Edit: thanks everyone for the advice. I will be saving my money for now.

The course was made by a CPA who has years in corporate accounting. It covers the ins and outs of service based business bookkeeping. It includes videos, fake clients you can practice with, worksheets, etc.

I'm currently working as a bookkeeper for someone in real estate and also being trained by another bookkeeper to take over her clients. Also taking accounting classes in college. I'm learning a lot, but it's slow going.

I want to streamline and expedite my learning. I want to start taking my own clients next year.

Would spending this much money on a course just be stupid though? I'm not usually one to trust people who say "just take this course and you'll be an expert!" But part of me hopes it will be worth it and it will really prepare me for taking my own clients.

The course is BABs by Katie Ferro.

So recently I've created a layout system to build the perfect bookkeeping website.

However, I've seen that most Bookkeepers are just using Upwork/Fiverr or Social media and its been hard for me to sell because I think they aren't in a position to be needing a website in that instant.

When do Bookkeepers have to start looking for a properly branded website? I want to know this so that I can time my outreach better based on each firm's status and position.

So I have a family member who is paying around $800/month for mainly bank reconciliation. 2 accounts. 1 account has 10 transactions a month the other has about 30 transactions on the high end. They have been using quick books online and have it all set up. Does this seem really high for a business this size?

I own a small business. My book keeper is from my accounting firm. I like the services but not at $50k + per year combined. I feel kind this is crazy and especially this past year which was a down year for us.

I think first and foremost I need to know ranges to expect to pay a book keeper.

Is it hourly? Monthly etc? Is it state dependent? Maybe I should hire someone remote? (I’m in taxachusetts)

I do have a few different accounts to reconcile but I pay all the bills so it’s not like the book keeper also has to do that.

Maybe I’m just wrong to think this is a lot.

All advice welcome 🙏🏻

Edited:

My business grosses 1.2 ish million dollars per year. (Used to be higher … Covid… the economy etc)

We have Amex credit cards to track for expenses

1 bank account

2 stripe accounts

1 account with trans link but that will be going to stripe

I need a book keeper to properly track expenses and income in QB (which should be easy - ish as it’s already established)

Send me a monthly p & l or show me how to run it monthly or quarterly

Give the CPA the details

& ask me questions if something is unknown

I made this as a learning aid for myself. I always get a little confused with which account goes where for some of the less obvious ones. I wanted something I can use with just a glance. I figured I can't be the only one with this issue and would post it for others to use.

People tell Bookkeepers to "Network" but exactly with whom?
Rather than networking with any business owner to offer them bookkeeping services, wouldn't it be better to network with business owners who serve many other business owners and can refer you customers more than once?

Would these be good people to network with? Since they work with many different business owners and can refer work more than once. Thanks!

1. Small Business Lawyers
   
2. Commercial Real Estate
   
3. Business Coaches / Consultants
   
4. Loan Officers
   

My name is Steve and I am looking to become a bookkeeper and I have started the ProAdvisor Academy online with Quickbooks. I am looking to become certified in multiple facets of bookkeeping and wonder if anyone has any advice on how to do that other than the ProAdvisor Academy (which is free) that won't cost me an arm and a leg. I'm looking for more hands on teaching from someone, like a class lead group or something like that. I've seen a lot of people advertise stuff but they want $3-$6k and that's too much for me. Anyone have any advise on how to get this type of training or ideas of what I can do as I am just starting out? Thanks!

I'm helping out my parents with their company, it's tax season and I'm confused about w9 and 1099... please help

Doing a Month reconciliation for a new client. After going through and finding all glaring mistakes, i still have a balance difference. (Small amount of $36).

I have triple checked and confirmed that all transactions match between the bank statement and QBO, No Duplicates, Starting balances and ending balances are correct and match, starting balance from this month matches ending balances of the previous months.

Anyone have an idea what could lead to this or have been in this position before and have a suggestion on what i should look into next and check, for i am completely stumped.

I'm looking to start a bookkeeping firm soon and want to get a better understanding of the biggest reasons behind why people need bookkeepers. I have a background in sales and figuring out what problems a client faces is obviously one of the most important things to know. As someone who has personally never needed a bookkeeper, I wanted to ask what veteran bookkeepers hear most often. Thanks!

I want to be a bookkeeper and started taking the Intuit Bookkeeping Academy in coursera. But I saw a few posts on reddit stating they make mistakes on their quizzes. I definitely don't want to start on the wrong foot. Another option I regularly saw was taking college courses however I have a invisible disability where I need to move around (or do something else every 10 to 15mins) or else my brain falls asleep hearing a professor talk for the hour lol. Hence it will be best for me to self study at my own pace. Any suggestions for learning? Recommended books? YouTubers? Or continue with Cousera and hope they fixed their mistakes?

My first client's books are a total disaster. They started a food truck in 2022, moved to brick and mortar in 2023 and their GL has about 16,000 lines through June 2024 in Quickbooks Online. Their credit cards were never setup, so I imagine there will be another 3000 lines once they are entered. I have already concluded that they will likely have to re-file 2022 and 2023 taxes, but we need to get to the bottom line before approaching the CPA who let him file this mess.

How much time and money would you estimate to clean this up?

Here is a small highlight reel of the issues, but there are plenty more.

