It is easy to use, affordable, and most importantly, protects you and your clients sensitive information. We put together the top solutions you need after working with thousands of bookkeeping firms. If you’ve followed the steps in previous sections, you already have this taken care of!

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 https://www.bookstime.com/blog/how-to-start-bookkeeping-business inspection. Bookkeepers could be met with financial fines or lose their ability to provide services if they don’t follow retention standards. If so, you’re in the right place to take your first steps as you go from idea to reality.

How Much Money Can Bookkeeping Businesses Really Make?

You will need to pay for some ads to reach more people, but you can post content from your website to funnel people back to your main marketing tool. While a specific certification isn’t necessary to set up a bookkeeping business, it can help validate your business and your qualifications to do the work of your business. Online education programs provide useful ways to train for bookkeeping jobs. A certificate or degree program can teach you how to use the needed tools and understand the process behind the things you’re required to do. The startup costs for a bookkeeping business are relatively low.

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. Easy Doc Filing, LLC does not verify EIN application submissions and is not responsible for the accuracy of the information provided. With the right marketing in place, the leads will come to you, not the other way around.

Register and Organize Your Bookkeeping Business

Bookkeeping is one of the most lucrative businesses to start right now! In this article, you will learn everything you need to know to start your own bookkeeping business. Ready to take the first steps to start your own bookkeeping business?

• A bookkeeping business does not necessarily need to have many initial costs, especially if the owner will also be responsible for all of the (initial) bookkeeping.
• It would be helpful to check with a trusted insurance agent to get recommendations, and also with the state to see if any type of insurance is required for your bookkeeping business.
• The more you specialize in a niche and are desired in that specific area, the more valuable you become and the more you can charge.
• Our platform makes financial management accessible and affordable.
• You can also use your business plan to organize your market research, define your target market, your marketing strategy, and how your business will generate regular cash flow.
• When you start a bookkeeping business, there are a few different approaches you can take.

Just make sure you have a plan to pay off the balance before the introductory offer ends and a variable APR sets in. If you’re just starting a bookkeeping business, it’s likely that you’ll just be working solo, at least for the beginning. Consider starting your search into business entities for bookkeepers by looking into sole proprietors and LLCs. The latter could be a great option if you might bring in some help down the line. Keep in mind, though, bookkeepers differ from accountants as they cannot file taxes or perform audits like certified public accountants. While they can receive certifications through training programs, they can also simply acquire on-the-job experience to establish their bookkeeping business.

Ways to Promote Your New Business

The nice thing about it is that you can set all tasks to repeat at a template level. Bookkeeping work and accounting work consist of repetitive tasks, so having repeating tasks are a great way to automate the creation of them. Today, I believe most new clients like a subscription model where they pay one fixed monthly price in return for a total solution. 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.

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. I was able to grow my public accounting firm quickly by hiring certified public accountants and professional bookkeepers thanks to many of the marketing strategies that worked well. In fact, using online, automated accounting technology was one of the keys to my success. Public accounting firms cannot provide a modern bookkeeping service without it.

Ready to Start a Bookkeeping Business?

You’ll need to check with your secretary of state’s office to get the exact guidelines for registering your business in your state. Again, you don’t have to come up with the perfect answer—it can change over time. However, find the UVP that feels right to you now and leverage it in all your marketing. Repetition of your UVP on your website, business cards, and all other marketing materials will help define your company’s identity to potential clients. A business credit card isn’t necessary, but it can be very useful.

• However, you will need to follow the basic guidelines laid out by GAAP if you plan on running your own bookkeeping business.
• The latter could be a great option if you might bring in some help down the line.
• If any issues arise, this will ensure any personal assets stay out of any legal problems.
• And it doesn’t take a significant investment to get your business off the ground.
• Bookkeepers need certification (which we’ll go over later) and a working knowledge of accounting software, best practices, laws, and, in some cases, the tax code.
• Many community colleges also offer programs designed to help you get formally certified.

You can use personal funds, but you don’t want to rely on this. Look into loans and other funding options to ensure you are sufficiently funded in order to cover the start-up costs. It isn’t hard to start a bookkeeping business if you’re good at handling finances and maintaining records.

What’s the average salary of a bookkeeper?

Impressive content will allow you to seek their attention, demonstrate your expertise, and make an initial connection between you and the prospect. Management of financial statements takes more than just calculating numbers, managing books, or keeping books. It requires core knowledge of finance, accounting, and taxation.

• Or will they just see another bookkeeping company that doesn’t stand out from the crowd.
• General liability insurance protects you against claims made by unhappy clients and your employees.
• To do this, set up a pricing table that breaks down your solutions in terms of what’s included.
• It’s about as safe an industry as you could find, and having a steady flow of clients means there’s a good chance of making a healthy profit.
• Karbon ain’t cheap, but it’s certainly slick and very popular with certified public accounting firms & bookkeeping teams.

This offering is attractive to clients so they don’t have to worry about keeping a subscription. Plus, as a bookkeeper, I get QuickBooks much cheaper for them than they would have otherwise. My ProAdvisor QuickBooks Online Plus subscription discount is $35 a month https://www.bookstime.com/ per client. So this bookkeeper who has eight clients would be spending $280 a month to hold their subscriptions. It’s important to understand what the differences are in clientele based on the size of their company and the number of accounts you are reconciling.

Set Up Your Software

The last thing to decide is if you are happy working with the hourly rate that the fixed rate will average out to. You can start earning early as a virtual bookkeeper and create multiple sources of income by partnering with various companies, individuals, and freelancers. The bad thing is that it can be super expensive and the traffic you get may not be the traffic that you want.

You can build your website yourself, but if you have the budget invest in a web designer and copywriter to help build it for you. You’ll also need to learn some basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices or hire someone to help you. A website isn’t a requirement, but it makes it easier for clients to find you and your contact information online.