State of Play Survey Q1 2025

Business Demographics

• 65% of Bookkeepers operated as sole traders, while 17% worked as employees or contractors.
• 39% of respondents managed 1–5 clients, with 23% handling 11–25 clients.
• Almost 40% of businesses reported earning less than $5,000 last quarter, while 16% earned between $20,001 and $50,000.
• Finding new clients (54%) remained the biggest challenge, closely followed by technology adoption and regulatory changes.

Services Offered

• GST returns were the most commonly provided service (93%), followed by Accounts Payable/Receivable and End-of-Month Reporting (79% each).
• Just 16% of Bookkeepers added new services this quarter, with trends leaning towards software support, budgeting, and debt collection services.

Client Demographics

• 63% of Bookkeepers reported that their client base stayed the same, while 30% saw an increase.
  SMEs and sole traders made up the bulk of client bases (77%).

• Construction, retail, and accommodation sectors remained the most served industries.

• Cash flow struggles (65%) and rising operational costs (63%) were the top challenges facing clients.

Bookkeeping Employees/Contractors

• The majority of employees and contractors had less than five years’ experience in their current roles.
• While 56% found their workload very manageable, regulatory changes and maintaining work-life balance were noted as key challenges.

Professional Development

• Webinars (67%) and online courses (50%) were the most popular forms of professional development this quarter.
• 67% of Bookkeepers wanted to further develop their skills, especially in payroll, compliance, business growth, and AI technologies.