Bookkeeping as a Home Business
If you enjoy numbers and financial record keeping in general, then you’ve already got one business qualification that puts you way ahead of most other people, who don’t like that sort of thing at all. This means that if you decide to set yourself up as a bookkeeper working from home, you might be starting out with a higher chance of success than people in a great many other types of home business.
Many small companies, consultants, and solitary entrepreneurs are so busy doing their actual business that they have neither the time nor the interest in doing their own financial record keeping. So they might be willing, even grateful, to hire you to do the job for them. Even some accountants, who generally aren’t trained these days to handle small business bookkeeping, might be inclined to outsource such work if it comes to them.
You would need to be sure you have the type of computer equipment and software you need. There are many different types of programs available, but if you’re already qualified to do this sort of work, you’re probably aware of many of them already. It may still be a good idea to research the different ones, and try out temporary copies if the vendor allows that, to see which programs best suit the type of work you might be doing. Some programs are better at certain things than others. You might even want two different types of software, to try to cover different sorts of tasks your clients could ask you to do.
If you want to be sure you have all the skills necessary, or you want certification to show your clients even after having done this type of work for years, you can consult local community colleges and universities to find out what types of programs they offer. You might even be getting the certification through distance learning while already doing work for your first clients. But the chances are that if you’ve done such work for years during previous employment at a company, that will be regarded as qualification enough.
You need to be sure you are a meticulous, dependable detail person. And while being careful about your own character and reliability, you must scrutinize the character of prospective clients as well. If anyone gives indication that they’re interested in “fudging” any details of their finances, run the other way and don’t take that client on. They could get you into trouble in the future, not to mention the fact that if they aren’t entirely scrupulous they could prove equally unscrupulous about paying you. Before you sign a contract with any client, set out provisions for the circumstances under which you might be allowed to terminate the contract.
Once you’ve signed on with someone, the work will likely vary from client to client. You could find yourself doing only simple record keeping for one, while for another one you might be doing tax work and preparing financial statements. If you enjoy numbers and financial records, you’ll likely find yourself quite busy with clients, doing work that really interests you.
