Should I fire a client that's 50% of my revenue? Losing my mind here

★★★ signal-strong r/smallbusiness · ↑ 622 · 💬 572 · 2025-10-17 · kw: hours every day · open on reddit ↗

Tool

none

Issue

Accounting consultant loses $5k/month revenue (50% of total) if firing disorganized client requiring 2am emergency work sessions, last-minute receipt submissions day-before deadlines, and weekend urgent messages, but cannot afford 50% income cut with only 4 months savings.

Cost

$5,000/month revenue at risk; 3 nights/month of unpaid overtime; 4 months emergency runway

Recommendation

Raise prices to $8k/month; set firm boundaries on deadline compliance and refuse to bend on missed submission deadlines (disputed—some suggest price increase, others suggest boundary-setting without firing)

extracted with

anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5 · 2026-05-08

Body

I run a small accounting consultancy. One client pays me $5k/month and has been with me for almost 2 years. They're literally almost half my revenue. The problem: they're a nightmare. Disorganized records, last-minute requests every week, constant "urgent" messages on weekends. They treat deadlines like suggestions. Last month I stayed up until 2am 3 nights in a row because they send me a box of receipts the day before their filing deadline. Everyone tells me to stop serving them. My partner says I'm miserable every Sunday night. My friends say no client is worth this stress. But here's the thing - $5k/month is $5k/month. That's half my income. If I fire them, I'd need to replace that with 2-3 smaller clients, and I barely have time to do sales because this client eats up all my time. So I'm stuck in this loop of keeping them = good income, constant stress, no time to grow or Fxxk them off = happy life, almost 50% revenue cut, risk of not replacing the revenue I have about 4 months savings. Part of me thinks "just rip the band-aid off" but then I panic about paying rent. Has anyone been in this situation? What did you do? I need to make a decision soon because I'm burning out fast. Happy but broke, or stressed but paid?

Top comments (4)

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[score=2137] George_Salt

Increase your price, charge them $8k/month.

[score=308] leonme21

Raise their prices to a level where it’s worthwhile

[score=257] resonatingcucumber

Set boundaries is the first step. No need to sack them off. Give them a deadline and state if it is missed you can not achieve their request. If they miss it, don't bend over backwards, let them fail. Their accounts are their legal responsibility not yours.