9 tips to boost client numbers and take your bookkeeping business to new heights

As a bookkeeper, unless you are trained as an accountant as well, you will want to hire an accountant to do your own taxes each year. You’ll be looking at roughly $300 a year, which, broken down, is $25 a month. When I created the fixed rates for these clients, I wanted it to add up to roughly $50 an hour. One thing to note as you’re figuring out what to charge is what tasks you are doing for each client and how much time each of those tasks typically take. It’s good to overestimate a little from what your average time may be on any given task.

Most people operating a part-time bookkeeping business with no employees will operate as a sole proprietorship, which works fine. However, if your business grows to the point of hiring employees, you need to consider becoming an LLC or corporation. In addition to tax consequences, your personal liability in the event of a lawsuit can vary dramatically by business structure, so be sure to consult with an attorney.

Step 1 - Update Your LinkedIn Profile

You have beautifully explained how to sales journal a bookkeeping business from scratch and get success. Attending local events would be fruitful in making new connections and acquiring new clients. There’s a reason why I stopped most other marketing activities to focus on blogging as a primary strategy to find new clients after my first year of starting a cpa firm. If you are targeting restaurant owners as bookkeeping clients, perhaps they’re on Instagram instead. Always consider where your target market hangs out before engaging in any social media marketing activities.

Don’t just take cash from your own wallet and dump it in the petty cash box. However, if you’ve been hired by a business to work as a bookkeeper, then paying on time is a necessity for maintaining your job. Nellie Akalp is an entrepreneur, small business expert, speaker, and mother of four amazing kids. As CEO of CorpNet.com, she has helped more than half a million entrepreneurs launch their businesses. A passionate entrepreneur herself, Akalp is committed to helping others take the reigns and dive into small business ownership.

How much can a bookkeeper charge per hour?

We’ll provide quality services for your company’s needs without the burden of having to employ several different people for each task. There are a lot of moving parts when running your bookkeeping business. However, implementing the right tech stack will help you automate time-consuming processes, increase productivity, and grow your bookkeeping firm. Out of all the things you’ve done so far to get your bookkeeping business off the ground, the most important thing when it comes to marketing is your website. Make sure your website is helpful and streamlined, giving potential clients all the useful info they need to know without being over-cluttered.

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• While they can receive certifications through training programs, they can also simply acquire on-the-job experience to establish their bookkeeping business.
• If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board.
• Choosing a business structure can be a tough decision for the new business owner.

And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them. With regards to direct competition, you want to detail the other bookkeeping companies with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be bookkeeping companies located very close to your location. The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

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An EIN gives you several benefits and is a necessary component of starting a bookkeeping business. In many cases, registering your business is as easy as simply registering your business name. However, the type of business model you choose and your location will affect the business registration process. At this point, your head might be spinning with all the info. Your bookkeeping business will be up, running, and raking in the big bucks. Base your services on the intersection of your clients’ needs and your skillset.

What every bookkeeper needs to know about search engines to get you started. Become known as a reliable source of expert, up-to-date knowledge around accounting, compliance, best practice, and business hacks. If your home is part of a homeowner’s association, you’ll also be subject to any of their restrictions for home-based businesses. Some areas may also require home-based businesses to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy . With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective.

Why You Need a Business Plan

I hope you enjoyed my guide on how to start your own bookkeeping business, accounting firm, or CPA firm. Yes, to start a bookkeeping business you should know how the systems work. It is definitely beneficial to have prior experience working in a finance-related field so you can provide quality service to your clients. Let’s take a look at the main categories of technology that you’ll need to set up at your bookkeeping business or accounting firm. It’s important that you are thinking of your own business as a complete solution to your client. You are not just providing accounting and bookkeeping services, you are providing much more than that.

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• Bring in a consistent stream of clients for your business, and never struggle to get leads or convert prospects to clients.
• (You can find a glossary of bookkeeping terms below.) In addition to reading this article , you can find resources online, including helpful blogs, webinars, and tutorials.
• Bookkeeping work and accounting work consist of repetitive tasks, so having repeating tasks are a great way to automate the creation of them.

Your EIN is for federal taxes—but you’ll likely have state and local tax obligations as well. You will most likely need to set up an account with the state’s Department of Revenue, and you may need to apply for a state tax ID or a sales tax license as well. Your choice of business structure will affect many aspects of your business, from liability to taxes.

So, if you’re dreaming of being your own boss but have limited funds, keep your chin up! This free, online tool helps small business owners navigate the process of picking the right business structure for their new business. 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. Project Management App – When managing work for multiple clients, it can be helpful to have a way to keep track of all deliverables. Project management software—such as Trello, Asana, Active Collab, and Slack—can help things from falling through the cracks. Research Business Compliance Requirements – With any business, there is some level of ongoing compliance.

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. You will need a complete office setup, including a good scanner and possibly a printer. You’ll need a reliable internet connection and a computer that can run accounting software quickly.

And more importantly, there's no need for physical backup because files are in the cloud. For more information on the right insurance coverage, check out our article on Bookkeeper, Accountant, and CPA Insurance. As a bookkeeper, you should have liability protection in case you get sued for a mistake on your client's books. Insurance can both cover the cost of settling a lawsuit and the lawyer fees to defend against a lawsuit. First, you can rent a post office box from your local post office.

Of course we can, if you’re hiring us to be your bookkeeper. We won’t take on bookkeeping clients that wish to continue with Sage or something else. However, we’d be happy to move you over and get you all set up. Access to our tax partner network is only available to Unloop bookkeeping clients. John Gillingham is a Certified Public Accountant, the Owner of Gillingham CPA, PC, and the Founder of Accounting Play, Apps to teach Business & Accounting. You can keep a copy of the cancelled check that shows which account you transferred money from.

The bookkeeping manager will review the QuickBooks files and reports created by the bookkeepers to ensure that they follow proper formats and are prepared correctly. When your small business is just starting out, you might do your own bookkeeping. This option is a good choice if you are on a tight budget. You can find good resources online that can help you get started and provide tips to ensure you are doing it correctly. However, bookkeeping can be time-consuming, which is something to consider. This article is for business owners who want to improve their knowledge of bookkeeping and follow best practices in setting up a system to record the financial activities of their company.

She has owned Check Yourself, a bookkeeping and payroll service that specializes in small business, for over twenty years. She holds a Bachelor's degree from UCLA and has served on the Board of the National Association of Women Business Owners. She also regularly writes about travel, food, and books for various lifestyle publications. You should be a member of at least one professional bookkeeper association.

Create strategic partnerships with accountants who will be willing to refer their clients to you for bookkeeping services. Make sure you clearly demonstrate to them how you like to work and the kind of clients you prefer - and vice versa - so that you know it’s going to be a partnership that works for you both. Consider your target audience before you invest too much time in social networking. For example, if you’re targeting business owners, you’ll likely have the most success using LinkedIn to promote your services, rather than Facebook. Once you feel confident, start your own threads by posing questions and posting your blogs. If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board.