How To Start A Bookkeeping Business

Bookkeeping can be a great home-based business for the right person.

If you’ve decided you want to be a bookkeeper, it’s a simple low cost start-up business, you can operate from home, but you may have to work at different clients’ premises.

When a small business seeks a bookkeeper, that bookkeeper will be expected to work very quickly, accurately and efficiently- all without supervision. So you will be on your own with no one to help you or answer any bookkeeping questions. The business owner does not want to pay for your training – s/he’s looking for a professional to get the job done ASAP therefore reducing the bookkeeping fees

Do you feel that you can cover all aspects of bookkeeping? Contract bookkeepers are expected to go and “sort out the mess” and generally need to do everything from setting up a bookkeeping system, to basic data entry, Bank reconciliations, generating reports, preparation of accounts for the accountant – accounts receivable /payable etc.

Some bookkeepers may have been doing bookkeeping for a number of years, but only certain aspects, so they may not be fully prepared to go out on their own.

We have a service whereby we help experienced bookkeepers source clients – we do not work with every bookkeeper, and neither do we take on every client – we are looking to get the right / client / bookkeeper teamed up, so that everybody wins.

Contact US for more details

Finding new clients may be a difficult process for some bookkeepers and very easy for others.

Ann-Marie is like many bookkeepers who decide to start working for themselves: She’s highly skilled, very proficient, has many years of experience, but has never had to find any clients of her own.

So when faced with the prospect of having to find new clients, it seemed a daunting task. When you know how, it’s actually quite a simple process.

I have for many years thought of starting my own bookkeeping business, and when there was a change in my employment status I decided that now was the time to start. I fumbled around for 6 weeks trying to make a start but just not quite knowing how, and finding myself overcome with too many questions.

Finally I got on the internet and typed in ‘How to start a bookkeeping business’ and found this website. I read the information and entered my details. The next working day I had a phone call from John, who in one phone call eased all of my concerns and questions.

The next day I visited the Bookkeeping Team P/L and walked away from that meeting feeling confident and excited that this was the start of my own bookkeeping business. By the end of the week the Bookkeeping Team P/Lhad put me in contact with 2 new clients, and by the end of the next week a third client. It was just so simple, I wish I had done it earlier.

I am now looking forward to having my own successful bookkeeping business, and with the help of the Bookkeeping Team P/L I am sure that I can build this business faster than I could have ever imagined.” Robyn Audsley

The biggest challenge for a small business owner is knowing how to ascertain whether a bookkeeper is competant for the job of undertaking the business owner’s bookwork.

We get many enquiries from potential clients looking for a bookkeeper, and we get just as many enquiries from bookeepers looking for good clients.

We received an email yesterday from a lady who’s working fulltime as a bookkeeper for a company, and has now decided she wants to set up on her own.

Why spend (waste) money and time trying to reinvent the wheel?

So she contacted us for help. There’s nothing unusual about a request like this: We get many enquiries from bookkeepers who want to start their own business.

However, would those same bookkeepers be happy to help out a potential client to get them set-up with their bookkeeping, without expecting to receive commensurate renumeration from that client?

We are amazed by the number of bookkeepers who are not prepared to invest in our skills, knowledge and expertise in helping them get started. They would rather spend (waste) money and time trying to reinvent the wheel under the apprehension that they are saving themselves time and money.

Recently we discovered a leak in our mains water supply – we had been paying for water that we hadn’t been using, and were totally unaware of the leak until some work was being carried out in the front yard. So we called a plumber who was more than happy to attend to this problem.

Five minutes work and $160 later, we no longer had a leaking pipe! The next time we had a leaking pipe, guess what? We didn’t call out the plumber, we just went down to the local hardware store and purchased similar accessories that the plumber used to fix the first leak, and fifteen miutes later the job was fixed for around $25 dollars (plus our time)

If you are looking to start your own bookkeeping business, whether full-time or part-time then you should be prepared to set aside a budget to get started.

The lady yesterday was already considering yellow pages, business cards and other marketing strategies, and was more focused on “trying a few things” rather than investing in a proven strategy that would bring her more clients than she could handle, giving her the option to pick and choose which clients she would want to work with

We have been helping bookkeepers get started in their own business very succesfully, and can show you how to save atime and money in getting started. When you contract us, you are investing in proven methods, with personal support, as well as our expertise and skills, just as we paid for the plumber’s knowledge and we learned from watching him.

