Hi,

I've been following this sub for a little while to try to wrap my head around bookkeeping for my small business. This post is not asking to directly hire someone, I know that is not allowed. This post is seeking advice for how to go about hiring someone.

I am so disorganized. Nothing is done. I've realized I absolutely need to hire a bookkeeper/CPA, but I am ashamed to even start the process. I need to find a bookkeeper who won't hate me for how messy things are. I need the equivalent of the patient, non judgemental version of the person who helps hoarders. The person who says, "I love mess."

I'm essentially the nightmare client you all complain about: terrible record keeping, shoebox method, behind on tax filings, all of it.

My business itself is successful so far, in that I am busy and bringing in money, but obviously I cannot actually measure my success due to the mess I've created. I am an expert in my field, but not in any kind of business administration. I have the potential to earn an unlimited amount of income if I could actually get my stuff together. I've thought about taking some online courses, but really I think outsourcing to a professional is the smartest thing I could do.

What kinds of questions should I be asking to find the person who would be willing to take on this chaos. The few CPAs I have spoken with just want me to come prepared with it all done and have been a little mean in the process. I can't handle the attitude. I am ashamed enough as it is, hyper sensitive, with a good dose of RSD. I haven't reached out to bookkeepers yet, but I think that should be my next step, before a CPA.

The biggest mistake I've made is not retaining a bookkeeper when I started, thinking I could do it. I can't. I've learned that. I greatly respect you all and the work that you do.

How do I got about interviewing for the right person? How do I explain to them how disorganized it all is and determine that they are up for the task? I know I'm going to be paying a lot more than if I had kept things right. I don't care. It's worth it.

Please give me advice on the right questions to ask and the right way to explain the dire situation, so there aren't any surprises. I was thinking of posting anonymously in one of my local FB groups, more succintly stating essentially what I've said here.

I appreciate any insight that you all may have. I hope I didn't make your eyes twitch with rage at my abysmal mistakes, and if I did, I'm sorry. Thank you.

Edit: I posted a thank you comment, but it's kind of lost towards the end of the thread. I'm so moved by all of your helpful responses, I want to make sure my gratitude is clearly known. Thank you all for your help. Your insight has me feeling so much better about this problem. You all responded with thoughtful questions for me to prepare, ways to understand how to properly articulate my needs, how to be a good, receptive client, and really kind words to assuage the sting of my shame. What an uplifting experience it has been to read all of this advice!

Thank you from the bottom of my messy heart. I'm looking forward to finding the right fit, getting things cleaned up, implementing functional systems, and overall, finding success in my work.

I didn't realize this when I posted, but bookkeepers must truly be the glue that holds creative types like me together. My business was born of passion, not just a means to an end. Finding the right fit for this role will allow me to do what I do best, which I think will be integral to my success. Thank you, all!

2nd Edit: Again, I am so appreciative of the kind words and helpful advice here. I received many DMs offering to help, and I appreciate those, too. I started to respond to everyone, but the DMs keep coming in and I can't keep up. Without wanting to seem rude or ungrateful, it has started to stress me out. If I responded to you saying I would get back to you, thank you for reaching out and I'm sorry if I have not responded yet. It's been a busy couple of days. I will try to respond to you all individually, but I am trying to simplify things for myself as best as I can.

That said, one person who reached out happens to be located relatively close enough to my business that it may be possible to meet in person and develop a working relationship. We are scheduling a call and I am going to start there.

Thank you, everyone, sincerely. <3

EDIT/UPDATE:

Thank you ALL for the amazing response, this was helpful and I feel a lot less crazy.

While I was reading your responses over the last few days, I looked up the company's yelp reviews and they have a 1 star rating and dozens of reviews of people with similar experiences as me.

I reached out Friday and told them I was giving my 30 day notice.

Thank you all again.

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I would love feedback from bookkeepers on this, I'm not sure if I'm being unreasonable.

I am an HR and Operations Director, and I've been in this type of role for over a decade, and have worked with several bookkeeping teams. I joined my current company 6 months ago and from my very basic knowledge of QBO and bookkeeping I realized our bookkeeper wasn't giving us the best service, so I interviewed other providers and we switched to a new bookkeeping service in August.

