Every business in the world, no matter what size, performs a series of financial transactions each month to conduct a review and see that everything is running smoothly. These include sales, purchases, invoices, payroll, bills, expenses and much more. And the larger the company, the more the volume of these increases.
A freelance accountant is responsible for recording and processing all these financial transactions. This starts with entering data and filing invoices, making payments, chasing invoices and preparing the company's books for the accountants at the end of each financial year. An accountant also has to reconcile records with banks, suppliers and customers, which means checking whether they all have the same figures or investigating why any differences have appeared.
The need for bookkeeping goes back years and years, but thanks to technological advancement, the accounting process has become much easier. Now there is software such as Quickbooks and Xero that help accountants simplify the most routine processes of the job.
How to find clients as a freelance accountant
If you are just starting out as a freelance accountant and need to find clients, the best way to do this is to make friends with other accountants and other freelancers.
While qualified accountants are often capable of doing the bookkeeping, they generally prefer to outsource it to others, allowing them to focus on more specialized tasks. And, as a freelance accountant, you'll need to have financial records at the end of each year. That sometimes requires you to rely on other professionals, so establishing a good relationship means you'll have people you can trust when clients need more advice and a source of regular accounting tasks.
Another useful source of clients is your fellow freelancers. Many people choose freelancing because they want to focus on work they are passionate about, not necessarily because they want to spend time balancing the books. Offering help and advice in freelance communities, such as Club Crema, will get potential clients asking for your services.
Networking events are a great way to meet other local businesses in your area or industry sector, and you can also consider advertising locally or posting something on social media. And once you have your first customers, you'll probably find that referrals are a valuable source of new business.
Normal online marketing techniques for any freelancer also work, such as creating a website, optimizing your LinkedIn profile, and listing on freelancer websites. But in the case of accountants, it's also worth listing in directories offered by software vendors, such as Xero's consultant directory or Quickbooks' similar service.
