If you’re just starting out and want to keep costs low, a home office is a How to Start a Bookkeeping Business great option, especially if most of your work is done remotely. If you plan to meet clients in person or grow your team, leasing an office may help you present a more professional image and create a structured work environment. Providing virtual bookkeeping services for a particular type of business will certainly make your job easier. This is because they are likely to have the same types of expenses and financial recording requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
A virtual bookkeeping firm can’t rely on signs outside an office building to advertise itself. Have an expense log ready, and track expenses paid through personal accounts. Set up separate accounts for your business, just like you’d want your clients to do. For firms planning on holding virtual meetings with clients, you will want to invest in a Zoom Pro subscription to schedule longer meeting times with larger groups of attendees. The tricky aspect of this type of pricing is that it’s easy for the scope to expand. You need an engagement letter with your clients that clearly states any request outside the scope of your work comes at an additional cost.
How to Start and Succeed in a Virtual Bookkeeping Business
DocuClipper is trusted by over 10,000 professionals for accurate and quick data extraction from financial documents such as bank statements, invoices, receipts, purchase orders, and tax forms. Fast-growing startups benefit the most—especially when the volume of transactions begins to outpace your internal capacity. Instead of hiring and training multiple in-house bookkeepers, you can bring in a remote team that scales with your needs. Focusing on a particular industry, such as e-commerce, real estate, or non-profits, allows you to develop trial balance specialized expertise.
- A corporation is the most complicated business structure, but it also offers the strongest legal protection.
- All the information provided should be discussed with a professional prior to implementation.
- In addition to accounting software, you’ll need reliable hardware such as a laptop or desktop computer with an internet connection in order to work remotely as a bookkeeper.
- To keep you in sync with what’s going on in the office, companies use cloud-based accounting platforms like QuickBooks and Xero.
- The Decimal service comes with automated, up-to-date categorization of your transactions, bank reconciliation and bookkeeping journal entries.
- In this comprehensive guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know, from understanding the core responsibilities of a bookkeeper to setting up your office and attracting clients.
Financial reporting
Here’s the beauty of being a remote bookkeeper; you can also work with almost any type of small business you want. You can log in from home and access records and documents just as if you were sitting in their office with them. As we discussed above, popular options include QuickBooks Online, Xero Accounting Software, FreshBooks Accounting, Wave Accounting, and Zoho Books. Additionally, many of these programs offer free trials or discounted rates for new users. Creating a freelance contract also helps maintain boundaries around your work so you can avoid scope creep and maintain a healthy relationship with clients. Then, envision what you’d like to accomplish and turn your visions into goals you’ll reach at specific times of the year.
- In the steps below, we’ll dive into what each point means and why it’s essential for your bookkeeping business success.
- If you are serious about this venture, post it all over your social media accounts, LinkedIn, and any other platform you engage in.
- Luckily, my first client pushed me to QuickBooks Online and that has been my platform for my bookkeeping business ever since.
- Jason holds a BBA from Simon Fraser University and is a designated CPA.
- An EIN is required for most business types, especially if you plan to hire employees or file certain business taxes, and it is necessary for opening a business bank account.
This specialization is valuable because you will understand their unique financial challenges. For example, a bookkeeper specializing in SaaS companies would be familiar with complex revenue recognition standards like ASC 606. It’s the social media platform where serious business owners hang out. It takes care of the daily number crunching and data entry, but that’s ALL they do.
- Would you rather tackle accounting yourself instead of outsourcing it to a third party?
- You should consider the following questions when picking a billing method.
- I absolutely have loved working with BB&T because it feels like a smaller, local bank but I get the benefit of all the technology that you expect from the biggest banks around.
- But, over 10 years ago, QuickBooks Online was still very under-appreciated among bookkeepers.
- Creating and sending invoices to clients or customers for goods or services rendered, detailing the amount owed and payment terms.
- But you most certainly do not need to have NASA scientist levels of arithmetic knowledge to become a virtual bookkeeper.
Online bookkeeping is an important solution for small businesses looking to outsource their financial upkeep and management. To find the best online bookkeeping services available, we reviewed and analyzed 13 companies and hundreds of data points across 15 categories. We then gave each criterion a weighted score and landed on a final star rating out of five.
- Virtual bookkeeping is ideal for small businesses, startups, and growing businesses that need professional bookkeeping services without the expense of hiring full-time staff.
- You should also choose the right accounting software for your business.
- Digital marketing is an ongoing process, so be consistent and keep building your online presence.
- Virtual businesses sometimes forget about networking, but several online platforms help businesses to meet and grow virtually.
- The software offers payment methods including same-day ACH, wire transfers, and purchase cards, ensuring bills are paid on time while taking advantage of early payment discounts when available.