I don’t want to make this hard for you, so if you need help, join thousands of side hustlers in my Hustling Life community getting weekly support, education, and exclusive resources via email. While the accountant’s main job is to analyze, review, and interpret financial data based on the information compiled by the bookkeeper. The company then uses the accountant’s recommendations for decision making. Just think about it, every organization is going need a bookkeeper at some point. That means there’s always someone out there who’s looking for bookkeeping services. Easy Doc Filing, LLC, and its employees, agents, and representatives, are not affiliated with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) or any other governmental or regulatory body or agency. Easy Doc Filing, LLC provides paid services to obtain Federal Tax Identification Numbers from the IRS.

After potential clients contact you, you’ll schedule a meeting for your initial consultation, aka discovery call. There’s a reason why I stopped most other marketing activities to focus on blogging as a primary strategy to find new clients after my first year of starting a cpa firm. Once you’ve been accepted into these social media groups, you’ll have access to the exact kind of new business clients you’re looking for. The next day, hop on to LinkedIn, sort through them, and connect with all business owners you met and send a personalized message. When you get clients, over and above the accounting work that you’ll be delivering to them, they’ll also need help throughout the year for ad hoc questions. Dealing with these ad hoc questions would form part of the support that you’ll be expected to provide. 3) They’re a great way to determine your baseline service level.

The Investment Needed To Start A Bookkeeping Business

Listening to your clients and understanding their unique needs will show you’re genuine and truly care about their financial future. Bookkeepers typically work a regular 40–hour work week although they may need to work extended hours during busy periods such as tax season or at the end of a fiscal year. Although bookkeepers are not responsible for filing a business’s taxes, they do often act as financial interpreters between companies and accountants.

Ask clients to leave testimonials for you on social media and include put testimonials on your website. Remember to connect everything to your accounting software to stay organized. A business credit card isn’t necessary, but it can be very useful. Having one that’s dedicated to business use only will help keep your personal and business finances separate. If you end up using your personal credit card for business expenses, get into the habit of reimbursing yourself. It may seem silly when you’re just a one-person business, but again, it will help if you ever have to prove to the IRS that you take your business seriously. It might sound intimidating, but a business plan doesn’t have to be complicated or even all that formal.

Market Your Services

LinkedIn offers online courses and access to expert-led tutorials for $19.99/month-following a 14-day free trial. Smaller businesses will probably be able to handle some of the daily finances on their own and hire a part-time bookkeeper to help organize/input receipts and track accounts receivable/payable. 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. As I mentioned, my virtual bookkeeping practice is supported by QuickBooks Online. Yes, you can support several different programs, but I decided to be an expert in one instead of a generalist in others.

• Building your knowledge and skills by working for an accounting or bookkeeping firm can prepare you to branch out on your own.
• Passion and drive can only take you so far; if they don’t put in enough hours or get burned out fast, it’s hard to keep up with all the work piling up around us.
• It is essential for paying taxes, hiring bookkeepers and other employees, and opening a business bank account.
• These need to be carefully scrutinized while deciding to set up the business structure.
• Small business bookkeepers are needed year-round to help businesses with their books.

This system is particularly useful for organizations with complex financial transactions and accounts payable and receivable. Since this business is an owner-operator kind of franchise, individuals interested in this type of investment must be active owner-operators. Our research has led us to the conclusion that the franchisees that have the most success in the accounting/bookkeeping industry are the ones that are working within the business. The accounting and bookkeeping franchise industry segments are growing every year. And they offer a very solid support system to their franchisees. Sure, you’re good with numbers or you wouldn’t be starting a bookkeeping service.

Get Certified

To determine your flat fee, simply take your hourly rate and multiply it by the number of hours you typically work per month. Offer advice about their business finances and show them how you can help keep things organized.

• Once you decide to go full-time, make sure you have funds to cover your expenses for at least three months.
• It is definitely beneficial to have prior experience working in a finance-related field so you can provide quality service to your clients.
• These are some things you can do to increase your chances of finding bookkeeping clients.
• Even if you work from home, you want to keep your home info separate from the business.

