How to Become a Freelance Accountant & Find More Jobs

With Taxfyle, you can start as a freelance accountant without worrying about marketing your services or collecting payments. To become a freelance accountant, you’ll need to either set up as a sole trader or register a limited company, keeping the differences between the two business structures in mind. And unless you already have contacts that could take you on as a freelancer, this task could be quite time consuming, so it’s worth factoring this in.

How Much You Will Earn as a Freelance Accountant

• UpStack actively seeks out the best accountants and bookkeepers in the world to feature on their site and get them connected to your business.
• All information prepared on this site is for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on for legal, tax or accounting advice.
• Flexjobs for employers is a great way to set up an account and create job postings on a site that many of your prospective accounting freelancers are using to find their next gig.
• You can earn a steadier income by offering service bundles or specific services for a monthly retainer.

Once you’re onboarded, you’ll join our Pro network and have access to our job routing platform. Our platform allows you to pick up tax filing jobs on your desired schedule and features a support team to assist you whenever you run into speedbumps. Freelance accounting refers to working as an independent contractor, offering various clients your services Certified Bookkeeper on a project basis. Instead of being tied down to one employer, you can choose your clients and the work you do. This allows you to have more control over your schedule and potentially earn a higher income.

Getting Started

You could have unlimited income potential by becoming a freelance accountant. You can connect with a licensed CPA or EA who can file your business tax returns. Free up time in your firm all year by contracting monthly bookkeeping tasks to our platform. It’s a legal requirement in the UK for anyone who provides accounting services to be registered and monitored by a recognised supervisory authority. As you’ll be holding personal financial information about your clients’ finances, you need to register with the ICO, which is an independent regulatory body that enforces information rights. There are different levels of the diploma, and once you’ve achieved Level 4 you’ll be able to offer services as an accountant.

tips to become a successful freelance accountant

Some freelance accountants work for corporations for several years before branching into self-employment. As a freelance accountant, your day will vary depending on the business you are working for, but here is a general overview of a freelance accountant’s schedule. As long as you have accounting skills, a good internet connection, and excellent organizational skills, you can make a living doing freelance accounting for a variety of businesses.

• For larger companies who have more specific needs when it comes to bookkeeping, we recommend a more exclusive and selective site like Toptal or UpStack.
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• These skills include time management, creativity, determination, integrity, tenacity, emotional balance, self-criticism, and management of money, time, and resources.
• Synder software has well over 25 integrations and keeps adding new ones regularly to help clients connect even more platforms.
• PARO is more specific to financial services, and accounting is listed among jobs such as bookkeeping, financial analysis and planning services, and even CFO services.
• Services offered by freelance accountants include managing payroll, submitting tax returns, and providing input and financial advice for business plans.

You can earn a steadier income by offering service bundles or specific services for a monthly retainer. In the U.S., this means you’ll need to pay SE tax to the IRS, including your own contributions for social security and Medicare. You’ll also be responsible for keeping your clients compliant, so you need to stay informed of any changes to tax regulations in the country or region you operate.

Knowledge of accounting software

UpStack actively seeks out the best accountants and bookkeepers in the world to feature on their site and get them connected to your business. Colson Strategies even provides a free bookkeeping checklist for any business owner to track expenses and manage money better on their own. Not only do they offer to do these services for you, but they also have programs dedicated to helping businesses learn the basics of bookkeeping themselves. Some business owners who wish to manage their accounting hire bookkeepers to handle the administrative tasks of accounting. If you already have accounting experience, becoming a freelance accountant will be easy. In the United States, freelance accountant jobs will increase by six percent by 2031.

• You also have more control over how much is on your plate to avoid experiencing burnout, which is very common in the industry.
• Freelance accountants can search for a job online or they can also let the job find them.
• Check out our below freelance website reviews to either expand your portfolio or hire a freelancer for your next project.
• We’d recommend QuickBooks or Xero as these are the most well-recognised and therefore may already be in use by your clients.

This is where you decide on the services you want to offer, the kinds of clients you want to work with and your pricing structure. We’d recommend QuickBooks or Xero as these are the most well-recognised and therefore may already be in use by your clients. However, if you’ll be using the software yourself for a number of clients, we’d recommend choosing one that you’re most comfortable with. We hope that with the help of our tips for success, you’ll find a way to create a flourishing career as an accountant within the freelance model.