If you are serious about getting Help Starting A Bookkeeping Business, contact us NOW

Every Accountant and bookkeeper will find that clients come and go, for whatever reason. People sell their business. A business may expand and need a full time in house bookkeeper or accountant. So what happens when you look for new bookkeeping clients?

It’s tempting to take on every client that comes your way, but remember, you are working for YOU. You are self employed! And you have other clients that you are continuing to service.

You are not an employee, you do not do everything a client asks without question. What self employed professionals do is consider whether they can (or want to) provide what the client wants and if the answer is no they can decline to act for them at any time. (more…)

There’s a big difference between a client employing a part-time bookkeeper and having a bookkeeper part-time.

Many small business operators understand the benefit of engaging the services of a bookkeeper part-time. However, those same business owners do not necessarily want a bookkeeper who works part-time. A bookkeeper who works part time may not have all the skills needed, may not be conversant with current trends, or be sufficiently polished as a bookkeeper.

Small business owners need to know that when their bookkeeper is working on their books, the business owner is getting a professional service from someone who is thoroughly proficient, fast and accurate, and is efficient with their time

There’s bookkeepers who’ve chosen to reduce their hours and only wish to work part time. They may only have a couple of clients, and are very happy to do bookkeeping part-time.

Many of our bookkeeping clients like to be assured that there’s consistency, and that they will see the same bookkeeper regularly. They are looking for personal service. They want a bookkeeper that they can trust, a bookkeeper who is confident, and a bookkeeper that can provide the necessary skills to produce the results for which they were commissioned to do.

We’ve spoken to a number of individuals who think they quite like the idea of starting a bookkeeping business. They ask if we’ll can get them a coupe of clients just to see if the bookkeeper really wants to make a go of the business.

There’s not many clients who would appreciate being serviced by someone who “thinks they want to give bookkeeping a go”. If you’re thinking about being a bookkeeper, then ask yourself this question: “Do I want to be a part-time bookkeeper, or do I want to do bookkeeping Part-time?”

“I’ve been working in the industry for approx 5-6years as an Accounts Manager / Bookkeeper and would like to become more independent and work for myself rather than on a wage.

My contact number is work. So I would appreciate if I could be contacted via email. [her work email address]
Thank you for your time.”

You can only make a first impression once

We received this enquiry yesterday. They say you can only make a first impression once: The impression this bookkeeper has made is that it’s OK to use her employer’s resources to search for another bookkeeping opportunity.

One has to wonder about the integrity of this bookkeeper. How would you feel engaging the services of bookkeeper who is happy to use your resources to further their own means?

Our goal is to save our bookkeeping clients time and money

When working as an outsourced bookkeeper at a client’s premises, our focus is 100% on the work at hand. To complete the bookkeeping in a thoroughly efficient and professional manner with maximum accuracy in a short time. Our goal is to save our bookkeeping client time and money.

The bookkeeper that approached us is currently employed as the accounts manager. Her email suggests that she’s not happy where she is, and has no qualms about looking for other opportunities at her employer’s expense. One wonders how she would operate when working at a client’s premises as a contract bookkeeper

If we help this bookkeeper, would we be helping her potential clients? Would you employ this bookkeeper? Contact us for details

If you’re a small business with a very limited budget when it comes to advertising and marketing your products and services to your customers and prospective clients, are flyers a good investment for advertising?

Because money is usually tight you want to maximise every dollar spent on developing / marketing your business.

These days advertising need not be expensive, if you plan an effective campaign. By spending a bit of time doing some research, your advertising flyers can help you reach out to your target audience, without having to spend so much in your marketing efforts.

Digital printing means that (more…)

Many bookkeepers have seen the benefit of being able to work from home.

Taking your existing experience in accounting or bookkeeping, setting yourself up to work from home has many benefits.

Smart small business operators realise that they do not need a full-time in-house bookkeeper, so all you need do is to approach such businesses in your area and offer to do their book keeping.

Sourcing new clients is actually very simple – if you need some help, then contact us for some guidance