How to Start a Freelance Bookkeeping & Payroll Service

How to Start a Freelance Bookkeeping & Payroll Service

As a freelance bookkeeper and payroll service provider, you set your own prices, take on as many clients as you desire and establish the services you wish to provide. Our business accounting services are priced in packages and can be customized to suit your service needs. Our minimum monthly fees are $575 for semi-monthly service, $1,200 for weekly service, or $3,750 for semi-weekly service.

Since you are starting a bookkeeping business, I’m sure that you have already given some thought (or made a decision) on which accounting software to use for your business. These days, it’s not always the best idea to choose the bookkeeper next door. With advances in technology, even the most complex accounting firm services can be accomplished remotely, and if you’re only willing to work with a local firm, you may limit your talent pool. That said, it is important that you work with someone who’s easy to understand and easy to contact during business hours, which is why at Ignite Spot, we’re 100% U.S.-based.

Another important thing to remember is to keep your overheads to the minimum. Setting up your bookkeeping business from home is the best and simplest answer to this. It also means you can claim expenses from your household costs.

General business, accounting and bookkeeping courses as well as management and software training will provide the required education and training. Design a logo or have one designed for you that goes with your business name. Put this logo on all of your promotional materials and correspondence.

The Difference Between A Bookkeeper and Accountant

The Bench Corporate Plan is ideal for a cash-based business that has no more than $1 million in monthly expenses. This plan is the top-tier plan that starts at $299 per month, and includes the same bookkeeping services as the other Bench plans. The Bench Venture Plan is ideal for a cash-based business that has between $25,000 and $50,000 in monthly expenses.

A virtual bookkeeper uses computerized bookkeeping software to post financial transactions, review and update statements and reconcile accounts. If you are a simple cash-based business that does not have inventory, accounts payable, or accounts receivable, go with Bench. Before you commit to using their services, Bench will provide you with free bookkeeping services for one month so that you can decide if they are right for you. Like Merritt Bookkeeping, Pilot uses QuickBooks Online to manage all of their client’s bookkeeping. If you have a QuickBooks Online account, you can set Pilot up with access to your existing account, or Pilot can set up your business from scratch in QuickBooks Online.

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks usually get on-the-job training. Under the guidance of a supervisor or another experienced employee, new clerks learn how to do their tasks, such as double-entry bookkeeping. In double-entry bookkeeping, each transaction bookkeeping is entered twice, once as a debit (cost) and once as a credit (income), to ensure that all accounts are balanced. Bookkeeping clerks, also known as bookkeepers, often are responsible for some or all of an organization’s accounts, known as the general ledger.

In the UK for example it is necessary to register with HMRC if you offer bookkeeping or accounting services to other people. There is a charge involved for this, so please check with your Inland Revenue service. Some bookkeeping associations cover this cost as part of their membership (which can often be cheaper than registering independently). The membership fee starts at $39 for one year and includes a subscription to a monthly newsletter, free accounting, payroll and QuickBooks help on a member answer line and other benefits.

This type of software can help you to organize and track the progress of client work that you and your team are working on. If considering QuickBooks Online vs Xero, you’ll find they both have practice management software. There are a number of benefits to being certified, but my favorite is the listing on the Find-A-ProAdvisor site.

Bookkeeper.com much more economical and ideal for accrual-based businesses, and Bench is the best choice for cash-based businesses with a starting cost of $119 per month. Similar to Bookkeeper.com, inDinero, and the Pilot Plus Plan, Bookkeeper360 offers bookkeeping services for businesses that use both the cash and accrual method of accounting. The Bookkeeper360 Virtual CFO Plan is ideal for businesses that are rapidly growing and need a daily bookkeeping solution. Bookkeeper360 offers four pricing plans, and three out of the four plans include bookkeeping services.

Bookkeeper360 Pricing & Features

• Get 20% OFF on Constant Contact, one of the best email marketing service for small businesses.
• In addition, you will be listed on the Find-a-ProAdvisor website so that small businesses that need to hire a QuickBooks Pro can find you.
• But business owners often wear multiple hats and need to perform a list of high level tasks for their business to run properly.
• Therefore, if you have accounts payable, accounts receivable, or inventory that needs to be tracked, you will have to manage these tasks on your own.
• For bookkeepers, this means less time is spent identifying which expenses go where and more time can be spent double checking entries.
• The Bookkeeping Specialization program is offered by UCLA Extension.

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks use specialized computer accounting software, spreadsheets, and databases to enter information from receipts or bills. They must be comfortable using computers to record and calculate data. Some are full-charge bookkeeping clerks who maintain an entire organization’s books. As organizations continue to computerize their financial records, many bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks need to use specialized accounting software, spreadsheets, and databases.

You can use third-party apps with your Quickbooks account to automatically pay your bills. Bench provides online bookkeeping services by professional bookkeepers. They offer monthly financial statement and expenses overview that gives you control of your money. Their at-a-glance visual reports help you see the big picture and give you actionable insights to grow your business.

They may be in charge of accounts receivable, payable and payroll and tax deposits. They may or may not supervise clerks or assistants, depending on the size of the business.

By the time you complete your business plan, you will have a pretty good idea of what your estimated start-up costs will be. In general, the start-up costs for a bookkeeping business can be fairly low if you work out of a home office as opposed to leasing office space, which we will discuss in the next section. The experts say that you should always have at least six months’ worth of expenses in the bank. As a one-person operation, you may find it hard to get back to clients right away, especially during tax season. Sending prospective customers to voicemail when they need your services right then and there can cost you new business when things slow down.

They also help in separating your taxable and non-taxable income. Keeping books consistently is the key to creating a smooth experience. If you don’t have the time, the drive, the mindset or the know-how to stay on top of your books–you will find that bookkeeping is ten times the task it should be. Given a lot of free time, many (not all) business owners are more than capable of doing their own bookkeeping.

The fourth step in the AIPB certification process is to agree to adhere to the code of ethics. This is a two-page document that outlines the obligations internal bookkeepers have to their employers, clients, and society. It also includes the obligations a bookkeeper has to the bookkeeping and accounting professions.

For an additional $100 per month plus $6 per employee, you can pay up to ten employees. Payroll services include processing payroll checks and direct deposits, making payroll tax payments, and filing payroll tax returns and forms. If you are currently using another accounting software, KPMG Spark will export your data from QuickBooks, Xero or an Excel CSV file into their system. They can also take the ending balances from your reports and input them into their system. If you decide to cancel services, you will receive your data in an Excel CSV file format.

You are displaying a degree of confidence in that you are happy to be exactly who you are. On the other hand, creating a trading name will let you advertise what you do. If your name was June Smith, then name your business June Smith Bookkeeping Services. To give you an idea of what it involves once you are up and running, the average number of clients per bookkeeper is around 30. This makes it fairly easy to figure out how much you will need to charge for your services.

Accounting and bookkeeping are quite similar, but they do have some important differences in function. Business bookkeeping services are focused on recording financial transactions. The defining difference here is that accountants interpret and analyze data, while bookkeepers do not. Owning a business is an exciting endeavor, but keeping track of finances, along with the multitude of other responsibilities that business owners face, can become overwhelming. As a business grows, its accounting needs often become more complex.

Ask if your local library would accept them in their local services section. They are there to promote local businesses and you offer a service that will help local businesses. Contact all local networking groups and attend their breakfast meetings. All you need to say is that you are a local bookkeeping service, fully accredited and qualified and charge the best rates, come and see me afterwards.