I am entering the field of bookkeeping as a full time career and i wanted to find out ALL of the information that i could possibly get. Is anyone here a professional bookkeeper? What kind of money do you make and how many clients do you have? Also, do you work at home for yourself or do you work for a firm? How is the best way to approach businesses in convincing them that they cant live without your service? Any tips, advice, or words of wisdom wold be greatly appreciated. Email me also at clutchcity34@nts-online.net
Emoreland- I'm not a bookkeeper but I'm in a similar line of business. I'm a CPA who has just gone out on my own. I have 3 large clients (2 past employers and another friend who started a company which has expanded rapidly the last 4 years). Here are a couple recommendations: -CPA firms (smaller or even some regional firms) will align themselves or refer bookkepeepers. Clients often ask their CPA for ideas on hiring or staffing their internal department. I know myself I have referred a local guy (I'm in Ohio) just a few weks ago for one of the firms. Some CPAs will do the bookkepping themselves but it is usually much cheaper for clients to hire their own bookkeeper (wheter it's full-time or part-time and/or a contract person) but clietns love referalls from people they already know. In addition CPA firms love to work with people who do quality work. -Join a chamber of commerce (or other civic group). There you will not only meet CPAs (for refferals)but also have tons of opportunities to meet small business owners who may be looking for your services -I have 3 contracts (one with each client) that works like a retainer I guarantee certain deliverables and they guarantee a minimum nuber of hours. Additionally I make a large chunk of money during tax season for both individuals and small businesses. -Understand as much accounting software as possible. Some like Peachtree and Quickbooks are easy to pick up, but you'll find other clients who have 1990s version of accounting software that they like. -As for numbers of clients the more the better. Diversity and customer service are the keys to surviving in business. So if you go out on your own I would tell take on as many clients as you can handle. If you're succesful you can weed out the bad clients later down the road. -As for billing rates (more precisely how you get paid) that is interesting. Hourly rates is the traditional way to do business but more people now like fixed contracts (you do this and I'll give you this). To be honest I don't know what you should charge, depends on experience and level of knowledge. -I will tell you if you're new (out of school) or in a new career you may be best off trying to go full-time with a company to get experience. Another option is the staffing firms (account temps for example) Anyways I've rambled on enough, hope something above may help you out!
