As the name implies, QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping is a QuickBooks-based service that allows you to outsource your bookkeeping to QuickBooks experts. QuickBooks Live is attached to QuickBooks Online, and easily available to users who already have this accounting software. If you don’t have QuickBooks Online already, you can sign up for QuickBooks Live directly when purchasing your QuickBooks subscription. The first plan, Support, is geared toward businesses who want to continue to manage their own bookkeeping, with some assistance from the Bookkeeper360 advisors.

Step 6: Decide on your office

Xero, Sage Business Accounting, and Zoho Books have stellar reports at a lower starting price than QuickBooks. And if you want straightforward finance tracking without in-depth analytics, Wave Accounting can help you with the basics. Unfortunately, even though QuickBooks Online is our top pick, it’s also our priciest one. The cheapest QuickBooks plan starts at $30 a month—higher than any of our other recommended bookkeeping solutions. And if you want the best reporting QuickBooks can offer, you’ll need at least the $55 Essentials plan or, preferably, the $85 Plus plan.

How do you start bookkeeping for a small business?

Small businesses business bookkeeping may benefit from an accountant as the company grows and the need for more financial tracking, recording, forecasting, and budgeting accrues. Bookkeeping involves the day-to-day administrative tasks of recording sales and financial transactions. Proper documentation of financial transactions is important for preparing financial statements like balance sheets, preparing tax returns, and monitoring a company’s financial health. Accountants, on the other hand, use the information provided by bookkeepers to summarize a business’s financial position and render financial advice to the business owner. Many accountants also prepare tax returns, independent audits and certified financial statements for lenders, potential buyers and investors.

• After potential clients contact you, you’ll schedule a meeting for your initial consultation, aka discovery call.
• QuickBooks Online has some of the best reporting and bookkeeping features money can buy.
• Manage your cash flow, track expenses, accept payments online, and much more – all without leaving Xero.
• You may also need an employer identification number (EIN) from the IRS, especially if you plan to hire employees, file separate business taxes, or open accounts under your business name.
• The best systems even integrate with popular accounting and bookkeeping software so data is always within easy reach.

thoughts on “How to Start a Bookkeeping Business: 11 Actionable Steps”

It shows your current assets and liabilities, as well as the total sum of your equity and liabilities (such as debt your company owes). The payroll financial data on balance sheets helps you determine your company’s financial performance, which is essential for guiding future financial transactions and business decisions. Managing your business finances effectively starts with organization, consistency, and the right tools.

Choose your bookkeeping software

It’s important to track your AR to ensure you receive payment from your customers on time. Hiring a part-time or full-time bookkeeper gives you daily access to their expertise. It allows them to become more familiar with your finances, processes and accounting tools, too. And catching up can be difficult if you fall behind on reconciling transactions or tracking unpaid invoices. Be sure you have the resources before committing to handling it yourself.

But for the sake of explaining the basics of bookkeeping, here are the first seven steps you’ll need to walk through to get your bookkeeping machine humming. Get free guides, articles, tools and calculators to help you navigate the financial side of your business with ease. Check out our guide on how to establish a small business so you can start turning a profit ASAP. Bench gives you a dedicated team so you have a direct line to your own experts on desktop or mobile–professional support is just a few swipes, taps, or clicks away. Professional associations also offer certifications so that you can hone your skills and market yourself as a professional bookkeeper.

• In this section, you should outline how you plan to attract and retain clients.
• As a business owner, bookkeeping might not rank high on your list of priorities.
• You can use these to make business decisions, but they should not be presented as audited, certified or official financial statements.
• If you can actually use your business plan as a roadmap to get started, then create one.
• Connecting your accounts to Bench automates repetitive tasks like data entry, saving you time and effort.

Business checking account

While you can manage your own accounting during the initial stages, it’s best to invest in a professional bookkeeper to ensure your business’s success in the long term. Never leave the practice of bookkeeping (or your business assets) to chance. No matter what system you implement, incorporate a practice of reconciliations, by comparing the numbers in your system to the source records, like bank statements, receipts, and invoices. This habit improves communication, boosts transparency with your bookkeeping team, and promotes longevity and compliance. The information you get from your receipts should go into some kind of ledger (usually a digital option). It might feel daunting at first, but the sooner you get a handle on this important step, the sooner How to Run Payroll for Restaurants you’ll feel secure in your business’s finances.

• Small business accounting is the process of tracking, managing, and analyzing financial data—from daily transactions to tax compliance—to ensure a company’s financial health.
• Our cash flow management service empowers you to maintain healthy liquidity, ensuring your ability to meet financial obligations, invest in growth, and seize opportunities.
• Funding your business can be achieved through various means including self-funding, small business loans, or grants for new entrepreneurs.
• As you add amounts received or spent on each item, the template calculates monthly and yearly totals.
• Whereas Bookkeeper.com only accommodates businesses that use QuickBooks, however, Bookkeeper360 works with those that use QuickBooks or Xero.

The exact process will vary depending on how you plan on structuring your business and where you’re planning to do business. You’ll want to look up the exact rules for how to register your business with your secretary of state’s office. This could help you build credibility inside that segment, as well as help you hone your skills.

A lot of smaller business owners prefer the simplicity of the single-entry method. Businesses with more complicated transactions, on the other hand, may appreciate the nuance of the double-entry system. Reconciliation is just a fancy word for double-checking your work. Start by matching your opening balance (the amount of money your business has at the beginning of an accounting period) to your bank account. It’s wise to make and record sales transactions on time, every time, and allow the accounting system to use the payment terms to calculate customer receivable due dates.