Sofia Bongard’s decision to franchise with BooXkeeping, a leading franchise network providing remote bookkeeping services, came after years inside the business. Long before she opened her location in East San Diego, she met founder Max Emma and worked for BooXkeeping’s corporate operation, where she got a clear view of how the company served clients and operated day to day. That early vantage point is what made her decision a practical one: go independent or franchise with the company she already knew.
Ironically, when Emma first raised the idea of franchising, Bongard wasn’t eager to sign on immediately. She said no, then sat with it. A few months later, she came back ready to move forward.
“It was like a seed in my mind,” Bongard said. “And then a few months later, I came to him. I said, ‘You know what? I’m ready. I’ll do this.’”
For Bongard, ownership was tied to control over time. She wanted the flexibility to meet client deadlines without having her life dictated by a fixed schedule. That desire also intersected with personal health concerns, which pushed her to rethink what she was willing to trade for work.
“I was done with people telling me what to do with my day. With accounting, as long as you meet the due dates for clients, it doesn’t really matter if you do it at 3 a.m. or 5 p.m.,” she said. “I had some personal health issues, and that was really the break point for me. Nothing is really worth putting your health at risk.”
That philosophy shows up in how she structures her weeks now. She builds her work around her family and her routines, then focuses on the windows when she needs to close out the month and review financials with clients. She describes the work as concentrated rather than constant, with heavier client touchpoints early in the month and more independent production work through the rest.
Bongard’s choice to franchise wasn’t about needing a new skill set. It was about the parts of business ownership she didn’t want to carry alone — especially marketing and visibility.
“I hate doing anything advertising and social media,” she said. “I’m not good at it.”
That’s where BooXkeeping’s presence became a deciding factor. Bongard says she hadn’t realized how often prospects research service providers before reaching out, but she saw quickly how an established brand changes that dynamic.
“People see you and they secretly Google you, and I didn’t know that,” Bongard said. “So it went from, ‘Hi, I’m Sofia Bongard — no one on the internet,’ to ‘This company has been there for years and they actually have some links to social media and stuff.’”
She also values the brand’s tone in sales conversations. Rather than pushing prospects, she describes an approach that aligns with how she prefers to work. “It’s very straightforward: ‘Hey, I do bookkeeping. You want it? Great. You don’t want it? OK, it’s fine,’” Bongard said. “There’s no desperation.”
Even with her background, Bongard says the early challenges of ownership weren’t technical accounting questions. They were business questions — pricing, setup and the administrative lift of launching. Fortunately, Emma was able to help her keep her perspective by reassuring her that the early scramble wouldn’t last and she’d soon find her footing.
“At the beginning, I had no clue how to price my services,” Bongard said. “I was just drowning with all the permits and everything that you had to do, but Max reassured me it was only temporary. ‘It’s fine,’ he told me. ‘I know you feel like you’re drowning, but you are on the boat with us.’”
Bongard acknowledges franchising comes with royalties, but she frames the cost as part of running any business — and one she’s willing to pay for brand presence and support. “It doesn’t bother me to pay royalties because the support they’re giving me and the presence they’re giving me — it’s the infrastructure I need,” Bongard said.
For Bongard, franchising with BooXkeeping ultimately offered what she was looking for: a familiar system, built-in visibility and room to run the business in a way that fits her life. “Me being in control of what I do or what I don’t do has made me very happy,” she said.
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/BooXkeeping.
BooXkeeping
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For Sofia Bongard, owning a BooXkeeping franchise meant gaining more than clients — it meant joining a community built on trust, structure and shared success.
Sofia Bongard’s decision to franchise with BooXkeeping, a leading franchise network providing remote bookkeeping services, came after years inside the business. Long before she opened her location in East San Diego, she met founder Max Emma and worked for BooXkeeping’s corporate operation, where she got a clear view of how the company served clients and operated day to day. That early vantage point is what made her decision a practical one: go independent or franchise with the company she already knew.
Ironically, when Emma first raised the idea of franchising, Bongard wasn’t eager to sign on immediately. She said no, then sat with it. A few months later, she came back ready to move forward.
“It was like a seed in my mind,” Bongard said. “And then a few months later, I came to him. I said, ‘You know what? I’m ready. I’ll do this.’”
For Bongard, ownership was tied to control over time. She wanted the flexibility to meet client deadlines without having her life dictated by a fixed schedule. That desire also intersected with personal health concerns, which pushed her to rethink what she was willing to trade for work.
“I was done with people telling me what to do with my day. With accounting, as long as you meet the due dates for clients, it doesn’t really matter if you do it at 3 a.m. or 5 p.m.,” she said. “I had some personal health issues, and that was really the break point for me. Nothing is really worth putting your health at risk.”
That philosophy shows up in how she structures her weeks now. She builds her work around her family and her routines, then focuses on the windows when she needs to close out the month and review financials with clients. She describes the work as concentrated rather than constant, with heavier client touchpoints early in the month and more independent production work through the rest.
Bongard’s choice to franchise wasn’t about needing a new skill set. It was about the parts of business ownership she didn’t want to carry alone — especially marketing and visibility.
“I hate doing anything advertising and social media,” she said. “I’m not good at it.”
That’s where BooXkeeping’s presence became a deciding factor. Bongard says she hadn’t realized how often prospects research service providers before reaching out, but she saw quickly how an established brand changes that dynamic.
“People see you and they secretly Google you, and I didn’t know that,” Bongard said. “So it went from, ‘Hi, I’m Sofia Bongard — no one on the internet,’ to ‘This company has been there for years and they actually have some links to social media and stuff.’”
She also values the brand’s tone in sales conversations. Rather than pushing prospects, she describes an approach that aligns with how she prefers to work. “It’s very straightforward: ‘Hey, I do bookkeeping. You want it? Great. You don’t want it? OK, it’s fine,’” Bongard said. “There’s no desperation.”
Even with her background, Bongard says the early challenges of ownership weren’t technical accounting questions. They were business questions — pricing, setup and the administrative lift of launching. Fortunately, Emma was able to help her keep her perspective by reassuring her that the early scramble wouldn’t last and she’d soon find her footing.
“At the beginning, I had no clue how to price my services,” Bongard said. “I was just drowning with all the permits and everything that you had to do, but Max reassured me it was only temporary. ‘It’s fine,’ he told me. ‘I know you feel like you’re drowning, but you are on the boat with us.’”
Bongard acknowledges franchising comes with royalties, but she frames the cost as part of running any business — and one she’s willing to pay for brand presence and support. “It doesn’t bother me to pay royalties because the support they’re giving me and the presence they’re giving me — it’s the infrastructure I need,” Bongard said.
For Bongard, franchising with BooXkeeping ultimately offered what she was looking for: a familiar system, built-in visibility and room to run the business in a way that fits her life. “Me being in control of what I do or what I don’t do has made me very happy,” she said.
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/BooXkeeping.
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