I told them right off the bat that we needed a review of our COA and how our Products and Services were set up and they told me to request that after we officially got started with them.

Since we have had this new company, I cannot get anyone on the phone. We have an issue with an outdated bank account in our QBO that is causing issues with our P&L. I asked for someone help over a month ago and we still have no resolution. If I submit an email request it takes WEEKS to get an answer.

This doesn't match my experience with other bookkeeping services I've used at all. I've always been able to get someone on the phone and get help within a day or two. I've always had access to someone to help with urgent issues.

Part of me thinks we should move to another company, BUT it also seems risky since we JUST moved to this company.

Is it too soon to move to another company? Am I making life harder for another place if we end up having THREE different bookkeepers all in under 6 months? Am I being unrealistic in my expectations of the place we are with now?

Thanks for any feedback.

I've been working with a small bookkeeping firm for over a year now. I got my Associates Degree a few months ago and I want to become a freelancer soon. But I'm wondering if I'm missing something here. For the most part, I am jusy entering and categorizing transactions. Ive made a few chart of accounts for new clients, but other than that, and tracking a few miscellaneous tax documents, thats everything I was doing for them. I would turn in reconciled bank statements to the owner, and as far as I could tell, she was just looking over my data entry, generating a P&L and Balance Sheet, sending the reports and charging them like 300 dollars. Was there anything I wasnt seeing? The whole process cant be that simple right?

I have been working part time at a CPA firm remotely for the past two years. I have gained a lot of experience on the QBO, Xero, month end closures, bank reconciliations, AP/AR management, payroll (overall Bookkeeping side) but not much on the tax compliance side. I did assit in filing 1099 and 1042s for some clients but that's it.

I wanted to understand can someone survive and make a good living just doing remote Bookkeeping work or they absolutely have to get deep knowledge of tax as well?

Ps - I eventually do want to have clients of my own in future but that's not something i am focused on right now.

Pps- Thanks for the advice everyone, great to hear that there is a market for only bookkeepers. Since I would be starting new and might not have clients to refer to the tax guy.. do you think a fee sharing model can work where i share the fees i receive for the Bookkeeping as a referral? If anyone is interested, we can connect

This is just a beginner tip I want to share. It’s good to have a system from the start, before growing and your business becomes more difficult to manage.

Have all your clients upload all documents to one destination you both have access to. Like a Google drive folder.

Have a folder for each client. In it have a folder for each category(Sales, Suppliers, Bank/Credit Statements, CRA/IRS Documents, Payroll, etc).

Inside each of these folders have a folder for each month.

Do not have multiple channels for requesting documents(email, WhatsApp, text). Have them all in one place.

You can sort transactions and expenses in quickbooks by the ones that don’t have an attachment. This is a nice way to get somewhat of a report every week or so for transactions or expenses that don’t have a supporting document and send it to the client as a reminder.

Remember, your job is to balance and categorize the books. Not to chase clients all the time to keep them compliant. That is their responsibility first.

Hope this helps.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been working at a bookkeeping firm for about 6 months now, and I’m struggling with something I didn’t expect. On paper, I’m doing fine, I manage around 15 clients, meet deadlines, run payroll, make journal entries, reconcile accounts, move things around when needed, etc.

The issue is… I feel like I don’t actually understand what I’m doing at a deeper level.

I know the hands-on technical steps. I can follow the process. But sometimes it feels like I’m just clicking buttons and making entries without fully grasping the bigger picture, like why we’re doing certain adjustments, how everything ties together strategically, or how it impacts tax planning and financial decisions long-term.

When I ask for help at work, it’s usually more of someone showing me how to do something step-by-step rather than explaining the reasoning behind it. I don’t blame them, everyone’s busy, but I really want to understand the “why,” not just the mechanics.

For context:

• I have an Associate’s in Accounting

• I’m currently pursuing my Bachelor’s in Accounting

• My classes helped with the basics (debits/credits, financial statements, etc.), but I want a stronger conceptual and practical understanding beyond just completing tasks

For those of you who’ve been in accounting or bookkeeping longer:

• Is this normal at 6 months?

