IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE TO START A THRIVING BOOKKEEPING BUSINESS WITH NO QUALIFICATIONS AND NO EXPERIENCE? FIND OUT HOW TO BECOME A BOOKKEEPER AND WORK FROM HOME.
Are you a spreadsheet whiz that loves spending all day highlighting cells in the most impressive colors?
Is your personal mission to convert everything you do into data and formulas?
If this is you, imagine having a job that lets you work from the comfort of your own home while playing with numbers all day. A job that gives you the freedom to work as much or as little as you want, whenever you want. Even if you have no experience and no qualification.
All you need are good computer skills, a passion for numbers and be ready to help business owners dealing with their most dreaded task: a box full of receipts.
What does a bookkeeper do every day?
Bookkeepers manage and track income and expenses for companies and small businesses. As a bookkeeper, you will be responsible for the recording of any type of financial transaction and for helping businesses to keep track of how much money comes in and goes out every month.
Your daily tasks could include:
- recording sales
- filing receipts
- reconciling expenses
- managing payroll
- managing bills payments
- producing financial reports for record-keeping purposes
After the recording of the transactions, an accountant will normally review the bookkeeper’s work, analyze the data and make the adjustments needed before submitting the accounts.
So, what is the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant?
The biggest difference between accounting and bookkeeping is that accounting involves interpreting and analyzing data and bookkeeping is all about recording transactions.
How much does a bookkeeper make?
Did you know that according to Entrepreneur Magazine, bookkeeping is the #1 most profitable business you can start from home?
As an entry-level bookkeeper, you can expect to earn anything between $18 to $23 per hour. Which means you could earn around $40,000 per year as a rookie.
But remember, this is how much you can normally make if you are employed by a company. If you work from home as a freelancer, according to QuickBooks, you can earn $69 to $82 per hour, once you gain experience.
This incredible earning potential is what makes bookkeeping a strong option to consider if you want to work part-time or full-time from home. Whether you want to make some extra money or want to build a virtual bookkeeping business without working too many hours, bookkeeping could be the perfect choice for you.
What qualifications do you need to become a bookkeeper?
Believe it or not, you actually don’t need any specific qualifications to start your bookkeeping business. And you definitely don’t need to be a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or have an accounting degree to start a profitable virtual bookkeeping business.
But if you want to become a bookkeeper you will need some very specific skills and qualities to help you to excel.
Check out the list below and if this sounds like you, you are guaranteed to succeed as a bookkeeper.
Bookkeeping skills you need:
- Basic computer skills: yep, nothing unusual here. These days you kind of need this skill for every job you decide to take on.
- Organized: if you are the kind of person that likes to color-code cells, and like me, you need everything to be in its own box, bookkeeping might just be perfect for you. You’ll be dealing with lots of numbers and documents daily. And being on top of everything is essential.
- Eagle-eye for details: you will be responsible for the recording of important financial information. The last thing you need to do is to enter the wrong number in the wrong cell. Clients want to know that they can absolutely trust you to manage their books and make zero mistakes. So if two numbers don’t add up, you need to be quick to spot that.
- Multi-tasker: if you are working as a virtual bookkeeper, you’ll probably work with more than one client. This means you’ll need to be able to quickly switch from one set of accounts to another in a matter of hours. You will also need to be able to prioritize the urgent tasks for each business you look after.
- Charming: ok, you don’t need to be the life of the party. You actually don’t have to go to the party at all, as you’ll be working from home. And most bookkeepers are genuine introverts. But you need to be somehow likable to be able to create good relationships with your clients, even if you just talk via emails.
- Determined: starting a bookkeeping business isn’t going to happen overnight. This is something you need to be prepared to work hard for. Bookkeeping takes time and effort. It can be extremely rewarding, like any business, but you can’t be lazy and procrastinate about the tasks you need to do if you want to be successful. Don’t give up at the first sign of struggle, or you’ll never make it.
One thing that could help you to get started the right way, is to get some bookkeeping training under your belt.
A great place to start is to check out Ben’s free training. Ben is a certified Entrepreneur who teaches others to become wealthy through is online course Mind Secret Exposed 2.0 Launch.
