Do Bookkeepers Work from Home?

Are you considering a career in bookkeeping? Maybe you like the idea of working with numbers and you are good at keeping track of your finances. If so, you may also be wondering, do bookkeepers work from home?

Many companies keep full-time bookkeepers on staff, but many bookkeepers also work from home. They may work remote positions from home for companies or start virtual bookkeeping businesses working with multiple clients.

Thanks to the internet, you no longer have to work in an office. For many, it’s now possible to do all of your work remotely from home. Also, most bookkeeping systems are now online and cloud-based, which means you can access your company’s account or the accounts of your clients from your computer at home.

Starting a Virtual Bookkeeping Business

Instead of working as an employee for a company, many people prefer to start their own bookkeeping businesses where they work from home serving multiple clients. As a virtual bookkeeper, you can work with clients from all across the country, with clients in your community, or both.

Bookkeeping businesses are very inexpensive businesses to start. You may be able to convert a spare bedroom in your home, for example, into an office that you work out of. You will also need a computer, a reliable internet connection, and a phone. You may already have some or all of these things.

Owning your own bookkeeping business where you work from home also gives you incredible flexibility and freedom in life. If you need to take a little time off for a doctor’s appointment or a meeting with your child’s school teacher, for example, you can do that without having to ask a boss’s permission.

A bookkeeping business is a business you can be proud of. It’s a business that’s in demand. The more clients you take on, the more money you can earn. This is very different from working a job where you earn a fixed salary and hope for an occasional raise – regardless of how hard you work or how many hours you put in.

But how do you start a bookkeeping business? What steps do you take to get your new business up and running?

If you are interested in starting your own bookkeeping business that you operate from home, Bookkeeper Launch is an online course that shows you everything you need to start your new business, attract and land clients, and grow it into something you can be proud of. It’s a blueprint that shows you step-by-step how to be your own boss offering a service that many businesses need.

If you would like to learn more about starting your own virtual bookkeeping business, Bookkeeper Launch has a free online workshop that goes over the opportunity and the course.

Check out the free online workshop to learn more about Bookkeeper Launch and starting your own virtual bookkeeping business.

Finding Work from Home Bookkeeping Jobs

Do bookkeepers work from home? Many companies hire bookkeepers who work from home, and these positions are now very easy to find. Additionally, it may also be possible to turn a regular bookkeeping position into a work from home job by negotiating. Let’s take a look at three options for finding work from home bookkeeping jobs.

Search Online Job Boards

One of the easiest ways to find work from home bookkeeping jobs is to search online job boards like Indeed, Simply Hired, LinkedIn, and others. These job boards let you narrow your searches so that you only see job listings for remote positions.

Typically, online job boards have two search fields that you fill out to see open positions. The job you are looking for is one field, and the location is the other. To see all bookkeeping jobs that let you work from home, you simply enter “bookkeeping” in the job field and “remote” in the location field.

Apply to Regular Bookkeeping Jobs

Another way you may be able to land a work from home bookkeeping job is to apply to a regular bookkeeping job listing with a company and then inquire about doing the job from home in an interview. Many companies now realize that working from home is a viable option to working at a company office, so they may be open to it. No guarantees, of course, but it never hurts to ask.

A variation of this strategy if you are already working as a bookkeeper is to talk to your manager to see if it would be possible to work from home. A hybrid approach may also be possible where you work from home some days and from an office the rest of the time.

Subscribe to FlexJobs

Another way to find bookkeeping jobs that let you work from home is to search on FlexJobs, a website that specializes in finding the best work from home jobs. It claims to be the “#1 job site to find remote, work from home, and flexible job opportunities.”

FlexJobs claims that all of the jobs it lists are vetted by its team. The site has listed remote jobs from many big-name companies over the years. There is a modest monthly fee to see the job listings on FlexJobs.

What Do Bookkeepers Do?

If you are considering a career as a bookkeeper, you are probably also wondering what they do.

Bookkeepers primarily record the daily financial transactions of a company in its accounting information system. A lot of the work that bookkeepers do involves data entry. They record all of the money a company earns and spends.

Bookkeepers may also do other things. Just a few include:

• Managing accounts receivable
• Managing accounts payable
• Collecting and remitting sales tax
• Reconciling bank and credit card statements
• Reconciling monthly vendor statements
• Maintaining budgets
• Processing payroll

The work that bookkeepers is very important, and it’s not a stretch to say that without bookkeepers keeping track of financial information, it would not be possible for many businesses to continue to operate.

Do Bookkeepers Need a Degree?

One of the best things about a career in bookkeeping – whether you work for a company or start your own bookkeeping business – is that you don’t need a degree to land work. There is no formal education requirement in the bookkeeping field.

If you are interested in starting your own virtual bookkeeping business, you do not need a degree in accounting. You just need a willingness to learn some new skills, have a strong work ethic, and possess a strong desire to be your own boss.

Bookkeeping isn’t difficult to learn. There also aren’t any complex calculations to do. Bookkeeping has nothing to do with algebra, statistics, or calculus. It’s mainly about recording income and expenses in accounting information systems, although it may also involve other duties.

Although you don’t need a degree in accounting to be a bookkeeper, having one may help if you are looking for a job in the field. Having a professional certification – like the Certified Public Bookkeeper (CPB) designation – may also help you stand out if there are multiple applicants for one position. Previous experience is another factor that many hiring managers look for.

Bookkeeper vs. Accountant – What’s the Difference?

When applying for bookkeeping positions, you may encounter some job listings that say they are for bookkeepers and some that are for accountants. Is there a difference? Aren’t the two terms interchangeable?

Bookkeepers and accountants are both financial professionals, but the work they do is different. First, it’s important to point out that the education requirement for the two careers is very different.

While it’s possible to land work as a bookkeeper with a high school diploma and work experience, most accounting jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Some accounting jobs also may require applicants to be certified public accountants (CPAs), which requires passing a rigorous exam.

The type of work that bookkeepers and accountants do is also different. As previously mentioned, bookkeepers primarily record transactions in financial records, create financial reports, and do other things. Accountants, however, take care of more advanced financial tasks. They deal with tax advice and tax planning, analyze revenue and costs, and make financial projections.

Accountants also prepare financial statements that are used by management to have a “snapshot” of a company’s financial position at a particular point in time. The information in these statements is used to make important company decisions. Accountants prepare income statements, balance sheets, statements of cash flows, statements of retained earnings, and other financial statements.

Working from Home as a Bookkeeper

Bookkeeping is a very diverse profession. Many bookkeepers do work from home, either as an employee of a company or as the owner of their own virtual bookkeeping businesses.

There are many perks to being a bookkeeping business owner who works from home. You get to wear comfortable attire, you no longer have to commute to and from work, your work hours are flexible, and you no longer have to deal with a difficult boss. You will be a business owner offering your services to other businesses.

The bookkeeping profession has a lot going for it. Yes, you can work from home in many cases, but the barrier to entry is also low because you don’t need a college degree or professional certification to get started.

Be sure to check out the free online workshop to learn more about starting your own bookkeeping business. You never know, it could be the start of an exciting new business venture – a business you can be proud of.