How to Become a Bookkeeper at Home
Starting a home-based bookkeeping business is a smart move in any economy. Every business needs solid bookkeeping to thrive, and an overwhelming majority of business owners don't really know precisely what bookkeeping is or what it does for them. As a bookkeeper, you will do much more than save receipts and keep the IRS satisfied with your clients; you will help them make business decisions by providing a gauge for their business health. If you understand how to keep the books for a business and how to convince business owners that they should use your services, then you should consider becoming a bookkeeper. Of course, you will need a thorough business plan. Spend as much time learning about the process of bookkeeping as you do the process of running a business and you'll help yourself succeed, while helping other businesses achieve success as well.
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Instructions
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Identify your business niche. Determine if you will use cash accounting, accrual accounting, or both. Determine if you will work only with standard (January to December) fiscal years, or accept specialized, company-specific fiscal years. Choose your geographic market. Decide the size and the nature of the businesses you will work with. You can choose to keep the books for only small businesses of self-employed remodeling contractors, or work only with large banks and their branches. You can define your own niche.
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Establish your workflow habits. Choose which schedule of documentation increments you will use (weekly, monthly, or quarterly). Create a master list of daily upkeep activities to maintain the books of your clients. Create worksheets for your clients to complete with information about their businesses. Create a master list for the activities that you will need to undertake when a new client hires you, or for when a client makes a significant change to his business, such as sells the business, closes the business, loses the business, or changes the organization structure of the business. In short, prepare all the necessary frameworks for all the core administrative work you plan to do.
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Prepare your service packages. Based on your work increments and the type of clients you've identified as your niche, create customized, priced packages to pitch to clients. Many business clients don't understand the details of bookkeeping. Make it simple to hire you by creating easy-to-understand packages that solve the common problems of business owners. For instance, you might create a bookkeeping service package that provides weekly reporting for a coffee house that offers many seasonal items and uses a diversity of marketing methods. Setting a flat rate for your services protects you from not getting paid for all the work that you will do (any new services for which a need arises must be charged for separately) and helps the client feel secure in knowing that you are providing the precise solution to his problems.
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Market yourself to your customers. Visit the businesses you hope to serve and pitch your bookkeeping services to the owners. Explain how your services will benefit their bottom line, their workflow, and their tax situation. Create special giveaways for potential clients, such as a simple 10-minute accounts organizer, and include your contact information and a promotional offer. Give away calendars with tax season information included. Most commonly, your prospective clients will face problems of disorganization, lack of clarity around current financial standing, and confusion and frustration regarding payroll and tax burdens. Effective and efficient solutions will mark your services as the right investment for a prospective customer.
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Grow your business. Become a certified bookkeeper with the AIPB (See References 2) to improve your credibility, professionalism and skills. Take continuing education classes. The financial industry is constantly changing, and you must understand all IRS regulations and new best accounting practices.
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