How to Start an Accounting Career: 5 Steps
There are many opportunities to work in a salaried position from home to gain on-the-job training. The Intuit Tax and Bookkeeping Talent Community is a great place to find remote bookkeeping jobs and access training material. You can also find remote jobs on job board websites such as Indeed.
Who are good candidates to become a bookkeeper?
One of the most beneficial things Bookkeeper Launch provides is their support system. They provide a Facebook community for students to interact, ask questions, and share feedback. If you’re feeling extra stuck, they also have an email support line to help you. Once you have a client or two, if you run into questions or issues, you can reach out to them for HOA Accounting additional support.
- With the right preparation and certifications like a QuickBooks certification course, you can build a rewarding career helping businesses manage their finances.
- Investing in these tools — and obtaining a QuickBooks certification online — gives you an edge in delivering top-tier service.
- You should also choose the right accounting software for your business.
- With smart planning, you can launch a professional virtual bookkeeping business without breaking the bank.
- Robinson advises his students not to try to sell themselves or even ask for referrals.
- Your chart of accounts should include accounts for assets, liabilities, equity, income, and expenses.
Set up your business
We can use bookkeeping software, spreadsheets, or even a good old-fashioned notebook to keep track of everything. If you’re good with software, have a knack for organization, and enjoy numbers and problem-solving, bookkeeping could be an excellent remote job for you. There are free resources all over the internet that can teach you everything you need to know. However, investing in a course will help you launch your business the right way, start earning faster, and avoid costly mistakes. That’s especially true for small businesses like freelancers and mom-and-pops. You might be wondering why a business would hire a remote bookkeeper with no experience.
Build accounting skills.
Many freelance bookkeepers operate as sole proprietors when getting started. Both are valid, but an LLC offers legal protection by separating personal and business assets. Sole proprietorships are easier to set up, but don’t provide liability protection. It’s best to consider your risk level and long-term goals, or consult a professional. You can also offer how to get started in bookkeeping payroll support or monthly financial summaries, depending on your experience and the client’s needs.
Bottom line: You can learn to become a bookkeeper in less than a year and launch a new career
One of the fastest ways to multiply your dollars is to simply buy low, and sell high. A couple friends of mine earn a full-time living as “flea market flippers” and put together this free training on how it works. You probably won’t be bringing in $70 an hour, especially to start, but many US-based VAs charge $20-40 an hour. My friend Abbey put together this free training on how to https://greenskiesanalytics.com/what-is-statutory-reporting/ get started. She also writes a bi-weekly Substack where she shares the ins and outs of her own bookkeeping business. That newsletter is monetized with affiliate partnerships and sponsorships, earning up to $1000 a week.
Business bank account
- Getting the word out about the services you offer is critical to attracting clients.
- You can look at freelance sites, such as Upwork, to see what others are charging for bookkeeping services, but you can also learn a lot by asking around.
- By using search engine optimization (SEO) best practices, you can generate blog posts and web content that use keyword phrases to boost your visibility in top search engines.
- You’re essentially training to become a virtual bookkeeper, which means you’ll be working remotely — most likely as a third-party service provider to businesses.
- Most remote QuickBooks Live bookkeepers work from home which means you need a reliable hard-wired internet connection and a landline phone.
Bank reconciliation can be one of the most tedious bookkeeping tasks, but Xero makes it simple. Once your bank is connected, Xero automatically matches your transactions to those recorded in your accounting system. All you have to do is confirm or edit the matches, saving you hours of manual reconciliation. As a service provider or a freelancer, you can earn more than the average full-time bookkeeper.
Tracking Expenses and Revenue
Many individual entrepreneurs also hire virtual bookkeepers to help them stay on top of their cash flow and prepare quarterly income tax payments. You can access these courses through the NACPB Education Pathway. These courses offer CPE credits and are for those who want to learn the skill of bookkeeping as well as professionals pursuing continuing education.
In addition, setting up a bookkeeping system is knowing how you’ll classify your expenses. If the IRS finds out that these types of businesses don’t have a separate account, this could mean the END of their business and grounds for termination by IRS standards. The next part of the bookkeeping cycle is determining the financial effects of the transactions.
One of the easiest ways to simplify your bookkeeping process is to automate recurring transactions. By setting up automated invoicing, bill payments, and payroll, you can save a lot of time. “This reduces manual entry errors and ensures timely transactions, which are crucial for cash flow management,” Schmied says. QuickBooks Live connects bookkeepers with small businesses that need help doing their books. A bookkeeping certificate can help you find a bookkeeping role, either as an in-house bookkeeper or as a freelancer. Bookkeeping lays the groundwork for many accounting processes, so you can use your experience and knowledge as a stepping stone to becoming an accountant.