Any established work from home bookkeepers on the boards?

[Derby4me]

I am currently a SAHM, but recently have been having an itch to get back to work. The only issue being that I have two small children and would need something that provides the opportunity to work for home. After reflecting on what I would be good at and enjoy, I decided on bookkeeping.

I have a bachelors degree in business marketing, six years of banking/customer service experience, and last semester returned to school to take a refresher in financial accounting and a class in Quickbooks. Now, I'm ready to jump in and get to work.

To those of you who are already established, where did you start? Currently, I'm planning to get my resume out to temp agencies, contact existing bookkeeping companies, and have been keepinp my eye out in the want ads. Just wondering if anyone else had any other suggestions...or currently work for a bookkeeping comany in NW Ohio that you could recomend (I know, not likely!

Thanks in advance for any tips or suggestions!

 

[Taja]

Be sure to contact CPAs to see if they have any overflow work you can do. Depending on their specialty, tax season tends to be their busist time. However, many require that work be done on their premises. Sometimes you can get lucky, though!

You might want to develop a basic website. There is a post here on the Budget Board of someone asking how to do it. There were some excellent answers--most of them fairly inexpensive!

Have some professional business cards printed and network with everyone you know. Be sure the cards look professional and are not gender-specific. Most of my clients have been referrals.

Be sure to check with your local authorities to see if you need a business license.

It has not been a great climate for independent accounting services here (Phoenix metro area) in the past few years. So many businesses have folded and those that do need outside services are very price sensitive.

I've been an independent account and consultant (systems and processes in addition to accounting) off and on for the past 20 years. I enjoy it, but I also enjoy working in small to mid-size businesses and helping them grow internally.

Good luck!

 

[Derby4me]

Thanks for the feedback! It's a great point that tax season is starting, so maybe it's a great time to get the resumes out to handle the non-tax items. Ideally I want to work with a small business or two. I'm sure there are companies out there who just need someone to run to their safe box, process payments and create invoices. Thanks again!