Accounting Home Based Business
An accounting home based business or one which specializes in bookkeeping has a high chance of being successful.
Tax preparation, bookkeeping and accounting services are amongst the most popular home-based businesses in America. This is also true of many other countries in the world.
There are also opportunities to provide tax assistance, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll and inventory services.
If you are comfortable working with numbers, good with detail and very well organised its likely you have the attributes required to make a good go of it.
Costs can be kept pretty low. You will probably need a fax machine, computer with spreadsheet, word processing software along with familiarity with some of the more popular accounting packages (like MYOB, Quickbooks, Quicken, Peachtree Accounting) which are easy to learn.
If your already an accounting professional or studying to be one then this is a good way to make a little extra income. It is possible that this side income can turn into a full time undertaking and be the genesis of your own firm.
It’s increasingly popular for smaller businesses to outsource their book-keeping work, only sending their accounts to an Accountant at the end of the year. This has spawned a good market for those with sufficient skills to do this work from their own home.
If you have no background in book-keeping but an interest in beginning this home business, there are usually short courses which can be taken at the local school or technical institute. If you live away from an educational facility then a correspondence course is not out of the question.
In a 2002 study by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the average income for home Accountants was $14,000 compared to all home based businesses reported.
Some Resources to get you started:
Posted: April 21st, 2008 under Opportunities.
Comments: 29
Comments
Comment from mark
Time: April 21, 2008, 9:23 pm
My cousin just happened to get a job being an accountants office assistant, after a while she learned the routine and little by little she was doing accounting work. After a few years she now works out of her house and takes care of her daughter. she loves it!
Comment from Sue
Time: April 22, 2008, 9:27 pm
The advice given in this article is good - you can make money by doing bookkeeping from home. The only extra bit of advice I would add is to make sure you track how long a job takes so that the next time you charge an appropriate amount. It’s easy to end up working long hours for a proportionally low hourly rate.
Comment from Mary
Time: April 24, 2008, 11:22 pm
Bookkeeping and accounting can indeed turn out to me rather profitable but Sue is right it’s really important to have good idea how long it takes to do certain job or you can easily end up working very long hours for small fee.
Comment from Sarah
Time: April 25, 2008, 1:04 am
I actually read an article in a magazine recently where a woman left her full time job by putting up an ad on craigslist to work as a personal assistant providing clerical duties and book keeping with quick books. Pretty impressive!
Comment from Kevin
Time: April 25, 2008, 3:15 pm
This is a great idea on having a second source of income or replacing an income.
In a venture like this however the objective should always be to so grow this business that it eventually creates positive cash flow and takes care of you and your love ones.
I think of businesses as having three phases:
1. The Start-Up Phase
2. The Growth Phase
3. The Reproduction Phase
The Start-Up Phase
At this phase the major concern is putting in place the necessary tools and infrastructure the business needs in order to operate. At this stage you should expect to go through “labour pains”. But once you have given birth its not that difficult to continue. This is the most painful phase.
The Growth Phase
At this stage you are focussing on the creation of various systems that will enable the business to progress.
The Reproduction Phase
At this phase the business attain independence. In other words the business operates without your direct minute by minute input. It becomes independent of you. It is at this point that your business starts to take care of you.
Thus the objective of all business endeavour should be to attain this third phase. For it is at this stage that your business becomes something you can will to your children.
Comment from Business Seller
Time: April 28, 2008, 6:36 am
At home accounting is getting bigger and bigger to the point that quite a few businesses outsource their accounting to professionals in different countries.
I didn’t know you could actually do bookkeeping with just doing some short courses. I thought you needed to have a degree or CPA certification, but obviously that isn’t the case.
Comment from Lisa
Time: April 30, 2008, 2:01 am
I’ve actually considreed going back to school so that I have this option when I start a family. I would really love the flexability to work out of my home at least part time.
Comment from Colorado Lasik Surgery
Time: April 30, 2008, 11:48 pm
Being a certified quickbooks expert sure seems to have it’s benefits. So, I suppose a good bookkeeper who is using quickbooks could take the courses to become certified. Suddenly their rates just from $25.00 an hour to upwards of and over $100 / hr.
Comment from Spencer
Time: May 1, 2008, 11:13 am
$14,000? Hmmm, I’m always thinking about responsibilities and I guess that an accountant has a lot of them, right? I mean - if anything will go wrong, who’s to blame…?
Comment from Lexli
Time: May 2, 2008, 4:38 pm
Spencer, that’s what I was thinking too. An individual could avoid personal liability by registering a corporation, which under law is a legal entity itself. This means that if the accountant screws up, the person would have to sue the company, not the accountant. Basically, the accountant couldn’t lose his home, car, or anything like that.
Plus, he/she would most likely have insurance to protect from such a thing. It is very risky though.
Comment from Rehoboth Beach DE Realty
Time: May 2, 2008, 6:34 pm
I am a finance major, so bookkeeping for a business isn’t too difficult. Quickbooks is always a good program for a small business.