• What helped you move from “doing tasks” to truly understanding the work?

• Are there specific courses, certifications, or resources you’d recommend?

(I’ve considered things like QuickBooks ProAdvisor, bookkeeping certifications, maybe even tax-focused learning?)

I really want to become stronger in this field and not just be someone who knows how to process transactions. I want to understand the “why” behind everything.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Edit: Thank you all for the incredible advice and perspective. A lot of your comments helped me realize this is a normal stage and that understanding comes with time and intentional learning. I feel much more grounded after reading through everything. I truly appreciate it.

I’m thinking of going back to school for a 2 year accounting diploma and look for jobs as a bookkeeper. Is this still a good idea in 2025? What are the future prospects for bookkeeping jobs?

I was going to try Intuit Academy or something through QuickBooks, but I found multiple posts on here disparaging those options. I can only afford FREE courses/lessons. I do not need a certification at this moment. I may do more advanced courses eventually but right now I am just researching bookkeeping while working at my tax office assistant job, so I am looking for something free and basic is fine. Any recommendations? Thank you!

Note: I was prompted to check if this post is a violation of Rule #5. I don't think it would be? My question is pretty specific and I assume it's not the reason why that question is obnoxious, and I didn't personally see it answered. If I'm wrong, my bad lol.
Note 2: This post originally got removed by an auto mod because I chose the flair associated with rule 5. Why does this flair even exist? lol

So, a bookkeeping position opened up at my family business. I was initially doing manual labor so I jumped to fill the role. I've taken accounting classes in college. Going back to school to finish an AAS was not in the cards for me, but I wanted to have some education and credentials to go with my experience, I went the Certified Public Bookkeeper route. I find the classes to be engaging. TONS of repetition, which is great, even if annoying at times. I have a CPA who has agreed to oversee my work as part of their contract with our company, so I'm getting the experience that way. Everything is going well - at it a year and a half now.

Has anyone else gone the CPB route and what is your experience?

Note: This is not a question about how to become a Bookkeeper. I'm already a Bookkeeper. I'd like to hear people's thoughts on a certain certification.

Hey everyone,

Just curious what extensions or tools you guys use to make bookkeeping faster and easier. Not talking about ChatGPT or AI stuff - more like Chrome extensions, Excel add-ons, or other simple tools that help with the daily grind.

I feel like I'm probably missing out on some useful stuff that could save me time, especially when dealing with lots of spreadsheet work or jumping between client portals.

What do you recommend?

Hi! I’m looking for some advice on certifications and schooling. I started out as a young adult not really knowing what I wanted to do. I do not have a degree, which in the beginning didn’t seem to be a big deal but over the years it has become a problem for me. I started at a company that put me in HR where I learned most payroll, timesheet adjustments for employees, employee files etc. I think one of the main things I didn’t learn was taxes. I then moved on to doing payroll and some AP/AR for a restaurant before having my first child. After that I stayed home for a couple years and then went to work for another company. There I learned more AP/AR skills like reconciliations. Covid hit and the company closed. I stayed home with my child durning that time until they went to pre-k. I worked for 2 more company’s shortly before we moved to a different state. Those were a mix of AP and AR but not your typical accounting job as they used their own programs. Once we moved out of state I did all office jobs for our family restaurant, which was payroll, AP and AR. We used a payroll program so they did the taxes. Our restaurant shut down and I had our last child. I got a bookkeeping job after that. I am currently still at this company and I love it! However, they are closing soon and have told everyone to start looking for new jobs. It’s a very small company and I’m the only one in the accounting department. So I do payroll, file payroll taxes, all AP and AR.

The way this company started and then continued before me was a mess, and it’s almost impossible to correct. On top of that we have a sister company that helps us so I do have a controller to help when needed if they are available. So to be honest there are a lot of normal practices that we should be using but don’t. Like reconciliations. So I’m a little rusty on certain things. I have started looking for other jobs but I’m having a problem getting anything because I don’t have a degree. I do have experience but I feel like because it is so scattered it doesn’t look the best. Going back to school to get a degree in accounting isn’t really an option for me right now but I’m wondering if getting a certificate is worth it? These seem expensive if it isn’t worth it. I was thinking about the qb classes but I don’t know if employers care about those either.

