Starting a Bookkeeping Business: What you MUST Know

  Business Overview:

If you’re thinking of starting a bookkeeping business, it’s important to know the strategies for running a highly profitable service. Owning your own home based bookkeeping service can easily be started on a small, part-time basis and then be increased in size until you have a staff of bookkeepers working for you. Because nearly all businesses require bookkeepers, your bookkeeping business plan should target small, medium, and large-sized companies. Many businesses now outsource their bookkeeping as a way to trim costs and keep personnel overhead low. Every financial transaction that happens in a business must be recorded, which is why bookkeeping services are in such high demand.

Owning a bookkeeping business commands respect. While certification is not required, it is available in the form of becoming a Certified Public Bookkeeper (CPB). With the advanced software packages that are now available, many bookkeeping business owners no longer require certification of their bookkeepers because the software now tracks much of what the bookkeeper used to be responsible for knowing. If you’re looking for fast entry into owning a business, consider starting a home bookkeeping business.

A day in the life of a bookkeeping business owner:

A typical day may start with organizing the day’s work by determining the order to work on each client’s finances. If you are doing the work yourself, you will then spend time working with the financial information, entering it into the appropriate software, and sending requested reports to your clients. If you have a staff working for you, then you would assign them their work for the day or the week. Part of each week will also be spent invoicing your clients for payment, answering any questions they have, and obtaining new clients for your business.

The Good:

• This is a highly professional business that commands respect.
• Nearly every business requires bookkeeping services.
• The owner of a bookkeeping business has a highly flexible schedule.
• Increased earnings are available for those that want to obtain certification.
• Easy to start as a home-based business.

The Bad:

• The financial and tax regulations change every year, requiring an update in software on an annual basis.
• In difficult financial times, many small businesses close so the bookkeeping business owners may lose some of their smaller clients.

Resources:

• American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers
• National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers
• National Bookkeepers Association
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Bookkeeping (Wikipedia)

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