Comment from Blue Ink Books
Time: May 8, 2008, 9:00 pm
I have been a stay-at-home bookkeeper for close to 4 years now and it’s a great job. The great thing about accounting is that it’s a math. The answers are always the same. There’s really no guess work that goes into the job. Once you learn it, you just need to figure out how to scale the business and you can make a good living.
So, to address the liability issues that have been mentioned, you just need to make sure that the business owner discloses everything to you (the bookkeeper) and you should be good. If there’s ever something fishy going on with the books, it’s usually the business owner that is trying to hide something, not the bookkeeper. But you have to be safe and protect yourself so I have my clients sign a contract before I begin work which prevents me from being held liable for omissions by the business owner.
Comment from Wholesale Womens Clothing jewelry
Time: May 10, 2008, 10:32 am
This means that if the accountant screws up, the person would have to sue the company, not the accountant. Basically, the accountant couldn’t lose his home, car, or anything like that.
Comment from Debt Clinic
Time: May 11, 2008, 12:56 pm
As a owner of two businesses (and small amount of freelance) the first thing you learn is to get an accountant to do your books. In my view even if you have a small turnover just leave the bookwork to your accountant to free up your time to work on your business.
And of cource like all trades, and I think of accountancy as a trade, there will always be a need as long as people start new business which is booming! Partly to do with t’internet.
James
Comment from Buy Business Supplies
Time: May 13, 2008, 11:31 am
People can always use more accountants. I know I hate doing my accounting myself and that’s what I went to school for lol. If it’s something you enjoy it seems like a great job where you can essentially set your own hours and work from home. Would be a great way to supplement an online income.
Comment from myLoupe
Time: May 13, 2008, 6:30 pm
Accounting is a great profession to go in because like other people here said, there will be demand for it. You could always stick in the corporate route until times get rough and then start your own business.
I would worry about liability, though.
Comment from Bape
Time: May 15, 2008, 7:48 pm
I really think accounting is an industry that will not die. People always need their taxes done and are looking for better accountants. A great way to supplement an online income.
Comment from Terry
Time: May 16, 2008, 12:48 pm
Accounting is a business always in demand, but for those who want something seasonal, Tax Preparation is excellent! Good demand for your services, limited length of season, make it good as a supplemental business that can be run from home.
Comment from rakeback
Time: May 20, 2008, 6:22 am
This is a good home based job if you have the skill and knowledge to do it. Most small businesses prefer to hire freelance accountant rather than professional accountant to do their account. They can save their cost and the freelancer can earn their money. This benefits both parties.
Comment from Interview questions
Time: May 21, 2008, 1:09 pm
My girlfriend does this for a few small businesses. You need to be the right type person to do this job IMO. Can be very financially rewarding if you can get the right jobs.
Comment from zohai
Time: May 22, 2008, 5:39 am
Hmm.. But how credible is a freelance accountant? Who would be confident enough to hire a accountant that is home based =) Anyone is a freelance acc. here care to share?
Comment from Mark from Just Accountants
Time: May 25, 2008, 9:05 am
To answer Zohai’s question (albeit from a UK perspective) : there are many, many small business owners who would be very comfortable with a home based bookkeeper.
Bookkeeping (using MYOB, QuickBooks, etc.) is pretty straightforward but time consuming and many owner managed businesses just don’t want to spend the time on it. They know many bookkeepers work from home, so it is a viable business.
Comment from Andris
Time: May 28, 2008, 7:13 am
The only extra bit of advice I would add is to make sure you track how long a job takes so that the next time you charge an appropriate amount. It’s easy to end up working long hours for a proportionally low hourly rate.
Comment from Marc Klein
Time: May 31, 2008, 12:08 pm
This is pretty impressive and simple approach. We can work from home that gives us the environment and we enjoy working but one of the main disadvantages is that we can’t have fixed holiday
Comment from Dog Parvo
Time: June 3, 2008, 8:10 pm
Funny, I was just thinking about hiring a local accountant. It is definitely a successful business model.
Comment from Ernesto
Time: June 8, 2008, 6:11 pm
Accounting and bookkeeping seem a nice type of work that you can do at home. Where exactly can we get our clients for this kind of gig?
Comment from Simple Work from Home Opportunity
Time: June 10, 2008, 12:20 pm
I have always worked in accounts and I am still working part time as an accountant for a Social club, but I have never thought considered working from home doing just that. Maybe i’ll think about it now.
Barb.
Comment from Garry
Time: June 26, 2008, 3:44 pm
Working from home can be rather profitable business or nice addition to supplement funds if your full time job doesn’t cover all the expenses and such and seems that it’s getting more and more popular. Accounting seems to be especially high in demand. Only one thing to watch out for(apart from scams of course) is as some of the readers already mentioned is to double check how much time it actually takes to finish job so you don’t end working for close to nothing.
Comment from hank freid
Time: July 17, 2008, 7:39 am
A lot of home businesses fail because they lack the necessary financial system to track down the flow of their money. More often than not, home based business owners are not really very keen at keeping their books of accounts, thinking that as long as money keeps coming in, they will be alright. Unfortunately, things are not really that simply when you are engaged in business.
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