Should admins be able to refund lead purchases or manage disputes?
Yes.
Do you need role-based admin access (super admin, support staff, etc.)?
Not yet. It's just me for now but it would be a good addition to the roadmap.
Lead Information & Form Fields
Limited Information (Preview - Visible Before Purchase)
What information should bookkeepers see BEFORE purchasing? Examples:
Business industry/type
Approximate location (city/state, not full address)
Yes. All of these are needed. We can add/modify this when we launch and see if other info is needed.
Full Information (Visible After Purchase)
What additional information is revealed AFTER purchase? Examples:
Business owner name
Email address
Phone number
Full business address
Detailed description of needs
Current accounting software used
Budget/pricing expectations
Yes. All of these are great for now.
Are there any custom fields specific to your target market?
Not yet.
Geographic & Service Area
Is this service limited to specific geographic regions? (US-only, specific states, international?)
We are launching nationwide (US) but our marketing will be focused locally in the beginning. Meaning, a bookkeeper in Utah can absolutely register and a business owner in Maryland can submit a lead but our initial marketing will be in the Chicago area.
Should leads be filtered by location for bookkeepers?
Yes but not yet. That will be a bit complex to implement in a useful way. If a bookkeeper sets their service area as 'nationwide' they can see all leads. If they set it as 'Knoxville, TN' with a 50 mile radius, that will require advances algorithms to filter. So, maybe manual filtering is better for now.
Do bookkeepers specify their service area during registration?
Yes but it may not be used very effectively so start out. See question 32 for the explanation of why that may be the case.
Should the platform support remote bookkeeping services, or only local matches?
Remote is fine as long as both parties are ok with that. The bookkeeper wil specify their service area and the lead (business owner) can specify whether they want local bookkeepers only with a checkbox on the lead form.
Technical & Infrastructure
Django Considerations
Do you have hosting preferences? (AWS, DigitalOcean, your current Docker infrastructure, etc.)
It will be docker. All testing will be done locally on my current desktop machine and my docker server. It will be deployed to a vps but it will still be docker so no changes will be needed for launch.
Should this integrate with your existing custom_services setup, or be standalone?
This is completely standalone.
Do you need multi-language support?
Not yet. However, a languages spoken option for bookkeepers and a preferred language option for leads could help to match leads with bookkeepers.
What are your expected user volumes? (Rough estimates: leads per day, total bookkeepers, etc.)
End of year 1 goal is 300 bookkeepers. My rough math tells me we need to sign up 1 bookkeeper per day on average to make that happen. Bookkeepers will probably want to see 1 or 2 leads per day in order to stay engaged but that is just a rough guess based on nothing but ideas rolling around in my head.
Features & Functionality
Do you need email notifications? For what events? (New lead posted, lead purchased, subscription expiring, etc.)
Yes but I haven't thought this through yet. Just make sure we have basic email functionality that we can improve as needed.
Do you want analytics/reporting? For whom? (Admin dashboard, bookkeeper performance stats, etc.)
Yes but not for mvp. Lets add that to the roadmap.
Should there be a messaging system between bookkeepers and business owners within the platform?
Not yet. We can add that later.
Do you need export functionality? (Export lead data, user lists, payment reports, etc.)
Not yet. Lets save this for later too.
Should bookkeepers be able to save/bookmark leads before purchasing?
Yes. That seems like a nice feature that would be easy to implement for the mvp.
Do you want a rating/review system (bookkeepers rating leads, business owners rating bookkeepers)?
Yes but lets save that for the roadmap.
Compliance & Legal
What terms of service/privacy policy considerations are needed?
Unknown right now. Use placeholder
Are there industry-specific compliance requirements? (Financial data handling, PCI compliance for payments, etc.)
Not for standard relationships. Possibly for medical or legal offices?
Should users agree to terms during registration/submission?
Yes.
Do you need GDPR compliance (if serving EU users) or other data privacy regulations?
No.
How long should lead data be retained? Should users be able to request data deletion?
They should absolutely be able to request deletion but I haven't thought through our retention policy yet.
Launch & MVP Scope
What is your target launch timeline?
ASAP
Are there any features mentioned that should be explicitly excluded from MVP and moved to future phases?
I've tried no make that clear in my answers.
Do you have design/branding assets ready (logo, color scheme, brand guidelines)?
None yet. Use placeholders. Use Bookkeeping Exchange for the business / directory name and bookkeeping-exchange.com for the domain wherever needed. This is not what we will actually use but it will make an easy find/replace target.
Will you handle content creation (landing page copy, email templates, help documentation)?
Use placeholder text.
Do you need the platform to be mobile-responsive, or are there specific mobile app requirements?
Yes. Must be mobile responsive. I don't understand the '...specific mobile app requirements?' part of the question though.
Future Considerations
For the shared/exclusive model in future versions: Should bookkeepers be notified when a lead becomes shared after exclusive period?
I don't know yet. Probably.
Any other features or integrations planned for future phases that should influence the initial architecture?
My answers throughout this document should help with this question.
Additional Context
What differentiates your platform from competitors? Any unique features or positioning?
We're better, lol. I don't have an answer for that yet. Use placeholder where needed.
What is the primary success metric for MVP? (Number of leads submitted, number of paid bookkeeper subscriptions, successful matches?)
Answered in a previous question.
Is there a referral or affiliate program planned?
Sure. Hadn't thought of that but yes. We will do that.
Should there be any gamification elements (leaderboards, badges for active bookkeepers, etc.)?
Not yet. Doesn't seem like it would fit with this business model but I may revisit this later.
