How would I go about starting my own bookkeping bussiness in my area of Portage County Ohio.

A bookkeeping business can be very flexible in that you can work it from home, or a small office, or online.

Starting your business from home would be the most cost effective way to go. But you may not want clients coming to your home. If you can develop your customer base locally you can offer to do work at the customer's place of business.

For either scenerio your biggest hurdle will likely be finding clients. So you should concentrate on your marketing efforts. How will your clients find you?

You will likely need to register your business locally. Just go online and find the county office that would handle that. Registration is simple and not at all costly.

Hope this helps a little.

Sylvia
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hello,

I started a bookkeeping business 5 years ago and I have been growing it ever since. I started small with 1 client for 2 years, then as I became more confident and experienced, I picked up more clients and more work. NOw I have 8 clients. I work 2 days at clients sites and 3 days from my home and its been tough trying to balance Family life with work.

What particular questions do you have. Feel free to send me an email with your questions. I will try and help you as much as I can.

Clarinda

How do I go about getting started. I mean how do I find out about what services to offer and what type of equipment to buy.

Do you have accounting or bookkeeping experience? Do you know how to use Quickbooks or Peachtree accounting software? I offer full charge bookkeeping services along with Quickbooks installation,training and consulting. I tailor my services to what my client needs are.

email me @ clarinda@mccloudconsulting.com and I can answer your questions specifically.

Thanks

There are a lot of little tricks that you can try. I have named some of them in my previous post. You just have to be creative. you could offer the services I mentioned in my previous post. Credit counseling is a big one as a lot of businesses are concerned with their credit issues and how to go about fixing their personal credit. Try adding these services to what you are already doing.

Hi I am new to this site and I find it very helpful, I myself just started a bookkeeping business from my own home. I have a few questions if you don 't mind giving me your input. How do you know how much to charge? When working home from home do you use your home phone number or your cell number until I get a seperate phone line? Thanks for your time.

Janette

Janette Padilla

One thing that you need to do is offer as many services as possible related to what you are doing in order to be more versatile. Something like bookkeeping, tax preparation, payroll, word processing, and internal auditing. This is a way to get clients in some form or another. As far as advertising talk about your business as much as possible. When you're in the line at the grocery store and in a line full of people. Say something like "man I really need to get to those books before the day is over" or pretend to be on the phone with a client ficticious of course and say something like "yes Mrs Ferguson I have you payroll ready and I need go over your end of month accounting statement with you". These things sound corny but you never know who is standing in line with you it could be a potential client or someone whom may know of someone that needs a bookkeeper. Good luck.

Let's start with equipment. You can use the computer and printer set-up you currently have. I started 12 years ago with the equipment I already had. Since then I have upgraded several times and currently use a laptop and inkjet printer.

When I started I used QuickBooks Pro (for accounting software). I still use QB but I also use Peachtree and Netledger. For taxes I use ProSeries (by Intuit). You will need to try out the programs (if you haven't alread) and decided what you like to work with.

As far as services, start with what you know best. It's easier to market your current experience and expertise. You can then begin adding services as clients ask for new things. I started with setting up and maintaining books as well as tax prep for small businesses. I know offer Corp set-up with federal and state agencies, payroll (regular, prevailing wage and union), and tax planning. I have tried offering collection services(didn't like it) and business plans (too much time involved). Concentrate on what you really like to do, otherwise, you will get overwhelmed and start hating the business.

A fee structure will be dependent upon what your local area will support. This will take some research. What are bookkeepers in your area charging? You will also need to decide what your time is worth. I started out charging by the hour but found that I spent more time tracking my time than actually working. Now I charge by the month based upon the services the client has requested and how much time I think it's going to take to accomplish the tasks (I always build in a little extra time for unexpected complications). I bill and have clients pay in advance for my time. That way I don't work without pay and can count on the money each month.

Decide who you want to work with. When you are in business for yourself you don't have to work with people you don't like. Decide ahead of time who your idea client is. It may be tough to turn down work when you are starting out but it will be worth it down the road. I have turned down work because I didn't like a client's policies or way of doing business, I have also fired clients because of their attitude or ego were too outrageous.

Feel Free to post additional questions. I am happy to help.

Suzette
*******
FlemmingBusinessServices.com

I'd say ask around with some of your friends and see if you can help out doing the books for their business. Maybe even offer to do it free for a while first just to get your foot in the door then you can expand later.


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