Have you ever dreamed of being your own boss as a virtual bookkeeper?
Do a few of these bullets describe you? Then you might be a good bookkeeper.
- You like details and being organized.
- You have education in accounting, bookkeeping, finance, business.
- You have formal certifications like CPA or EA or even an MBA.
- You’ve been a VITA tax volunteer or enjoy preparing taxes for you friends and family for fun.
- You enjoy helping people.
- You want a business that you can do from home and mostly on your own time.
- You want to bring in extra income.
- You have always wanted to work for yourself.
- You want a great, portable business that is based on recurring clients (not constant sales).
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So you have some of the skills and temperament to be a virtual bookkeeper, but you aren’t even exactly sure what a virtual bookkeeper is. And you have no idea how to start you own business (you are thinking “wait…I have a business degree…why didn’t I learn that in school!).
THE VERY FIRST THING YOU NEED TO DO to help you quickly learn what virtual bookkeeping is and if it is good fit for you is to watch the 3 free videos from Bookkeeper Business Launch. These videos give you the basics of starting your own virtual bookkeeping business. Yes, this is an affiliate link, but I do not get a thing when you watch these 3 videos. Grab some popcorn one night. Watch them. Decide if virtual bookkeeping if how you want to hustle. If it isn’t, then move right along. Don’t get bogged down here is you know this isn’t for you.
SOOOO….You’ve decided you want to hustle your way into earning some money and building a business as a virtual bookkeeper. Now what?
Well, keep reading. This list of steps to take is quite similar to the steps for people who have no background in accounting/bookkeeping/finance, except you get to skip the first step they have to take because you already know how debits and credits work.
Step 1: You need to learn cloud accounting software
You can’t do virtual bookkeeping without knowing bookkeeping software. This is NOT like the t-accounts that you learned in your accounting courses. I mean, the t-accounts are behind the scenes in all legitimate accounting software, but I’m talking about how you have to know where to click your little mouse inside of a software. I personally use QuickBooks Online exclusively, but I’m hoping to add a few clients in the free Wave Accounting platform.
So how do you learn accounting software?????? Keep reading.
Bookkeeper Business Launch
If you want to “run” and not “walk” or “stumble” your way into this business, I suggest the course that I took. You will learn QuickBooks like the back of your hand in Bookkeeper Business Launch.
QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor Certification
You can earn your designation as a QuickBooks Online Pro Advisor Certification for FREE. By going through all their study materials, you will learn the software. I made a short video here to show you how sign up for a QuickBooks Online Accountant portal and access their training to take the exam.
Xero is another very (increasingly) popular double-entry cloud accounting software. They have a much more hands-on, personal approach that QuickBooks does to become an official partner with them. If you want to become a Xero Partner, follow this tutorial.
If you want even more practice in Xero, I’d suggest following everything put out by Elefant Training. This is my go-to resource for all things Xero. They have created a practice set for Xero. Come on over to The Bookkeeping Side Hustle Group and you can find the discount code for all the Elefant Training resources.
So I think Wave might be the hidden gem of the small business accounting software for side-hustlers. There is a good chance your first client might be a pretty small business that is cost conscious. Wave is a FREE, real double-entry accounting software. I think there could definitely be a niche for someone to become a Wave expert and help small businesses before they get sucked into thinking they need QuickBooks Online and getting charge an (EVER INCREASING) fortune.
Watch everything by Hector Garcia on YouTube. He is my go-to guy if I have a question about QuickBooks. His videos are free. You can search within YouTube for your specific question.
QuickBooks Power User FaceBook Group
This FaceBook group is where you should go if you have any questions about QuickBooks. And you are going to have questions! There are a ton a heavy-weight accounting professionals in there.
Step 2: You Need To Find Clients
Practice saying it in the mirror – “I am a bookkeeper. I’m sure I help you with that.”
- Does the guy who sits at your daughter’s ballet rehearsal with you and always talk about how disorganized he is because he does his bookkeeping himself?
- Does the Realtor who helped you buy your house know everyone in town and can take you to some networking lunches?
- Is your cousin opening a business she has always dreamed of?
- Does your church need help because the church secretary has always done the bookkeeping?
- Can you do the books for the your local kids’ swim team?
- What about your accountant neighbor who gets super busy during tax season and could use some extra help doing bookkeeping for their clients throughout the year so the taxes are easier?
In this digital age, there are SO MANY places that are hubs for hiring subcontractors and freelancers. I’ve written a long post about it here.
Step 3: You Need To Know How To Start A Business
Business Boutique – I LOVE THESE RESOURCES. Buy the book. Listen to the podcast. This material is typically geared toward women (“Equipping Women To Make Money Doing What They Love” is the tagline), but the basic info works for men, too.
Additional Resume Materials
There is disagreement in the industry about which certifications really matter, but you can investigate which of the potential bookkeeper certifications you might want to achieve.
My personal advice is to NOT spend the money on these membership programs and instead channel that money toward the Bookkeeper Business Launch program. That is what I did and I’m a successful and satisfied student. I know for certain that plodding through the process of getting any of these credentials would not have allowed to do what I’ve been able to do in my business.
But I’m sharing these links nonetheless because they are available.
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