Accounting Tips For You

5 Easy Steps to Starting Your Bookkeeping Business in 30 Days

Do you find yourself wishing that you had your own bookkeeping business and hating your current job? For years I was miserable working for bosses who never seemed to appreciate my valuable skills or pay me what I felt I was worth.

Then one day a light bulb went on after I met a self-employed bookkeeper who seemed so happy working from her home. I knew right then and there that’s what I wanted too!

If this describes you, then here are five easy steps to get you started in your own bookkeeping business.

1. First of all, get organized and setup your workspace. If you don’t already have an accounting program, buy one and install it on your computer. Setup a system for tracking client hours and filing client paperwork. Have a backup system in place for securing your client data.

2. Then phone around to other local bookkeepers and find out what they are charging per hour. Set your rates according to your experience level. You may have to start out at a lower rate to get clients and then raise your rates later.

3. Figure out what services you’ll offer and what types of businesses you’ll target. Will you be offering other services such as income tax returns, collection letter services or word processing? Also, decide what types of bookkeeping clients you prefer (retail, services, non-profit, etc.)

4. Advertise and tell everyone you know that you’re looking for clients. Start by running a weekly classified ad that briefly lists your services. Don’t by shy about talking to others about your bookkeeping business either. Almost everyone knows someone who owns a business. Ask people if they know someone who is looking for a bookkeeper. After all, word of mouth is the best way of getting clients.

5. Decide if you’ll ask for a retainer before taking on your first client. This is important because some people are very poor at paying their bills on time. If you request a retainer up front and only do work until the retainer is used up, you’ll never have to worry about getting paid on time.

All these steps will take less than 30 days to accomplish. I don’t promise that you’ll be a full-time self-employed bookkeeper in this amount of time because building a bookkeeping business does take time. But if you follow these steps you should easily have at least one client by the end of 30 days.

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