Launching a Freelance Bookkeeping Business: Seeking Insights and Advice

As my wife prepares to embark on her journey as a freelance bookkeeper, we find ourselves seeking valuable insights from those with experience in this field. After dedicating 15 to 20 years in the Accounting and Bookkeeping industry, she is ready to take the leap into entrepreneurship and build her own client base.

Her extensive background includes various roles, such as a staff accountant and supervisor of Accounting for a major cable company, where she managed payroll for over 800 employees. She has also served as an office manager and bookkeeper for various businesses, including a real estate developer, construction firms, an auto mechanic shop, and more. With this wealth of experience, she is well-equipped to assist clients in a multitude of scenarios.

Currently, she is honing her skills further by pursuing additional QuickBooks certifications, and her professional website is nearing completion. In addition, she has crafted an engagement letter and updated her resume, positioning herself for a successful launch into the freelance world.

It’s important to note that while she won’t be offering tax services and is not a CPA or EA, she aims to serve small to mid-sized businesses and newer operations, providing them with cost-effective Bookkeeping solutions. She excels at organizing messy financial records, generating profit and loss statements, balancing balance sheets, and identifying cost-saving opportunities. Furthermore, automation is a key aspect of her service approach.

Our initial outreach strategy will involve connecting with local CPA firms. To maximize our efforts, I’m eager to gather advice on the most effective way to make those initial contact attempts. Should we prioritize email outreach, phone calls, or even in-person visits? Additionally, I would greatly appreciate other tips on making a positive first impression and establishing a rapport.

We are also considering an hourly billing model and would be open to any further suggestions on attracting clients and refining our overall approach.

Thank you for your support and insights as we embark on this exciting new chapter!