Litebooks

Ready for Launch 8.9/10

Annual accounts software for accountants | $29/entity/year

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$29
/entity/year
$250K
Y1 Investment
80
Firms to Breakeven
$2.9M
Y2 ARR Target
Month 10
Breakeven

Strategic Philosophy: Accountant-First, Accountant-Only

The Xero Disruption Model

Xero used accountants as a beachhead to reach business owners. They made accounting "easy" enough that business owners questioned whether they needed accountants at all.

  • Accountant is the channel, not the customer
  • End-client sees the software directly
  • Accountant's value is commoditised
  • Efficiency gains go to the client (lower fees)

The Litebooks Empowerment Model

Litebooks makes accountants MORE valuable. It's their tool, not their replacement. End clients never see it.

  • Accountant IS the customer
  • End-client never touches the software
  • Accountant's expertise is preserved
  • Efficiency gains flow to accountant margin
Key Insight: We are not competing with Xero. We are building the opposite of Xero. This is a strategic bet on accountant empowerment in an era of automation anxiety.

The Problem We Solve

The Spreadsheet Trap

50% of entities managed by accountants don't need full accounting software. Trusts, holding companies, dormant entities — they have minimal transactions.

Yet accountants face a binary choice:

  • Xero: $192/year — overkill for 10 transactions
  • Spreadsheets: Free but chaotic — version control nightmares, no audit trail, staff handover disasters

The Pain Points

  • 1 "Which version is the right one?"
  • 2 Staff leave, institutional knowledge vanishes
  • 3 No audit trail for sign-offs
  • 4 Practice-wide visibility is impossible
  • 5 Paying $192/year for entities with 10 transactions

Target Market

Ideal Customer Profile

Firm size 2-15 staff
Entity volume 50-500 entities under management
Entity mix 30-70% low-activity (trusts, holdings, dormant)
Current tool Spreadsheets or over-paying for Xero
Geography New Zealand (Phase 1), Australia (Phase 2)

Market Sizing (NZ)

Accounting firms ~3,500
Target segment (2-15 staff) ~1,200 firms
Avg entities/firm ~150
Litebooks-eligible (50%) ~75 entities/firm
TAM (NZ only) $2.6M ARR

Lead Offer: The Risk-Free Pilot

Try It On 10 Entities. Risk Nothing. Decide With Data.

Recommended Lead Offer

"Run 10 entities through Litebooks this month — completely free. If you don't love it, you've lost nothing."

The Offer Stack

Core: 30-Day Full Trial — Unlimited entities, all features ($0)
Bonus 1: Pilot Onboarding Call — 30-minute setup with founder ($0)
Bonus 2: Day 14 Progress Check-In — Review call to answer questions ($0)
Bonus 3: Comparison Report — Time/effort vs current process ($0)
Bonus 4: Decision Call — Day 28 no-pressure discussion ($0)

Why This Offer Works

Dream Outcome Confident decision with real data
Likelihood Use YOUR entities, not demos
Time to Value First entity done in hours
Effort Required Guided onboarding
Risk Zero — no card, no auto-billing
The "Zero Risk" Promise:

No credit card required. No auto-billing. No sales pressure. If you don't continue, we delete your data and wish you well.

Pilot Capacity:

We can only support 10 new pilot firms per month to ensure quality onboarding. Book your pilot now.

Sales Process

1 Outreach
2 Discovery Call
3 Pilot Start
4 Day 14 Check-in
5 Decision Call
$ Convert
Outreach Targets

20/day email + LinkedIn, 100/week, targeting CA directory and Google Maps

Expected Conversion

10-15% response rate, 40% to pilot, 40% pilot to paid

Unit Economics

CAC ~$300/firm, LTV ~$4,350, LTV:CAC 14.5:1

Founder Bandwidth

The Binding Constraint

In Phase 1, the founder is both product lead and primary seller. This is intentional — founder-led sales generate market feedback that shapes the product. But it creates capacity limits.

Time Allocation (Month 1-3)

60% Product
40% Sales

Mitigations

  • Demo batching: Group demos into 2 days/week
  • Content batching: Create all emails/LinkedIn in weekly blocks
  • Sales hire trigger: If demos exceed 5/week, accelerate hire

Key Assumptions

50% of entities are Litebooks-eligible (validation: 10-firm survey)
Accountants will pay $29/entity (validation: pilot conversion)
Trial conversion ≥25% (industry benchmark)
Annual churn <10% (sticky workflow tool)
Referral rate ~25% of new customers (professional networks)
50%+ of pilots complete full workflow by Day 14

Key Risks

Accountant conservatism: Risk-free pilot mitigates
Seasonality: Avoid launches in March-April, July
BGL in Australia: Validate with 5 BGL-using firms pre-AU launch
Founder bandwidth: Early sales hire if volume exceeds capacity
Price sensitivity: $29 is low — value perception risk minimal

Validation Milestones

Milestone Target Timing Gate Decision
First pilot started 1 firm Week 2 —
First paid conversion 1 firm Month 2 —
10 paying firms 10 firms Month 4 —
Month 6 Gate Review 15 firms, 25% conversion, <10% churn Month 6 Approve RiskSense investment
50 paying firms 50 firms Month 9 —
Breakeven 80 firms (~6,000 entities) Month 10-12 Self-sustaining

Actions Required

Immediate

Complete 10-firm survey

Validate 50% entity estimate before launch

Immediate

Finalise sales playsheet

Equip sales team with day-by-day execution plan

Week 1

Secure 3 pilot commitments

LOIs or verbal confirmation from launch firms

Week 1

Build landing page

Risk-free pilot offer messaging, demo booking

Decision: Approve Litebooks GTM

Investment Request

  • Phase 1 (Month 1-6): $125,000
  • Phase 2 (Month 7-12): $125,000
  • Total Year 1: $250,000

Success Criteria (Month 6)

  • ≥15 paying firms
  • ≥25% trial conversion
  • <10% monthly churn
Management Recommendation: Approve