As I was building this website, I was able to connect with many amazing accountants who are craving for direction and mentorship to start their own business.
I connected with most on Reddit through the Accounting forum. I was blown away by the hundreds of questions I was asked.
I gathered a few of the most popular questions and answered them.
Also give me a follow on Reddit: HERE!
I offer virtual accounting services.
Companies with 2-30 employees hire me to be their virtual Controller.
I handle all of the accounting including the full month end close (through Quickbooks or Xero), payroll (my preferred providers are Gusto and Intuit Payroll), and AP (through Bill.com).
This is my base package. I offer a lot more for an additional fee such as tax work, budgeting, audit prep, etc. I love being that trusted financial adviser to Companies and help them grow!
I went out on my own with just over 4 years of experience and was completely employer free 6 years after graduating. It’s all about having the right combination of experience. You must have at least a couple years of experience in what you want to do, be it tax returns, bookkeeping, or full service accounting.
I wrote extensively on this in THIS blog post.
I offer to run clients payroll for a fee and make them subscribe and pay for a payroll service such as Gusto or Intuit Payroll.
I subscribe for the full package with the payroll providers so they handle the W-2s and quarterly taxes. Then I “run” the payroll 2x a month. Running payroll mainly requires confirming salary amounts and entering the amount of hours for the hourly employees.
I love offering this service. The CEOs really value this service (people like getting paid 🙂 ) and a typical run for me takes 15 minutes so the per hour rate on payroll is very high.
I implemented a flat fee pricing strategy. Another word for this is Value Based Pricing.
I charge a flat fee for my services, independent of how many hours it takes.
Check out the fee page on my website HERE.
This is something that requires a mind-shift from what you might be used to. Offering the flat fee allows for your income to be predictable and for your client to be able to budget for your services correctly as well.
Once you automate your processes, its very possible to make a very high per hour rate if you charge a flat fee.
If running an accounting firm or freelancing sounds like something you would be interested in but you don’t know where you start, go ahead and download my FREE Firm Quick Start Guide below.
Also make sure you check out my Inclusive Firm Course.
In this course I teach the exact steps I took to start my own business, all the best technology and sales techniques out there, and much much more! You will be able to go out and start signing clients comfortably after going through my course.
If you prefer one on one consulting, we offer that as well! Click here to schedule a strategy session.
Do you have any other questions on what it is like to be a freelance accountant? Leave a comment below and I will get back to you!
