Does earning $60 an hour sound
appealing? How about the freedom to work remotely while helping others succeed?
Those are the perks of working
as a bookkeeper, says Ben Robinson, a certified public accountant and
business owner who teaches others to become virtual bookkeepers.
And no, you don’t have to have a
CPA to be successful in this business. In fact, all you really need are
decent computer skills and a passion for helping business owners tackle
real-world problems.
It’s a great opportunity for
moms who want to work part time, Millennials who are just out of college, and
anyone who wants to bring in real money while working from home.
We talked to Robinson about what
it takes to become a virtual bookkeeper, as well as tips and advice for making
this career track work for you.
Ben, can you share a little
about your background? What’s your bookkeeping experience?
I’ve been a CPA since 1999. From
2001 until early 2015, I owned two accounting firms.
One of my main focuses within
those firms was helping business owners take care of their bookkeeping. A lot
of — actually most — business owners struggle with keeping accurate and
up-to-date bookkeeping records.
I knew I needed a team of great
bookkeepers to get the work done. What I soon discovered is that great
bookkeepers are hard to find. And, when I did find a great bookkeeper
who owned their own business, they were buried with clients and had a waiting
list of business owners who wanted their books done.
Not being one to accept defeat,
I set out to train my own great bookkeeping staff. For over 10 years, I
developed a program that helped raise up great bookkeepers. Matching these
business owners to great bookkeepers is something I really enjoy doing.
After I sold my firm in January
2015, I decided my life’s business purpose was to help train and equip an army
of 10,000 great bookkeepers who want to own their own business and — more
importantly — determine the path they will take in life.
Do you have to have a CPA to
be a bookkeeper?
The short answer: NO!
In fact, none of the great
bookkeepers I have trained have even been accountants, much less Certified
Public Accountants.
The work an accountant or CPA
performs and the work a bookkeeper performs have some overlap. If I
were given the choice of training a CPA or someone with no experience to become
a great bookkeeper, I’d choose the inexperienced candidate any day.
But this inexperienced person
does need to have certain personal characteristics to set themselves up for
success as a great bookkeeper.
What characteristics and
skills are you referring to?
Compared to a CPA, bookkeepers
are more transaction-oriented and more often in contact with clients on a
day-to-day basis. Bookkeepers are more involved with the granular details of
the business, whereas CPAs are typically more involved in the strategy.
To be a great bookkeeper, you
need real-world skills. If you go through a traditional bookkeeping
course, you’ll probably learn a lot of theory. That’s important to understand,
but there’s no practical application.
For example, when I went to
school and got my degree in accounting, I thought “Yes! I can conquer the
world.” But my first day working as a CPA was a real shock — I could figure out
earnings per share, but I couldn’t do simple tasks that business owners need,
like reconciling a bank account. The best bookkeepers can navigate those
real-world problems for the business owners they work with.
You also need to have decent
computer skills. Since all the work you perform as a virtual bookkeeper is done
in a virtual environment, you must know how to communicate effectively
and efficiently through technology, and feel comfortable using those tools.
What are the benefits of
doing this kind of work?
Goodness, where do I begin?
My favorite benefit is the
freedom a bookkeeping business affords. As a virtual bookkeeper
business owner, you have the freedom to choose whereyou work, when you
work and with whom you work.
Think about the power of being
in control of these three factors in your professional life! The impact is
tremendous and liberating.
My second favorite benefit is
the income potential. As a great bookkeeper, you command great rates.
Business owners value the service you provide and are willing to pay you for
this value because of the results you help them achieve.
The third benefit is that
bookkeeping is always in demand. All businesses are required to
maintain bookkeeping records, which means there are always people and companies
hiring for these positions.
You mentioned income
potential. What’s the going rate for bookkeeping services?
The average full-time bookkeeper
earns about $40,000 per year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
However, that is as an employee in a typical work setting. As a freelancer or
contractor, you can actually earn a higher hourly rate while working fewer
hours.
I teach my bookkeepers that
they should target at least $60 per hour as their goal. You must know
how to provide true value to clients — that real-world problem-solving we
talked about — to command this kind of income.
What tools do quality
bookkeepers use nowadays?
At the heart of a virtual
bookkeeper’s toolbox is accounting software. For example, the one we often
recommend is Xero.com. We also encourage our students to
use Quickbooks Online. These tools take care of the vast majority of tasks
you need to perform great work as a bookkeeper.
Other tools are basic and
probably already available to you, such as a computer and a high-speed internet
connection.
Say I wanted to start a
bookkeeping business. What would my startup costs be?
This is one of the best aspects
of a bookkeeping business: low startup costs.
You can start your
bookkeeping business for less than $1,500, assuming you have a decent computer
and basic office supplies.
The biggest part of the
investment, both start-up and ongoing, is in yourself: learning! It’s in
developing your own skills and becoming a real craftsman at the art of
bookkeeping.
As your bookkeeping business
grows, you’ll need to continue to invest in new technology and supplies. Again,
however, you must continue to reinvest in your own learning never being
satisfied with where you are in your learning.
This is the mark of a real
professional. I’ve been doing this for more than 16 years and I spend — at a
minimum — 40 hours per year learning new skills and improving existing ones.
Your Turn: Do you have any
questions for Ben on how to become a bookkeeper?
Interested in becoming a
bookkeeper? Learn how at learntobeabookkeeper.com.
Disclosure: We have a serious
Taco Bell addiction around here. The affiliate links in this post help us order
off the dollar menu. Thanks for your support!
Maryann Akinboyewa is the
Assistant PR Coordinator at Taylor Media.
This post was originally published here: How to Earn $60/Hour Working From Home as a
Bookkeeper
Related post: Learning that lives online lives on
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