Boundaries Clients Respect: Dawn Brolin’s Direct Framework for Protecting Your Accounting Firm, Time, and Sanity

For accountants and bookkeepers, boundaries are the framework that protects your expertise, your calendar, your team, and your well-being. In her WorkflowCon session, Dawn Brolin delivered a candid, energetic masterclass on setting and enforcing boundaries that clients actually respect.

Why Boundaries Matter and Why Firm Owners Struggle to Keep Them

Dawn wasted no time naming the core issue: accountants are often “bookkeeping doormats.” Clients text at night, scope creep runs wild, emergencies become your emergencies, and firm owners absorb the chaos. Dawn admitted she learned this lesson the hard way.

“I’ve had clients walk all over me. I’ve had staff walk all over me. It took me a long time to realize how important boundaries are.”

Her philosophy is simple: stop building your business around exceptions.

“We live in the exceptions. We think about the rule, but then we focus on the exception. Stop doing that.”

Boundaries are not barriers but rules of engagement that protect your capacity, quality, and peace of mind.

Using Engagement Letters, Scope, and Communication Systems as Real Boundaries

For Dawn, the first and most practical place to build boundaries is the engagement letter. She sees it as the cornerstone of every client relationship:

“Whatever you’re doing in this profession should have an engagement letter that spells out the scope.”

It does not need to list every account number or reconcile every detail, but it must clearly define what is included and what is not. That clarity gives you the authority to stop work the moment a client pushes beyond the agreement.

“When they ask you to go to the bank or deal with tax issues, you stop. You say, ‘This wasn’t in the scope. That’s another $2,500 or whatever it needs to be.’”

Scope creep only happens when you allow it, and Dawn’s answer is to enforce the contract exactly as written.

But scope is only one half of the equation. Communication systems are the other. Dawn is unequivocal about channeling all client interactions into structured tools like Liscio and Financial Cents. “Texting me at night? No. Emailing documents? Absolutely not.” She warns clients that email is a security risk, plain and simple: “Emailing documents puts you at risk. It puts me at risk. And I cannot let that happen.”

To reinforce these rules, Dawn uses annual Loom videos that walk clients through expectations: communication tools, office hours, document delivery, and timelines. It is clear, consistent, and repeated every year so clients cannot claim confusion.

Handling Emergencies, Pricing for Crisis Work, and Reclaiming Firm Control

Every firm deals with “hair on fire” emergencies; clients who disappear for months and then resurface with urgent, last-minute problems. Dawn teaches that emergencies do not automatically become your responsibility.

“Sometimes the answer is: I don’t have the capacity. I know I bailed you out last time, but I can’t now.”

If she does choose to help, the price reflects the disruption: “It should’ve cost $3,500, but I charged $9,000. If I’m going to take your fire project, I better make a good amount of money on it.”

This is part of Dawn’s relationship-pricing model: year-round subscription clients get consistent access and support; non-subscribers do not get emergency privileges. In her experience, this one boundary dramatically reduces crisis-driven workload. She calls this mindset “taking back control of your firm.” When you decide how and when you help not the client, the chaos decreases and respect increases.

Protecting Time and Empowering a Team That Supports Your Boundaries

Time is one of the firm’s most valuable assets, and it must be controlled with intention. Dawn structures her calendar around focused work blocks and predictable client access, creating a rhythm that protects both her energy and the quality of her output. Mornings begin with workflow, not the inbox, so urgency does not hijack the day. During tax season, dedicated time blocks ensure uninterrupted production, while all client meetings are confined to specific windows later in the week. This structure eliminates ad-hoc scheduling and prevents the constant context switching that drains productivity.

Strong boundaries also require a team that reinforces them. Trust is built through clear systems: firm-owned communication channels, secure credential management, defined workflows, and written expectations.

Her virtual assistant operates as an extension of these systems, not a workaround to them. Finding the right support person takes time and patience, but once in place, the team becomes a critical line of defense, managing communication, guiding clients into the right processes, and ensuring work stays on track. With strong systems and a capable team, boundaries stop being rules to remember and become the natural way the firm operates.

Boundaries Build the Firm You Say You Want

A firm without boundaries eventually becomes a firm defined by interruptions, crises, and client demands that grow louder every year. Boundaries clarify expectations, eliminate guesswork, and shift the firm from reactive scrambling to intentional operations. They protect your time, sharpen your focus, and give your team a structure they can rely on. Most importantly, they teach clients how to engage with you respectfully and predictably.

When communication flows through the right channels, when scope is clearly defined, when calendars are structured, and when the team speaks with one unified voice, work stops feeling chaotic.

You need to start seeing boundaries as the conditions that allow great work, strong relationships, and a sustainable business to exist. They build the firm you say you want: one where clients value your expertise, your team operates confidently, and you finally have the space to lead instead of firefight.