How To Start A Virtual Bookkeeping Business

bookkeeping business

Perhaps small businesses , micro businesses , or sole proprietors. That means you can work with your clients in real time to go over their bookkeeping and highlight any queries with ease. Generally, you’ll charge either an hourly rate or a monthly fixed fee. You may even negotiate a retainer fee with some of your clients. Sage 300 CRE Most widely-used construction management software in the industry.

bookkeeping business

It’s also helpful to develop a contingency plan in case you’re unable to work for a period of time. Whether this is due to illness or a family matter, it’s incredibly helpful for your brand if you’re able to offer your clients a suitable alternative. Knowing where you eventually want to end up is helpful when you begin planning.

Accounting Software Certification

An accountant can be considered a bookkeeper, but a bookkeeper can’t be an accountant without proper certification. Here’s what you need to know about these two roles to determine which one your business needs. You’ll find all the resources you need to get started, free, through the Xero bookkeeping partner program. Setting up a bookkeeping business as a sole practitioner can be a little isolating. Maybe you’ll focus on serving a niche like real estate or construction? By positioning yourself as a specialist, you’ll be able to target your marketing and talk specifically to one audience.

Learn all about business accounting with our free ultimate guide. If you choose to used double-entry bookkeeping—and we strongly suggest you do! We’ll show you examples of how to record a transaction as both a credit and debit later on. Proper bookkeeping ensures you’re always on top of your business’s finances, which enables you to make wise financial choices that can help you grow your business. Using imagery in your bookkeeping business name can complement a logo that would otherwise not make sense. It only takes 0.05 seconds for people to form an opinion about your website. Because your business name is one of the first things online visitors see, having a good business name is a deciding factor in gaining clients — especially through the digital route.

Dont Choose A Name Thats Too General

Today, I believe most new clients like a subscription model where they pay one fixed monthly price in return for a total solution. With this interaction, you have uncovered a pain point, which then increases the value of what you’re offering making it easier to get clients. Here we are just understanding the small business itself which is a critical step to get clients. 2) To get clients, write a well-optimized blog that increases your chances of appearing on the first page of Google. For example, if you’re on the first page of Google for the above keyword, you’ll get 1000’s of hits to this single blog post each year. In this example, I am assuming that you’re looking for small business clients in Miami.

  • To help you with the clients you’re bringing in, because you feel like no one can do the work as well as you can.
  • Either way, you will need a desk, chair, computer, a printer/scanner/copier, your software, a telephone and Internet access if you choose an online accounting program.
  • And for a limited time, this member resource is open to everyone.
  • All these are the collection of the important information a bookkeeping business plan must contain.
  • Emphasizing your niche market in your business name — like Legal Ease Bookkeeping does — connects you with the right clients.
  • Accountants will either quote a client a fixed price for a specific service or charge a general hourly rate.
  • Karbon ain’t cheap, but it’s certainly slick and very popular with certified public accounting firms & bookkeeping teams.

A major part of registering your business and opening up shop is choosing a business entity. This will govern how you pay taxes as a small-business owner, but also what kind of liability protection you have in case something goes wrong and how you’ll structure your business. A big part of connecting with other bookkeepers will likely revolve around online forums and communities.

Consider Getting Certified In Bookkeeping

This is a trend that is completely changing how bookkeepers and accountants do business, so you must understand how it works since it will have a direct impact on your business. So, if you are a new company, you should focus on micro-businesses . The turnover is not that important, it is the number of transactions and the nature of those transactions that matter. Management of financial statements takes more than just calculating numbers, managing books, or keeping books. It requires core knowledge of finance, accounting, and taxation. So my answer to if a bookkeeper is an accountant or not is Yes and also a No.

  • The bad thing about Google and Facebook ads is that they can be super expensive and the traffic you get may not be the traffic that you want.
  • All files are stored in the cloud, so there is no backup required.
  • Registering your business and/or business name is an important step.
  • Again, it’s going to be because you’re guessing everything so you’ll be quite disappointed that you didn’t hit the targets you set out previously.
  • To learn more about the ins and outs of setting up your own business, check out our small business guide on how to start a business and our guide on starting a bookkeeping business.
  • Fortunately, the startup costs for a bookkeeping business are fairly low, especially if you work from home.

