Side Hustles for Bookkeepers & Accountants

What if you could use skills you already have to increase your earning potential in your free time?

Well, you can—the side hustle is the solution you’ve been looking for!

Today, more and more professionals are using their training to pick up freelance work after clocking out of their nine-to-five full time job, and financial professionals are no exception. In fact, bookkeeping side hustles offer flexible working hours and additional income.

How can you pick up an accounting side hustle, and what should you expect as you forge a path as a freelancer? Check out this guide to learn more and get started.

Types of side hustles for bookkeepers

When it comes to accounting side hustles, professionals have many opportunities to choose from, and they can even mix and match their project types to keep their skills sharp. Just a few examples of popular bookkeeping and accounting side hustles include:

• Freelance bookkeeping – Performing straightforward data entry, bank reconciliation, or digital filing bookkeeping tasks is an excellent way to get your feet wet in the world of freelance financial services. Professional bookkeepers earn approximately $22 per hour on average (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
• Tax Preparation Assistance – Bookkeepers can leverage their knowledge of financial records to assist in tax preparation, particularly during tax season. This service remains in high demand, especially for small businesses and individuals who need help organizing and filing their taxes. According to recent data, tax preparers typically earn around $18.16 per hour, with rates varying based on the complexity of the work and geographic location (Indeed).
• Accounts Receivable/Payable Management – Small businesses often need help managing their accounts receivable and payable. Bookkeepers can offer services to track incoming payments, manage invoices, and ensure that bills are paid on time. This ongoing task is essential for maintaining healthy cash flow and is a natural extension of traditional bookkeeping services. Bookkeepers offering these services can expect to earn between $14 and $23 per hour, depending on experience and client needs (PayScale).

Of course, this is just a sample of the opportunities available to freelance bookkeeping pros. In addition, compensation will depend on your experience level, your clientele, and your industry expertise.

Establishing your online presence for bookkeeping side hustles

The first step to building a bookkeeping side hustle? Creating an online presence—a digital persona that potential clients like small business owners can see, review, and vet before reaching out for your accounting or bookkeeping service.

Here’s a quick checklist for creating an online presence for your accounting business:

• Create a website
• Secure a memorable domain name
• Set up a professional email address

Zooming in on the nitty-gritty of website building, don’t forget to include the following on your professional site:

• The services you offer
• Your pricing model
• Your past experience and key skills
• Contact information
• Past client testimonials

Marketing your bookkeeping side hustle

Once your website is up and running, how can you entice potential clients to visit it and inquire about your services? You should invest in several key networking and marketing efforts:

• Word-of-mouth referrals – Word-of-mouth remains one of the most powerful tools for gaining new clients. Encourage satisfied clients to refer your services to their network. A personal recommendation can carry significant weight, particularly in the financial services industry, where trust is paramount.
• Online networking – Using platforms like LinkedIn and other social media sites can help you promote your website and your business among people you already know. These connections can also pass your name along to their professional contacts. And don’t forget to also join local professional networks, too, like Facebook groups related to your city.
• Freelance platforms – Sites like Upwork and Thumbtack are widely used job boards by both prospective clients and professionals. For a more bookkeeping-specific platform, consider Bookminders or Belay. These platforms focus on financial and bookkeeping services, connecting bookkeepers with clients looking for specialized expertise. Creating and maintaining a presence on these sites is just one way to secure new work and build your digital reputation.
• Using SEO and paid media – Optimize your website for search engines (SEO) so that potential clients can find you when searching for bookkeeping services online. Consider using paid media, such as Google Ads, to target specific keywords or demographics. This approach can help drive more traffic to your site and convert visitors into clients.

Using technology to enhance your bookkeeping side hustle

As a freelance bookkeeper or accountant, you’ll want to use digital tools to enhance your efficiency and keep clients coming back:

• Administrative automation tools – Automated email replies, billing functions, time tracking, and contact forms can help you streamline the administrative work associated with your side hustle. Automating these tasks will free up your time so that you can serve your clients.
• Financial technologies – Automated expense tracking, cloud accounting software, and other bookkeeping-specific tools can streamline your process and help you provide real-time updates and information to clients.
  When it comes to both administrative and financial tech, keep your finger on the pulse of new innovations—these will ultimately help you stay competitive and make your side hustle profitable faster.

Expanding your bookkeeping side hustle to increase revenue

Once you’ve established a consistent, effective system and are serving loyal clients, consider offering even more services. To simplify this process, stick with skills that are accounting-adjacent, like:

• Payroll processing
• Tax preparation or compliance review
• Auditing or quarterly reviews
• Financial forecasting
• Consulting tasks

Adding to your bookkeeping service offerings can increase both your clientele and your earning potential.

Managing client relationships and expectations in your bookkeeping side hustle

Working in accounting and finance is all about transparency. This is especially true for freelancers and side hustlers. Since you’ll likely be working remotely, frequent and clear communication with clients is a must.

You can effectively maintain client relationships by:

• Building trust – Communicate openly with your clients about your abilities, experience, and professional opinions. Delivering on your promises will also increase clients’ confidence in you.
• Setting expectations – Perhaps the easiest way to establish and maintain expectations as a freelancer is to provide an extensive, detailed contract to accounting or bookkeeping clients and get their signatures before starting any work. Your contract should detail your working hours, your agreed-upon deliverables, and your negotiated pay rate.

Navigating challenges in bookkeeping side hustles

Three of the most common challenges to overcome as a freelancer are time management, client acquisition, and scaling your business. How can you tackle these? Remember to:

• Delegate whenever possible – Whether you’re working with a business partner, training an intern, or going it alone, maintain a clear picture of your contract scope and available time. Delegating or calling upon your partners for support is much easier than overworking yourself (and will offer better results).
• Automate as needed – Identify which of your daily tasks are overwhelming and automate as many of them as possible.

These tips can also help you maintain a healthy work-life balance. While you’ll likely be side-hustling alongside your five-to-nine (i.e., before or after your nine-to-five), it’s still important to take well-deserved time to rest, recharge, and fulfill other life commitments.

Launching your bookkeeping side hustle with confidence

With the right tools and mindset, you can turn your free time and bookkeeping skills into a lucrative side hustle. For those considering a side hustle for retirees, bookkeeping is an excellent choice that leverages existing skills and offers flexible hours.

Name.com offers best-in-class products for establishing a winning online presence for your business or personal venture. Find a domain name with our domain search tool, build a website with our website solutions and project professionalism with our custom email products.

Explore our services, and build your business’s online presence today.