Kickstarting a Freelance Bookkeeping Career: Seeking Advice from Experienced Professionals

Transitioning from traditional employment to freelance work can be both thrilling and daunting. My wife is standing at that exciting crossroads, ready to embrace her independence and carve out her niche in the Bookkeeping world after honing her skills for nearly two decades.

With extensive experience in various Accounting roles—including supervising payroll for a large cable company and managing finances for a real estate developer and a construction business—she has built a solid foundation. Well-versed in QuickBooks, she is currently finalizing her certifications and prepping an appealing website to attract potential clients. Her engagement letter is polished, and her resume updated as she sets her sights on marketing her services.

Importantly, she will not be offering tax services and is not a CPA or EA. Instead, her focus will be on supporting small to mid-sized businesses and startups by providing cost-effective Bookkeeping solutions. Whether it’s cleaning up disorganized financial records or crafting insightful profit and loss statements, she is eager to help entrepreneurs and business owners streamline their Accounting processes. Automation will be a key aspect of her approach, emphasizing efficiency and accuracy.

To kick off her journey, my wife plans to reach out to local CPA firms. We want to make a professional first impression and are contemplating the best method for this initial contact—should it be through an email, a phone call, or perhaps a face-to-face visit?

Additionally, we are seeking any other recommendations on how to effectively land clients in the competitive freelance marketplace. We’re also considering an hourly billing model to keep services flexible and appealing.

If you have any insights or personal experiences to share that could assist in this venture, we would greatly appreciate your thoughts. Thank you for your support as we take this significant step forward!