Start a Bookkeeping Business For Very Little Money

I recently wrote about our MYOB Training students and how many of them want to start a bookkeeping business so I thought we would go through some of the costs involved.

Remember that these are the startup costs and you may incur more marketing costs as your business grows. Starting a bookkeeping business, like most other businesses, takes a little extra time, effort and money initially. You need to spend money on advertising so you get to speak to as many prospective clients as possible.

The more prospects (or leads) you speak to, the more you understand what bookkeeping clients want and also what you are able to help them with – and what you can’t or don’t want to.

Basic Bookkeeping Skills

If you have some basic Microsoft Excel skills, are good with numbers and using a computer and understand basic concepts like income and expenses you can get work performing data entry into a bookkeeping program.

Using word of mouth with friends and family you could also pick up some bookkeeping work for people you know.

In this scenario you could start a bookkeeping business cheaply and quickly but we are really only talking about data entry jobs.

MYOB Bookkeeping Skills

If you complete a MYOB Bookkeeping Training Course you will have more advanced skills and understand how MYOB manages GST and other tax liabilities for Payroll, this will make you more valuable. It also helps to have a copy of the software which we provide in our MYOB courses.

Initial Costs to Start a Bookkeeping Business

If you are going to get serious about starting a bookkeeping business you’ll need to be a BAS agent and that means you need to be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board. These are the costs involved:

1. Do an MYOB training course – approximately $400
2. Modern computer with backup $2000 every 3-4 years
3. Internet access; $50 per month.
4. Website and hosting; $1000, then $25 per month
5. Mobile phone; $50 per month.
6. Qualifications of Certificate IV in Bookkeeping from $1000 to $3,500 (not mandatory)
7. Register with the Tax Practitioners Board for $100
8. Professional Indemnity Insurance with policies starting at $400 (only if you want to be a BAS Agent)
9. 15 hours of continuing education every year, costing about of $1,200.

How much can you expect to earn

Employed bookkeepers at the most basic level earn a minimum of $15 an hour, with most employed bookkeepers earning between $20 and $30 an hour. When you start a bookkeeping business and perform bank reconciliations and/or produce reports, you can expect to earn up to $45 an hour, while BAS Agents and consultant bookkeepers can earn $55 to 150 an hour or more. Learn more about hourly rates for bookkeepers operating their own business..

Start a bookkeeping business without joining a franchise

Franchising is a good way to start a business and get up to speed quickly, but is it worth the cost? You end up paying a percentage of your earnings and need to sell to someone else in that system. A licencee model enables you to pay a fixed annual fee for as long as you want to be part of the system and doesn’t require the buyer of your bookkeeping to be a member if they don’t want to.

You get many of the benefits as well, such as a bookkeeping business plan template created by a registered BAS agent.