“No thief, however skillful, can rob one of knowledge, and that is why knowledge is the best and safest treasure to acquire.” ―L. Frank Baum

What did you do on your summer vacation?  I spent my summer organizing a Bookkeeping Retreat for my Bookkeeping Buds community.  If you run a bookkeeping firm and are looking to connect with others to learn from and get support from then this may be the event for you.

I have a confession, I am a conference addict.    I love being around other like minded individuals who all understand what it is like to run a business.  By talking to others it helps me get reenergized in my business and look at things in a whole new light.

Since I saw how beneficial the conferences that I attend have been on my bookkeeping business since I began in 2007 I started talking with others to see why they don’t make it a priority.  The first answer I typically get is the cost. The cost of the conference ticket along with the travel and being out of work for a few days definitely does add up, but the value that you get from showing up is priceless.  After I dug a little deeper I found that the cost is typically not really the biggest issue. The issue really is finding the courage to try something new, the confidence to walk into a room of thousands of people, and the conviction to travel on your own.

Seeing how much the benefits outweigh the obstacles I created an event that makes it easy to attend by creating a boutique atmosphere at a competitive price.  The Bookkeeping Buds retreat isn’t like any other event out there for women who own a bookkeeping firm. We have brought together the best parts of the big conferences into a safe retreat where you can learn, network and leave inspired.  

The first day of the event revolves around health and wellness.  It includes sessions about you and ways to bring balance to your life.  We try to introduce new things that you may not have tried before and since the sessions are short, it isn’t scary.  This year there are sessions that include how to use journaling to help with decision making and stress reduction, breaking your mind set out of the normal routine with improvisational exercises and creating boundaries to add more time in your day.  We finish the first day off with an evening dinner reception to celebrate and get a chance to talk in a more informal setting. 

The second day is all business related sessions, where we bring in top name speakers in our industry to share their knowledge.  In past retreats, we have heard from legends like Leslie Shiner, Geni Whitehouse, Marine Stretch, Dawn Brolin, Karine Woodman and Misty Megia just to name a few.  This year is no exception, as we will be joined by some more amazing presenters who are leading the industry. Brittany Brown of LedgerGurus (@LedgerGurus) will discuss her journey going from a one person office to leading a large team.  Sharon Means of Redmond Accounting (@RedmondAccountg) will be presenting on how to use Zapier to be more efficient. Cathy Iconis of Iconis Group (@QBOChat) will be leading our first ever track for Employees of Buds members where they will learn tips and tricks about QuickBooks Online.  Cathy will also be presenting to our whole group on the benefits of using social media to grow your business. Finally all the speakers will be on a panel to talk about the apps that they love and use in their business. 

Meeting vendors and learning new apps are another part of why attending conferences are so important.  Again it gets a little overwhelming when there are so many to choose from. At the Buds Retreat we limit our onsite vendors so you are able to really hear what they have to offer your clients and build those relationships.  We are excited to have Intuit back for the 4th year, featuring Valerie Heckman who will discuss whats new in QuickBooks Online. New this year we also have Tracy Hansen from Bento for Business showing us how to control our business expenses.  There is also a raffle to raise money for the American Cancer Society, with prizes donated from generous vendors like ScanSnap, CPA Academy, and PauseBox.

The event is an intimate event with less than 50 attendees so that it is easy to quickly connect with new friends and build a community of support around you to tackle all the struggles that come along with running a business.  Attendees of our event come back year after year to reconnect in person with each other, continue to learn and leave inspired with new energy.  

This years event will be held September 23rd and 24th in Naperville IL, a suburb of Chicago.  If you would like to attend or are interested in learning more about future events, log on to www.BookkeepingBuds.com to sign up for our newsletter and get more information..