Becoming a Certified Bookkeeper: Step-by-Step Career Guide

Internships can also provide ways for you to get your foot in the door with a specific organization. To get started in bookkeeping, all you need are a few basic skills. These don’t require you to go to school or gain any special training, but they may be skills you’ll need to develop over time. Unlike other accounting professionals, bookkeepers do not need any licenses or certifications.

Processing payments to vendors/suppliers and invoicing customers/clients. You need to nail down what services you’ll offer, who to, and how. Work through the big decisions around accreditation, services to offer, fees to charge, and how to find clients. One should be able to construct a basic electronic spreadsheet for common requirements, such as maintaining the detail for an account, or listing a group of fixed assets. This does not require knowledge of the more complex spreadsheet features.

Find Your Clients

Hi Mona, The bookkeepers course provides in-depth marketing lessons that are designed to help you grow and scale your business virtually. That was Amy’s reason for taking the course and she highly recommends it. If so, you’re in the right place because we’re going to show you exactly how from TWO successful Bookkeepers who started without any previous experience. The ability to communicate effectively is important since you’ll need to interact and discuss financial matters with either an employer or your clients. Bookkeeper Launch, a course run by CPA Ben Robbinson, reports many of the students who have taken his course earn $75 per hour. However, all NACPB courses are self-guided, so you could realistically complete any course in less time. The cost for each of these certifications ranges from $399 for nonmembers, or $319 for members of the NACPB.

See where you can fill in the gaps where other bookkeepers may not and offer a truly unique experience. So you want to quickly get to the point where you get one client. Because when you have just one client, you become a real, legitimate bookkeeping https://www.bookstime.com/ business. If you work as an employee, you can still work from home and have a certain degree of freedom. The company you work for will assign you tasks, which means you won’t need to worry about landing clients and marketing your business.

Set Your Rates

This organization informs, trains, certifies, and licenses bookkeeping students, job applicants, employees, and professionals. Earn a full-time income from home (gain more experience to earn over $60 per how to become a bookkeeper hour). It’s really up to how much you can dedicate to learning all the skills you need to begin your business. You’ll also know what to shoot for, but don’t hesitate to go above and beyond expectations.

• Job-seekers can search available jobs and post their resumes free of charge.
• Incorporated in the course are a ton of templates that help you start your business, including letters to send to clients and how to price your bookkeeping business.
• It is important to possess sharp logic skills and big-picture problem-solving abilities, as well.
• To succeed in the workplace, candidates develop existing skills in conjunction with on-the-job training.
• When you finish you’ll be prepared to start your career as a bookkeeper.

QuickBooks is the top-rated accounting software for small businesses, you likely know a company that already uses it. QuickBooks® has replaced the manual entry functions of traditional bookkeeping. However, the organization, reporting and use of financial data still rely heavily on human input and processing. Knowing how to automate your bookkeeping practice with QuickBooks is an important aspect to staying competitive in today’s job market. You have successfully landed a couple of clients and did a great job.

Northwestern University

Whether you choose a self-taught method or prefer standard classes, you’ll need to learn the basic skills to enter the field of bookkeeping. Accounting courses, Quicken, MS Office, basic business law, and business communications will give you a solid foundation on which to build your career. As a bookkeeper, your attention to detail must be almost preternatural. Careless mistakes that seem inconsequential at the time can lead to bigger, costlier, more time-consuming problems down the road. Rarely does a bookkeeper work on one big project for an eight-hour shift; instead, a typical workday involves juggling five or six smaller jobs.

• Processing payroll to pay employees accurately and on time, as well as ensuring compliance with payroll taxes.
• QuickBooks is the top-rated accounting software for small businesses, you likely know a company that already uses it.
• Some of the skills required for the role include attention to detail, a basic understanding of math, organization, and computer skills.
• Fifty states plus the District of Columbia require accountants to earn 150 credit hours of college education before taking the national four-part Uniform CPA exam.
• These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts.

Within the course, you learn skills on how to be a bookkeeper, it goes through the basics of accounting principles, and it also talks about marketing your bookkeeping business. Incorporated in the course are a ton of templates that help you start your business, including letters to send to clients and how to price your bookkeeping business. However, don’t let all the options overwhelm you and stop you from starting your bookkeeping business! The most important aspects of being a bookkeeper is knowing your software, having basic knowledge of keeping books, and you’re confident you can help your clients.

Partners receive many perks including free bookkeeping for their firm, discounts on subscriptions, marketing funds, and much more. I’m not sure if i need this course because i have over 12 years of accounting experience. Any recommendation – As of right now i work full time in the field and i really would like to work from home so i can be here for my two younger children. Computer and math skills are also required since you’ll be computing numbers regularly with the help of bookkeeping software programs. Some bookkeepers work on staff, though it’s increasingly common to work as an independent bookkeepers — especially small or new businesses.

• Many businesses have gone virtual and need bookkeepers to help with their records.
• By attending networking events and talking to your friends about potential opportunities, you can find tons of clients simply by forming relationships.
• For example, along with typical accounting duties, some companies may want you to handle their payroll, track overdue accounts, or participate in annual or quarterly budgeting.
• We’ve listed some of the key differences when it comes to the requirements and job market for each.
• Greg DePersio has 13+ years of professional experience in sales and SEO and 3+ years as a freelance writer and editor.

Check out our guide onsmall business bookkeepingessentials for all the wisdom you need. They don’t manage money directly, but they ensure everything is accounted for properly, so you know what’s going on with your business. Bookkeeping is also one of the most crucial parts of managing your finances. You need to keep track of all your transactions to ensure you’re on track with your spending and saving goals. After getting certified by the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers , you could work in any state without additional training or testing.

I’ve worked with freelancers in the past for different projects, and it’s always best to work with someone who listens to directions, asks questions, meets deadlines, and communicates well. So get out of the house and start passing out your cards to see if anyone needs a bookkeeper.