If you don’t have them already, you’ll need to have a solid grasp of bookkeeping principles. Fortunately, there are several ways you can learn, both online and in person. The cost per credit hour is generally much lower than a traditional four-year college, and you can attend full-time or part-time, depending on your schedule.

Starting A Bookkeeping Business

This helps your bookkeeper catch more deductions, and will make your life easier if you get audited. Double-entry is more complex, but also more robust, and more suitable for established businesses that are past the hobby stage. The more information you can give your CPA at tax time, the more deductions you’ll be able to legitimately claim, and the bigger your tax return will be. You’ll save time and money and be able to focus on what your business really does best.

We will then go through a bookkeeping business plan step-by-step so you can create your plan today. The Sorcerer’s Accountant will focus on the “very small business” target group for its bookkeeping services as this group can make the most consistent use of part-time bookkeepers. The type of student bookkeepers whom these businesses would hire are generally students of the same kind.

So Debbie Did Something Most Business Owners Only Dream Of Doing

Marketing is one of the most difficult things for accountants and bookkeepers to master. Whether this is your side gig or full-time business, you can get a website customized for your business with a company that offers specialized marketing services, like CPA Site Solutions. It will have one of their webmasters reach out to you for a quick 15-minute conversation before it goes on to create your website fitted with your logo, images, and content. After completing your business plan, you will have a good idea of what your estimated startup costs will be. In general, the startup costs for a bookkeeping business can be low if you work out of a home office as opposed to leasing office space, which we will discuss in the next section. The experts say that you should always have at least six months’ worth of expenses in the bank.

bookkeeping business

When you’re first starting out, you should keep your costs low by setting up a home office. If possible, plan to meet your clients at their office or virtually. I do not recommend that you invite clients to your home office unless you know them very well and you have a private room where you can work. Check out our tips to consider when creating your home office to learn bookkeeping more of the do’s and don’ts when setting up a home office. A business credit card can also be a great way to track your business expenses easily. Another tool that will make your life easier is practice management software. This software can help you organize and track the progress of client work and, in some cases, provide a portal to access your client’s books.

It also provides information to make general strategic decisions and a benchmark for its revenue and income goals. In short, once a business is up and running, spending extra time and money on maintaining proper records is critical.

bookkeeping business

Businesses that have more complex transactions use double-entry bookkeeping systems. Single-entry bookkeeping typically consists of a cash sales journal, a cash disbursement journal, and bank statements. Single-entry bookkeeping is used for companies that have few or uncomplicated transactions. The 2 main types of bookkeeping systems are the single-entry system and the double-entry system.

TAXMOM is one of the shortest company names mentioned on this list. But, it successfully reflects the family-run business brand that the company wants to promote. The name is easy to remember, looks good on social media, and immediately lets customers know the niche of the services provided. Using words like “bookkeeping” or “bookkeeper” isn’t always necessary. Plenty of successful bookkeepers use related terms like “accounting” or “payroll services” in their names to differentiate themselves while still being clear about what services they offer.

Strategy Plan

Additionally, bookkeepers must follow document retention standards. An audit can happen to any client, so in order to help auditors and the IRS, well-kept records and records kept for the allotted time period are critical during an inspection. Bookkeepers could be met with financial fines or lose their ability to provide services if they don’t follow retention standards. This is very inspirational right now, thank you for the information. I am currently working on starting a virtual office management service, specializing in bookkeeping. I was researching client intake forms for bookkeeping when I came across your site.

Send press releases to your local newspapers, radio and TV stations, especially at tax time. Give useful information that editors can put in stories about financial issues and they may call you for a quote. These tools enable you to manage workflows and get your business in order. They come free with some accounting software and are getting smarter all the time.