His course offers free training to help you to learn more about how you can start your own business and earn $60+ per hour by working with private clients. If you want to find out if it is for you, invest a tiny bit of your time and watch these useful videos.
How to start a bookkeeping business (with no experience) in 5 easy steps
Let’s get this straight: you don’t need to be special or have any exception trait to start your own bookkeeping business.
Most business owners are normal people, like me and you.
But this doesn’t mean that anyone can do it
Starting your own bookkeeping business is not a get rich quick scheme. It’s going to take time and effort and most people are not prepared to do that.
But, if you are willing to make a short term sacrifice and learn everything you need, then you can enjoy a lifetime of freedom, working when you want and on your own terms.
Ready to start a thriving career as a virtual bookkeeper?
1. Learn the skills you need with training
As I said before, you don’t need any special qualifications to start working as a bookkeeper.
But you still need to learn the basic skills needed for the job. Any new career will require an amount of training, and bookkeeping is no different.
There are 3 ways to learn the necessary skills:
Self-taught
Simply learn yourself as much as you can about bookkeeping and start looking for clients. This is the cheapest option, but it’s also the most difficult one because you won’t have anyone to guide you.
You can start by learning some accounting basics along with commonly used terms and tools in the industry. Get familiar with what income statements look like, how balance sheets can be read, along with how to create effective cash flow statements. This book is a great place to start.
Online courses
Online courses are an incredible way to learn new skills.
Think about it: I created this blog, just by investing in online courses and I now earn over 6-figure each year (and it took me less than 18 months to reach this level).
And you can do the same with bookkeeping courses.
Bookkeeper Launch, for example, is an incredible resource for new bookkeepers. Ben has trainer over 6,000 women and men to become entrepreneur and live their dream life working from home.
The course is broken up into three main parts:
- Skills: in part one, you’ll get an overview of the business and learn basic practices, how to perfect the skills you need, and how to monetize your skills.
- Systems: part two walks you through the process of running your business including understanding the technology you need, how to keep start-up costs low, and how to truly be successful.
- Clients: in part three, you’ll learn how to find the right clients for you and close sales so your business can succeed long-term.
If you are looking to take a more fast-track approach to learn the skills you need, I’d highly recommend checking out this course so you can start making money quickly with entrepreneurship.
Become a certified bookkeeper
This is by far the longest route to get trained, but you will also be able to use your certification to get more clients.
There are two top professional bookkeeper organizations that you can certify with:
- American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB) – To become AIPB-certified, you must pass the four-part national certification exam, plus you must meet the 3,000-hour work experience required.
- National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers (NACPB) – To earn certification through the NACPB, you must pass an exam and submit proof that you have earned an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.
You can also become certified through local or online college courses.
2. Set up your business
Once you’ve established your bookkeeping skills, it’s time to set up your business.
Easy!
All you need is a computer, internet, and bookkeeping software. Make sure you have a secure WiFi connection and secure systems in place to protect clients’ private financial data. Set up a website and list out your service packages. You can get creative when designing your services and really focus on what clients would need from you.
You will also need to decide which business structure to go for.
There are four common one:
- Sole proprietorship
- Partnership
- Limited liability company (LLC)
- Corporation
If you are a one-man (or one-woman) business, you are likely to need to choose between sole proprietor or LLC, but you should do your own research because what you need will depend on your circumstances.
The structure that you choose will determine your personal liability and your tax liability.
3. Land your first client: get experience
Once your online business is all set up, you are ready to land your first client.
And this is where you need to start working on your marketing skills.
Why? I can hear you ask.
Because if you don’t have clients, you don’t have a business. And with no business, you ain’t making any money!
So you want to quickly get to the point where you get one client. Because when you have just one client you become a real, legitimate bookkeeping business.
So that’s all you have to concentrate on. Just get your first client.
Develop a niche
Start by considering who your ideal client is. Do you want to work with businesses in a particular niche? Would you prefer to work with just one large client or have multiple smaller clients?
Also, think about whether you want to specialize in a particular service. Having a clear focus allows you to niche down even further and become an expert in a specific role. Whether you want to specialize in payroll or helping businesses prepare for quarterly taxes, you can likely charge clients more for your advanced expertise over time.
