Embarking on a Freelance Bookkeeping Journey: Insights Needed

As my wife prepares to launch her freelance Bookkeeping business, we find ourselves seeking guidance from seasoned professionals in the field. With nearly two decades of experience in Accounting and Bookkeeping, she has decided it’s time to break away from traditional employment and pursue her passion independently.

Her impressive background includes roles as a staff accountant and supervisor for a company managing payroll for over 800 employees, along with positions as an office manager and bookkeeper for various businesses, such as a real estate developer, construction firm, painting company, and an auto repair shop. With such a diverse skill set under her belt, she is well-equipped to tackle the challenges of freelancing.

Excitingly, she is proficient in QuickBooks and is currently finalizing several certifications to enhance her expertise. Additionally, her website is nearing completion, and she has successfully crafted an engagement letter, along with an updated resume. She is now poised to start marketing her services to potential clients.

It’s important to note that she will not be providing tax services and is not a CPA or EA; her target clientele consists primarily of small to mid-sized businesses and newer enterprises, where she can offer a more affordable bookkeeping solution. Her strengths lie in cleaning up disorganized financial records, preparing profit and loss statements, managing balance sheets, and providing actionable cost-cutting advice. Moreover, she aims to prioritize automation in her processes to enhance efficiency.

Our initial strategy involves reaching out to local CPA firms. Therefore, I would greatly appreciate any recommendations on the most effective methods to connect with these firms—should we opt for an email introduction, a phone call, or perhaps a more personal approach with a walk-in visit?

Additionally, any advice on crafting a compelling first impression or tips for successfully acquiring clients would be highly valuable.

We are planning to offer hourly billing for her services and would love to hear any further suggestions that could aid her in landing her first clients or in navigating the freelancing world successfully.

Thank you for your insights!