However, if you plan on providing all the bookkeeping services yourself, you can theoretically start your own business for next-to-nothing. The only costs you will need to initially endure include registration costs, business insurance, and other small expenses. A small business insurance policy can be purchased for as little as 50 dollars per month and registration is usually just a few hundred dollars. If you’re still seeking ways to launch your interior decorating firm and feel overwhelmed by the fear of failure, then don’t turn back.

Client Portal

Conduct online research to see where other similar fashion businesses and boutiques have started. This gives you a decent idea of where the good business sites are. For this reason, many businesses are looking into new ways to stay afloat by diversifying their product offerings and expanding their target audience.

Although a franchise might seem like a good idea on the surface, the need to fully investigate what you’re purchasing is critical. There is a better way to start your successful bookkeeping and tax practice than purchasing a franchise. A bookkeeper’s top responsibility is to keep a chronological list of related debits and credits of a business; which forms part of a ledger of accounts.

Step 3

Alternatively, you might also want to check out Melio Payments or Veem if you need a less advanced system for your clients. We’ve curated a list of best free software that every business owner must use.

• Starting your own bookkeeping business does require a set of skills beyond what you might think.
• Easy Doc Filing, LLC, and its employees, agents, and representatives, are not affiliated with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) or any other governmental or regulatory body or agency.
• While bookkeepers used to use a pen and paper to track transactions, many use computers now.
• The biggest reason is to prove to the IRS that you have a real business, not just a hobby (the IRS frowns on people who take business deductions but can’t prove that they’re running a real business).
• 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.

For added protection for your personal assets, you should look into business insurance based on your incorporation decisions. You should also protect personal finances with separate accounts for your business. You want to protect your business from possible legal issues in a financial career.

Who Should Start A Bookkeeping Business?

Many states have different taxation laws that will affect your bookkeeping business. It is critical to be knowledgeable about these rules to make informed judgments about setting up your business to be successful. Starting a bookkeeping business can be a fun and rewarding experience. However, there are a few things you need to know on how to start it. But with proper planning and preparation, it’s easy to get started and grow your business.

Collect business cards from every new business owner you meet. By this point, you have an official bookkeeping business with its own business bank account, registration, plans, and certifications. If you have already purchased the equipment you think you’ll need, that means you are finally ready to begin pursuing clients. Networking, advanced marketing, freelance platforms, and direct communication are just a few of the ways you might be able to get your “foot in the door” and land the first, important client. Even if your aspiring bookkeeping business currently has no assets and no employees, it will still be a good idea to create a separate business bank account. Taking the time to separate your personal and business expenses will help give you an additional layer of financial protection and also make it much easier to organize. A cash deposit account, such as those offered by NorthOne, will help improve your current financial performance.

How To Finish Your Bookkeeping Business Plan In 1 Day!

A bookkeeping business does not necessarily need to have many initial costs, especially if the owner will also be responsible for all of the bookkeeping. The simplest firms—especially in the digital age—can begin from a single computer. Over time, you can then scale your business into something much bigger. In this guide, we will discuss the most important things you need to know about starting your own bookkeeping bookkeeping business and how you can get started. Now that you understand what you need to do to run your virtual bookkeeping business, let’s take a look at some of the benefits. You most likely won’t need to worry about the more complex transactions and concepts, since those apply more to accountants. However, you will need to follow the basic guidelines laid out by GAAP if you plan on running your own bookkeeping business.

My husband and I decided that was how much we were going to put towards my virtual bookkeeping business. While that was the initial funding, we also considered how much less our household income would be without me working full-time at a traditional job. Luckily, we were able to provide a safety net for ourselves with a substantial emergency fund. Now that you understand the fundamental startup costs, let’s look at the steps you’ll need to take to launch your new bookkeeping business. There are tons of bookkeeping and accounting software tools available.

Programs

PT is also the founder and CEO of the personal finance industry conference and trade show, FinCon. Learn more and get started with Bookkeeper Business Launch here. The course layout and navigation are not intuitive so it takes some time to get the hang of it.

You can make that a reality by starting a bookkeeping business or franchise. You need to remember you’ll be on your own as far a liability goes when you run your own bookkeeping business.