One thing with your niche: don’t overthink it. Especially when you are just starting out. At this point, your goal is to just land your first client. Once you’ve done that and developed some skills and experience, you can come back to your niche and refine it more.
Where Can I Find Remote Bookkeeping Jobs? The three very best ways to get your first client
The talker
Tell EVERYONE you know that you are starting a bookkeeping business. Just start talking to your friends, your family, and neighbors. You’ll be surprised by how many people are business owners who need help with their books.
You can also make a list of small businesses in your area including businesses owned by people you know. Reach out to them by pitching your services and offering a 30-day paid trial service period.
You don’t have to sell anything here. Just let them know that you are starting out and are looking for a gig. This could be enough to land your first real client.
Networking
This can be online, like through LinkedIn connections or Facebook groups, or it can be in-person, through your Chamber of Commerce or local meetups for small business owners. I understand you might not like going to meet-ups and talk to strangers. But this can be a small price to pay to change your life.
So get out of the house and start passing out your cards to see if anyone needs a bookkeeper.
Online job boards
Online job boards like FlexJobs and Upwork can be a good place to start to apply for remote bookkeeping jobs.
But remember: this is probably the less lucrative of the options, as you are not going to be able to set your own price and you’ll be competing with people that are probably prepared to be paid very little.
Still, it can be a place to start if you have zero experience.
4. Serve your first client as if your life depends on it
If you’re serious about growing a successful virtual bookkeeping business, be sure to go above and beyond with your first clients.
Even if you’re working on a trial basis, you want to deliver a high-quality service that will help clients reach their goals and save time by outsourcing the task to you.
This is also why it’s important to get clear on who you’re serving. While clients may want to interview you before hiring you, you should also interview them during the onboarding process. When you’re first getting started with a new client, take some time to meet and learn more about their goals and needs.
What are their pain points that you can help solve? What do they hope to gain from working with you? Knowing this can help everyone set clear expectations.
You’ll also know what to shoot for but don’t hesitate to go above and beyond expectations. See where you can fill in the gaps where other bookkeepers may not and offer a truly unique experience.
I’ve worked with freelancers in the past for different projects and it’s always best to work with someone who listens to directions, asks questions, meets deadlines, and communicates well.
Going above and beyond and operating a business with integrity can go a long way. You’ll set yourself apart from other business owners and gain long-term clients. Plus, you are more likely to get referrals from them and build a positive reputation.
5. Rinse and Repeat
Depending on your income goals, you are likely to need more than one client.
But now you know exactly what to do!
Determine what you want your daily and weekly schedule to look like in terms of availability. Continue to market your business and think about automating marketing by building an email list and scheduling social media posts. Asks your current clients for feedback, and let them know you are looking for more work. A recommendation from someone that likes you can go a long way.
Continue to tweak and improve your services and don’t be afraid to ask for feedback to clients to help you improve.
Get ready to start your bookkeeping business
Learning how to become a bookkeeper can help you to create the life you want. Where you’re in control of how much you earn, how much you work, and, most importantly, when you work.
If you are ready to invest in yourself:
- even if you’ve never done bookkeeping a day in your life
- even if you’ve never run your own business
- and you’ve never worked from home…
You can become your own boss and enjoy a lifestyle of freedom and flexibility.
How long does it take to become a bookkeeper?
It’s really up to how much you can dedicate to learn all the skills you need to begin your business.
The more effort you put into learning about bookkeeping and taking action, the sooner you will get results. If you are focused and can spend around 3-4 hours a day learning, you can get these skills in as little as three months with the right training.
The pros and cons of a bookkeeping business
Starting a virtual bookkeeping business comes with its pros and cons. It’s important to be mindful of the benefits and drawbacks of getting into this business early on so that you can go in with realistic expectations.
Pros
- Freedom: set your own hours and work from home, or anywhere
- Low start-up costs
- Earn a full-time income from home (gain more experience to earn over $60 per hour)
- Get started without a degree or certificate (although getting some training is recommended)
Cons
- Very little room for errors
- Need to take extra measures (and possibly invest in certain tools and systems) to make sure data is kept private and secure
- You may have to purchase specific software
- It could be a challenge to land your first client without much experience or any references.
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