Bookkeeping is an important part of running any business. If you’re thinking about becoming a bookkeeper from home, don’t worry–it’s not as difficult or daunting as you might think!
In fact, there are 7 simple steps to becoming a bookkeeper and providing yourself with a thriving bookkeeping business. The key is in taking these simple steps and following them precisely because once you get into the groove there won’t be any more time wasted wondering what needs to be done next.
7 Simple Steps To Becoming A Bookkeeper
Bookkeeping In A Nutshell
Being a bookkeeper can be summed up by saying that you will simply be providing financial statements to your clients.
When we talk about financial statements, there are three different types that you will need to produce on a monthly basis. These are Balance Sheets, Income Statements, and Statement of Cashflows.
After you produce these three statements the next step is to have a conversation with your client about these financial statements. If you want to separate yourself from the pack, this is how you are going to do it.
Most bookkeepers simply stop after they crunch the numbers. This is not you!
Have Those Monthly Conversations
You care about your client’s business so you MUST go the extra mile and have those all-important monthly conversations to go over their financial statements. In addition, this needs to be done in Laymen’s terms.
You should try to avoid as much bookkeeping jargon as possible. So what are you specifically going to talk about?
Well, I already mentioned that you will simply be going over the three financial statements but more specifically, you are going to interpret what the numbers are saying. After that, you are going to suggest improvements that your clients can make with their businesses.
If I was to guess, I would say that 90% of all the bookkeepers out there do NOT do this. So this is what you need to do to add value and make your business thrive.
This is what is going to make you a top-notch and sought-after bookkeeper! This is what is going to get clients knocking down your door begging you to do their books. It really is that simple!
7 Steps From Point A To Point B
How do you get from doing financial statements to having that important conversation with your clients on a monthly basis? There are actually 7 steps that you need to take to get you from point A to point B.
It is important that you don’t skip any steps though. Doing so will only cause confusion between you and your client. So without further or do, here we go:
- Classify and record transactions– All you are doing here is self-explanatory. You are simply entering all transactions and determining exactly what kind of transaction it is.
- Reconcile transactions– When you reconcile, what you are basically doing is making sure the numbers match up between financial statements.
- Make adjustments– Here is where you will make any corrections that you might find after reconciling.
- Produce draft financial statements– This is for you and you only! You need to make sure everything is in order before giving it to your client.
- Review and correct draft financial statements– Obviously, once you make your draft, you need to make sure to correct any errors.
- Finalize statements– In other words, make it look pretty. It is very important that anything you produce to your clients looks very clean and professional.
- Conversation– Have that all-important conversation to go over everything with you client.
That Is It Guys And Gals
That is basically all it really takes to make an amazing bookkeeper. Of course, this is very general, but when it comes right down to it, this is all it really takes to separate you from other bookkeepers and have you a successful and booming business.
These 7 steps should be the basic outline for everything you do as a bookkeeper. In time, they should be memorized to the point that they become second nature to you.
So when you are first starting out, just be sure to refer back to these steps to make sure that you have not only done them all but that you have done them all in order.
If you can do that, everything else will fall into place.
Did You Find This Useful?
I hope that your answer is yes. If you have landed on this page and already have your own bookkeeping business then I hope this helps it grow by leaps and bounds! What if you know nothing about bookkeeping but find it to be very intriguing?
Have you thought about learning everything you will ever need to know about starting your own bookkeeping business from the comfort of your own home? Not only will you learn how to become a bookkeeper but learn how to market it as well!
Do yourself a favor and check out, in my humble opinion, my review of the top bookkeeping course around. Don’t worry if you know absolutely nothing about bookkeeping.
In fact, it is preferred that you don’t and that is how the course is taught to you. I hope that you decide to check it out and best of luck to you in whatever path you decide to take.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please do not hesitate to drop a comment below and I will get back to you ASAP!