Can Accountants and Bookkeepers Work at Home?

These days there are many possibilities for people wanting to work at home. Just about any job that doesn't require face to face interaction has the potential to be done from home. Yes, that includes accounting and bookkeeping jobs.

There are a couple ways to find these kinds of jobs.

The first is to look for companies that hire people to do this kind of work at home. Many prefer that you live within a particular geographic region as some parts of the job may require meeting with your clients.

The second is to look for your own clients. Many small businesses would rather hire an individual to handle their bookkeeping and accounting than do it themselves or hire a regular employee for the job.

Most of these jobs will primarily involve filing taxes for businesses. This can make work a bit sporadic, with little peaks for each quarterly filing time and of course the big one getting prepared for April 15.

You don't need much special equipment. The big question for a work at home accountant is which kinds of software to use. QuickBooks is quite popular but there are other options as well. You will also use spreadsheets as necessary.

Your choices here will sometimes determine which clients you can work with. Some will be set up with a particular software and if you can't work with that software, they won't work with you. It is entirely possible that you will decide to buy a couple different software programs so that you can work with just about any client.

Don't be surprised if you often have to go to your client's site to pick up paperwork. Not every company will have it all on their computer or they may just not be comfortable sending their proprietary information to you by email.

That of course does lead to the point that you must make your customers comfortable with your ability to keep their proprietary information safe. If you can have a completely separate room for your office and a computer that is used only for work, so much the better for your clients.

While you're working at home, don't assume that you will have it too easy. If you have children you will need to figure out how to work around their needs. You'll have to keep yourself on task and figure out your best working hours. You'll even need to figure out how to deal with the busier times of year when you may not have the time you'd like for your family.

If you have experience in bookkeeping or accounting, your skills can help you find a great work at home job or allow you to start a home business of your own. If you have what it takes you can take advantage of some great opportunities, gaining a sometimes more flexible schedule and a new way to be there for your family.

About The Author-- Stephanie Foster blogs about being a work at home mom at http://www.homewiththekids.com/ and has researched many work at home options. You can learn about accounting and bookkeeping work from home opportunities at her website.

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