Start a Bookkeeping Business

Perhaps the question I get asked the most about starting a bookkeeping business is, “How can I do this when I’m working with a shoestring budget?” Setting up your bookkeeping business at home is cheaper than most businesses to start, but there are a couple of tricks you need to know to really help with your operating costs.

1. You don’t need a separate telephone line for your fax: With the invention of fax to email services you can easily have all your faxes sent to your email address. How handy is that! Your fax documents are converted into a PDF file and sent as an attachment to your email address. You also save on paper costs as you can choose which pages of your fax you want to print. You’ll still need a fax machine to scan and fax your outgoing faxes and for that, you can simply use your existing home phone line. Also, compared to the cost of a separate phone line, a fax to email service will only cost you approximately $15 per month.

2. You don’t need a separate phone line for your business line: An easy solution to an expensive business line is to setup a “smart ring” service supplied by your local phone company. You get a separate phone number for your smart ring line but it runs on the same line as your home phone. Then when a business client calls your smart ring number, you’ll hear a distinctive ring on your phone which lets you know that you’ve got a business call so you can answer the phone accordingly. This service is generally really cheap and will cost anywhere from $2 to $5 per month depending on your local phone company and the packages they offer.

3. Use a personal checking account instead of a business checking account: As a bookkeeper you’re very aware of the costs of a business checking account compared to a personal checking account. So take advantage of this knowledge and have your bookkeeping clients write your checks out to you in your personal name. Then, deposit these checks into a separate checking account that you’ve opened in your own personal name. Use this account for all your bookkeeping business transactions. I have access to both my checking accounts online so all I have to do is a quick transfer from one account to the other. My audit trail is clean and that keeps the government off my back. Eventually you may want to upgrade to a business account, but I can tell you that most clients have no problem with writing out checks to you personally as a bookkeeper. It’s not perceived to be a big issue.

So by applying these cost-saving measures you’ll have more money to spend on other areas when starting a bookkeeping business, such as getting new clients.

Popularity: unranked [?]