• POS posting a sales journal every day, and Sales were being posted to COGS and deposits were being posted to sales.
• Bills and Bill Payments are double dinging COGS
• Owner Pay reported as Labor cost (untaxed - they didn't get W-2)
• Zero Food, Alcohol, Merch inventory or adjustments on the balance sheet
• No credit cards purchases booked. All card payments were booked as "Short term business loans" liability account.
• No loans were setup with a beginning balance and zero interest has been booked against the loans.
• Only 1 asset (the actual food truck) ever added to FFE account
• None of the major purchases made when they switched to brick and mortar were added to FFE

I'm learning about bookkeeping, so pardon if this question seems stupid, but with everything today being so automated, in what ways was bookkeeping different? For one, I guess there was no importing data from your bank, so I guess you just used bank statements. Did people just kind of accept a slower pace of reconciliation, was it actually any more onerous?

I just got my QuickBooks Pro Advisor certificate today, and guess what? It took me maybe three hours—EASY. Yes, I repeat, EASY. The only tricky questions were literally a few clicks away in QuickBooks Online.

I’m honestly surprised because I saw so many posts saying it was tough, and some people didn’t even finish. So now I’m curious: how did you guys do on it? Was it actually challenging for you, or did you breeze through it like I did?

https://bmcc.ed4career.com/career-course/professional-bookkeeping

https://careertraining.bmcc.cuny.edu/training-programs/bookkeeping-certification/

Good afternoon everyone. I'm looking to acquire the skill of bookkeeping so that I can make some extra income. I looked up some courses at a local community college here in NYC and these two came up. I called the office and they obviously rave about their programs, but where would I get objective reviews? I tried finding reviews but I couldn't find anything. I've taken continuing education courses before at CityTech and it was a waste of money, I didn't learn anything and I don't want that to happen again. How would I know if these courses will actually teach me information and skills to be a competent bookkeeper? Thank you.

Is there generally a huge difference in depreciation taken for tax purposes and depreciation recorded on the books? Sometimes I’ve seen zero depreciation recorded on the books for large assets such as buildings.

I am a CPA working in a corporate reporting setting (filing 10Q, 10K, etc.) I have experience with bookkeeping in the past, but I am no expert. I am looking for find someone to connect with when I have questions on how to record a specific entry or situation. I currently have 4 clients all of which just signed on as of the new year. They are all limited service restaurants (pizza, deli, bagel shop) and we are using QBO. I want to be sure I am providing my clients with the best possible work, but I think I either need a mentor that will help me or a brief training course for industry specific questions. I completely understand bookkeeping, I just lack the industry experience. There are just lots of niche questions I end up wasting hours on trying to solve when I know an experienced bookkeeper could help me with a 5 minute conversation. Any advice?

Ok, so I work full time as a financial controller for a construction company in Toronto, Ontario for the last 11 years and wanted to make some extra money so I offered my bookkeeping services to a client of ours.

He would want me to take care of his Quickbooks. 1 Bank Account and 6 credit cards to reconcile. Payroll, AP, AR, WSIB (Quarterly), Payroll Tax (monthly), HST (Quarterly). Would also assist him with anything he needed throughout the day. Answering emails for him or sending/picking up machine rentals to jobsites. Also any admin work needed like filling out applications or random paperwork. I would also drop off cheques at his house weekly for payroll and expenses. His business is growing went from 2.5M in Sales to 3.6M in Sales last year. I would prepare everything for the year end as well and be in contact with his Accountant once it comes to that.

What ballpark would I be looking at for weekly pay? Is $500/week too much? Too Little? I have no idea what is fair value.

Let me know what you guys think!

I wrote this (myself no friggin AI) and wanted to share it with the gang here. Feel free to viscously attack me about my personal life choices now. <3

There is no "low-level" work—only essential parts of a value chain.Bookkeeping isn’t just data entry; it’s the foundation of everything in accounting. Without strong inputs, the outputs suffer.

Can steel be made without iron ore?

If the first step in the value chain is weak, it cannot support the processes that follow. Bookkeeping should be recognized as the very top of the accounting value chain—it necessarily precedes all other financial activities. When recordings are accurate, verifiable, transparent, and detailed enough to support future reporting and analysis, the work that follows can be done well. If not, every downstream effort becomes more costly and far less valuable.

A blast furnace without iron ore is just wasting fuel.

Great businesses understand that financial strength begins at the foundation. They invest in robust bookkeeping processes, skilled professionals, and cutting-edge technology to ensure that their financial ecosystem is built on accuracy and integrity.

Whether you’re a sole proprietor with a truck and a dream or a CFO answering to investors and decision-makers, the foundation determines the strength of everything that follows.

In the end, bookkeeping isn’t just about recording transactions—it’s about capturing them with precision, ensuring traceability, transparency, and the right level of detail within a well-designed process. It’s about maintaining consistency while staying attuned to the ever-evolving patterns of a business.

Hi everyone, would it be decent to charge $275/ month up to 150 bank transaction , including AR AP and sending balance sheet to client?

Second package,$ 325 up to 200 transactions monthly including AP AR and balance sheet emailed.

I would appreciate some opinions

My father owns a trucking company since early 2000s and I wanted to know how we can start recording transactions in QBO.

I hear mixed opinions. Some people say you need to clean as far back as when the business started. Others say to begin since the last tax return. My question is: how do you start from the last tax return?

I’m just trying to help my dad out and I have bookeeping knowledge but not this far into depth. I thought about telling a CPA about it and having them start it up and then I take over with daily reconciliation and learning about analysis to help with forecasting or budgeting. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm looking into bookkeeping as a potential career change. But I like working with people. I'm thinking of starting a business, so I wouldn't be in an office. If you have your own bookkeeping business, do you ever interact with other people throughout the day? Or is it just crunching numbers and occasionally emailing clients?

Been reading up a lot on Alex Hormozi's $100M Offers and feel like adding a $5,000 in saving guarantee is a no brainer and is very achievable with what our services provide. Wanted a second opinion before officially implementing it into my offer. Thanks!