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There is more to starting a bookkeeping business than just being good at math . Even if you have no prior experience, you can still start a successful bookkeeping business. You don’t have to be a Certified Public Accountant or have any training before getting started. Getting the right training and setting up a profitable business from the onset is critical to your success when starting a bookkeeping business.
It’s an investment at $20/mo per client, but I feel like I am saving at least that much of my time by utilizing their system. If I run across a client that utilizes a bank that doesn’t work on Hubdoc, then I simply don’t put them on it. Hubdoc is all about saving me time and increasing my gross margins. There are a ton of Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, Slack groups, and more places for you to connect with other virtual bookkeepers like you.
But unless you’re sitting on months of cash and don’t really need clients yet, these methods don’t work. I think the economy will recover but it’ll definitely look different. And I think working online is only going to continue to trend up.
Get The Right Accounting Software
She is also the founder of Iconis Group, an Intuit Top 20 Firm of the Future, that supports small businesses all over the United States with their bookkeeping needs. She is a five-time recipient of the prestigious CPA Practice Advisor 40 Under 40 Award, given annually to just 40 people nationwide. If I have to handle accounts payable for a client, I utilize Bill.com. (Here’s a link to the App Demo we have for them.) I’ve been using them since almost the beginning. With Bill.com, I’m able to process my clients’ bills in the cloud and then give them the green light to pay their bills virtually.
Angie’s goal is sharing her passion for home business, personal finance, telecommuting, and entrepreneurship, and her work has been featured on Recruiter, FlexJobs and Business News Daily. “Xero” and “Beautiful business” are trademarks of Xero Limited. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.
I’ll probably start that this month since we are finally done with January. Gusto is decent bad I got a bad impression from them years ago because of their old setup and I still can’t seem to shake that feeling. Gusto seems to be the one everyone loves, but my guess is that OnPay will be taking a good share of their market soon enough.
What Are The Startup Costs To Start A Bookkeeping Business From Home?
If you find the right training program, you need not have any prior experience. You need to commit the time and energy required to start a successful bookkeeping business. The course will teach you all the steps to getting started and building a strong client base. Ben is a great teacher and he knows how to break down the content so that anyone can learn it. I actually got my first client before the class even ended.
You don’t need to be all that tech-savvy or spend a lot of money to achieve this either! Use a service like Wix or Squarespace to make nice-looking sites quickly, or have WordPress installed on her personal website domain. WordPress is pretty easy to learn, and comes with tons of clean, free layouts that you can tweak to work for your business.
Although you’ll hear about accounting software like Quickbooks and Sage the most, there are also a few programs designed for more niche uses. The former is primarily for sending invoices, along with the ability to track what clients owe you, whilst the latter also allows you to generate reports, estimates, and cash flow statements. At first glance, Xero seems cheaper overall than QuickBooks, but that’s because their cheapest plan is very limited. In reality, QuickBooks is cheaper for smaller businesses, and Xero is cheaper for larger businesses. Xero is another huge name in the world of accounting software.
Go National (or Global) As A Virtual Bookkeeper
I thought she had decided on someone else, but I followed up twice and hooked her. Give us an example of how you landed one of your first clients. The course is split into two-course tracks that are sent simultaneously week by week. So you learn about debits and credits, how to read financial reports – the works. You learn the steps you need to take to find a niche, create your business, set up a website, and market your business. I had no prior knowledge of bookkeeping, aside from transcribing my dad’s business receipts when I was a teenager and muddling my way through my books in my VA business. But to say that I had no understanding is an understatement.
An online bookkeeper can also work alongside a business’s accountant or tax preparer to get tax returns ready each year. It’s called virtual bookkeeping and it’s something that’s in high demand these days as more companies shift to remote work. You can definitely build a practice, but you get out what you put into it – and you have to do it strategically. You’ll want to reach out to your contacts to let them know you are in business, but it could take a while for a business to realize they need someone or that they need someone else. I’d say at least 3-6 months to start seeing your marketing to have continuous results. I took longer because it wasn’t a traditional route of just using social media (10 years ago!).
- That’s when I realized 99 percent of the information in our industry was worthless, so I decided to take a different route and blaze my own trail.
- If possible, plan to meet your clients at their office or virtually.
- It’s interesting to know that hiring another person to take care of the bookkeeping tasks can actually be cost-saving for businesses.
- Hubdoc automates the process of obtaining and downloading bank statements.
- Despite her initial nervousness about finding clients, this has not been a problem for Kelly.
It’s offered by theBookkeeper Launch team and it covers all the basics of how to get your online bookkeeping business up and running. Those are the three things I started my freelance writing business with. And they’re pretty much a must for starting any online business or side hustle these days. One thing to keep in mind is that running an online bookkeeping business or side hustle means you’re an independent contractor. It’s entirely possible that you could make even more money offering online bookkeeping services.
If you’re starting from scratch, $1,000 is not sufficient capital to start a bookkeeping business. I’m in the middle of training to become a bookkeeper and the course i signed up for is costing me nearly $2,000. After some research, I feel this course will give me the confidence and preparation I need to handle real clients when the time comes. The course also includes a QuickBooks certification course . You need to know what you’re doing because there are potential liability issues for the bookkeeper. The main things you will need to start a virtual bookkeeping business are a good computer and a high-speed internet connection. In addition, you will need accounting software such as Quickbooks Online to run your client’s books.
My private Facebook group is Build Your Best QBO Practice. My goal was to create a private community for bookkeepers to support each other and be free to create a QBO Bookkeeping Business that fits your personality and goals. It is an amazingly supportive group, but mine isn’t the only one out there. Just search for any of these platforms for the bookkeeping software that you use and find some communities that you can utilize for support when you need it. Here are a few other Facebook groups run by a few of my friends – USA Bookkeeping Community, Law Firm Accountants & Bookkeepers, and QuickBooks Online Wizards.
If you’re interested in bookkeeping specifically, I would look at what industries are going to be the most resilient once this all shakes out, economically speaking. But I think there are still going to be small businesses and medium businesses that need to and are willing to outsource bookkeeping to save themselves time and money.
