Do you enjoy spending the entire day highlighting cells in the most eye-catching colors on spreadsheets?
Is it your goal to turn everything you do into numbers and formulas?
If this describes you, picture having a career that allows you to spend the whole day tinkering with statistics while working from the convenience of your home. a job that allows you the flexibility to work whenever and however much you choose. even if you lack both qualifications and experience.
All you need are strong computer skills, a love of maths, and the willingness to assist company owners with their most hated task: sorting through a box of receipts.
How to Become a Bookkeeper at Home?
Here is our comprehensive advice on how to become a bookkeeper if you’re prepared to take on this challenge:
Step 1: Revert to the Fundamentals
A basic understanding of bookkeeping will include:
- Adding financial transaction information to a debit and credit sheet
- Generating invoices
- Payment of bills
- Monthly financial statement preparation
- Creating a transactional summary
By picking up knowledge through experience and finding things out the hard way, you can arm yourself with these abilities.
Step 2: Organize your business
It’s time to launch your company once you’ve honed your bookkeeping abilities.
Only a computer, the Internet, and are required. To protect your client’s sensitive financial information, make sure you have a secure WiFi connection and systems in place. Create a website and put your service offerings on it. You may use creativity and truly concentrate on what clients would require from you while creating your services.
Also, you must choose your business structure.
Step 3: Locate Your First Customer
Set up a website, target your specialty on LinkedIn, or tell your friends and family what you’re doing. There are many methods to get your first customer, but it will require some work and a little bit of self-promotion!
Consider your ideal client as a starting point. Do you wish to collaborate with companies in a certain industry? Would you rather deal with a single, major customer or several smaller ones?
Consider whether you want to focus on a certain service as well. You may narrow your specialization and become an authority in a certain job by having a defined focus. In time, you may probably charge clients more for your advanced experience, whether you wish to focus on payroll or aid firms in preparing for quarterly taxes.
Step 4: Rinse and Repeat
Based on your financial objectives, you may require more than one customer. But now you are fully aware of your options!
As for availability, decide how you want your daily and weekly calendars to look. By creating an email list and planning social media postings, you may continue to sell your company while also considering marketing automation. Get comments from your present clients and let them know you’re seeking new business. A positive referral from a friend or acquaintance might be very helpful.
Continue to alter and enhance your offerings, and don’t be shy about getting client input to assist you to do so.
Competencies Required for Virtual Bookkeeping
You are well on your way to launching a virtual bookkeeping firm if you possess the following abilities:
Extremely organized
You’re organized if you make to-do lists all the time and like crossing things off as you do them.
Keep an eye out for information
The art of bookkeeping involves maths. So, there is no tolerance for error because a single incorrect number will invalidate all of your previous work and provide challenges for your customer.
Having experience with Excel sheets, comparable software, and/or comparable accounting or bookkeeping tools
You’ll be able to work more quickly and take on more clients thanks to your efficiency and aptitude for navigating these tools.
Advantages of Working as a Bookkeeper
As you can see, there are many distinctions between bookkeeping and accounting, yet both positions are necessary inside a company. Yet, in my opinion, there is a genuine sweet spot in the value that an excellent bookkeeper can provide to a business owner.
I don’t know whether you’ve ever met a small company owner, but they tend to have large visions, and ambitious objectives, and wear several hats to realize those visions. The majority of business owners are NOT, however, meticulous and interested in the daily tasks required to keep the company running well.
A bookkeeper keeps tabs on the regular flow of the business’s finances (money coming in and going out). Also, they are equipped with the expertise to serve as the business owner’s right-hand person when it comes to managing the financial facets of their operation. Every busy business owner will find it to be the ideal supporting job. There are several benefits for you as well as the business owner.
Where to go for online jobs in bookkeeping
There are several methods to work as a remote bookkeeper from any location.
Business owners may list their bookkeeping requirements on a variety of freelancing websites. On these platforms, you may submit your ideas and advertise the fact that you offer online bookkeeping services.
The following are some of the most common places to hunt for virtual bookkeeping jobs:
- FlexJobs
- UpWork \sFiverr
- Join bookkeeping groups on Facebook. You get to view open positions, and as an added benefit, you may observe how people in the same industry run their businesses and interact with customers.
How Much Can a Bookkeeper Make?
The average hourly pay for a bookkeeper, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is around $20. This amounts to roughly $40,000. However, keep in mind that this is for a bookkeeper who often works in an accounting department for a big business with other bookkeepers.
In addition to earning three times as much ($60 per hour! ), freelance bookkeepers can also enjoy working for themselves, working from home, and choosing their hours.
Also, working as a freelancer enables you to deal with smaller companies that don’t require a full-time bookkeeper, allowing you to charge more while still fulfilling a critical need.
You can earn even more money if you further decide to specialize in a certain line of work (like plumbers, bloggers, or real estate investors) since you have in-depth knowledge of that field.
There are a lot of small business owners that are in serious need of assistance managing their finances. The sky is the limit if you can give them that service and add value above and beyond what they anticipate!