While I am not a lawyer and can’t give you legal advice, here are a few basics. To start your business you will need to get a business license, and likely do not need a specific certification for payroll (check with your local authorities), but if you will be offering “professional” services, make sure that you are aware of all the payroll requirements for your state and local governments, as well as on the federal level. AIPB has some great training materials for Payroll, and you can also attain certification through them.

As far as liability, you should carry Errors & Omissions insurance to protect you if you ever do make a mistake (perceived or real) and a client makes a claim against you to hold you responsible. You can also get a group rate and coverage specific to bookkeepers through AIPB. If you have any legal questions about starting a business, be sure to consult an attorney or other legal professional who is aware of your specific circumstances. This is just in general for your information. Hope it helps.

Congratulations on “starting over” and moving to a new area. I did that several years ago and was in the same boat in that I didn’t know anyone connected to businesses in my new city. My best suggestions, depending on how fast you need to get your business up and running, is to take a two-pronged approach:

1. Search through MeetUp.com and target small business groups (or your specific niche business group, if you’ve got one) and join a few of them AND attend their live meetings to start making some local connections. Joining MeetUp is free and often the group meetings are as well (depending on who is sponsoring them).

2. You will seriously want to consider building a virtual business, so location won’t matter. A great first step in that direction is to make sure you join LinkedIn.com (if you haven’t already) and fill in your profile. Then start mingling online in small business as well as bookkeeper groups. Answering questions and contributing helpful comments to these groups is a great way to start to make connections that can lead to new clients as well.

Those are just two suggestions that I hope you’ll find useful (there is a TON more you can do to get rolling).

Be sure to check in again and let us know how it’s going!

Thanks for all the great information on this blog! I’m a CPA getting out of public accounting (mostly tax) and moving to a new state. Any advice on how to start gathering bookkeeping clients in an area you currently have no connections? Thanks in advance for your help!

Congratulations on getting your business running and getting clients! Sounds like you’re doing great! As far as setting your rates and matching that with the level of service you’re providing, it actually sounds like you’re probably doing okay. However with time and experience you’ll be able to see what the market will bear. But the most important point is to make sure that YOU value the services that you are providing. The reason being, if you recognize the true value of the work you do, your best clients will also. Do not take on clients who are only looking for the cheapest price. They are NOT going to be your best clients because they do not value your services.

Be sure to keep us posted on your progress.

Remember, “by the inch it’s a cinch”!

If you’ve already been doing taxes, especially if some of those clients own businesses, that might be a great place to start. If they are your own clients, you could start very softly by suggesting ways they can improve their bookkeeping system. If they are your employer’s clients (and it is okay with your boss), you could also let them know that you are starting your own freelance bookkeeping services and give them your card and ask them to pass it along to any other business owners they know who might need your help. If you are an employee right now, you might also start by offering to do bookkeeping for your employer’s tax clients on a subcontracted basis. That means your boss is just expanding the services being provided to existing clients, you do the work, and you basically share in the revenue. Just some ideas that would be a gentle way to get started.