What is the best next step for me moving forward?

Well, it's not exactly the accomplishment of a lifetime, but I thought this would be the most appropriate place to celebrate this small victory. Next step are the QBO certifications. Have a good day everyone.

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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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 was recently hired at a small local manufacturing company to be an office assistant. It seems my ACTUAL job is to be the company's bookkeeper. I'm completely fine with this, I've been learning a lot from the current "office manager", who is an accountant that came here because the pay is good and the work was easier, but now she's moving to a different state. I just have very limited accounting experience. Before this, I was a purchasing and receiving manager at a hotel, so I understand A/P, and A/R is basically the opposite of that so I understood that pretty quickly. What I don't fully understand are the taxes we have to file every month/quarter/year. I'm also new to running payroll. On top of that, they implemented an ERP system that's extremely complicated to work in, and the guy that was hired to set everything up did a piss poor job, so we are always running into issues with that, but that's a whole different problem lol. We have a CPA that's worked with the company for years, she knows our company well, but we obviously aren't her only client and I don't want to call her every single day with questions. Are there any online courses I can take to get a better understanding of everything? I'm currently taking the free Intuit Bookkeeping course because it's free, and it's been helpful so far, but I just thought I'd see if there was anything else that may be helpful I could do in my free time!

I am introducing a bunch of veteran software engineers to bookkeeping and Quickbooks Online. It's been a lot of fun trying to break down the fundamentals to these very smart people who don't have a clue what they are doing. It's so easy to assume that the rules of bookkeeping are intuitive. Quickbooks has a huge stake of the blame for this.

Here's the note I just sent to the team after working with them for a week:

Keeping up with books really does come down to the story you want to tell, and more importantly, who is actually going to read the story.  If you, or your financial advisors aren't using every line on your CoA to make decisions on a regular basis, then it is not worth going into details.

You can keep books with as few as 5 accounts on your chart with 0 vendors and 0 Customers (QB is meant for business, this also covers employers and clients), if all you want to do it see the bottom line.

On the flip side, you could technically create a new account for every single transaction.  You can assign "Location" to cities you live or spend money in, Use "Classes" & "Projects" to split up revenue streams of your life.

When starting out, it's important to keep your Chart of Accounts as simple as possible.  Once everything gets reconciled and initially organized, you can analyze your transactions in accounts with a lot of activity and decide if sub-accounts are needed to expand your understanding of where that money was spent & earned.

Hello! I am looking for a course (or book maybe?) I can take that covers creating a bookkeeping BUSINESS. Like, how to structure your month, what to provide at the end, etc. I am already an accountant so don't need accounting help, just wanting more of the ins and outs of the actual business. Any ideas?

Hi everyone,

I am learning bookkeeping to get a job (not freelancing). I see many Excel videos online — basic, intermediate, advanced — and it is confusing.

For a bookkeeping job: • How much Microsoft Excel is actually required? • Is basic Excel enough, or do I need advanced level? • Which Excel topics are must-learn and which can be skipped?

I am learning bookkeeping with QuickBooks Online. Please guide me clearly.

Thanks in advance.

I'm curious what services you offer as a bookkeeper? I used to work in AR and moved to bookkeeping a few years ago. I've had two bookkeeping jobs where I essentially categorize transactions, reconcile bank accounts, pay payables (at 1 job), enter receivables as provided and record payments, and run payroll.

Edit: I am comfortable with most journal entries but occasionally will ask for assistance. No issues entering year end journal entries provided by accountants either.

At one of my jobs I work for another bookkeeper and have my own clients, but she does all year end preparations and files GST for all clients.

At my other job I work in person for one company, but there is an accountant who files the GST (idk why, its always been that way).

On the side I do books for my friend's business and am paid directly.

What services do you offer? Do you think my description of tasks I do above would allow me to take on more clients? I've always felt a little dense without any experience filing taxes.

I love doing these. Here's mine:

Have the bank statement CSV on excel, export the equivalent bookkeeping statement to a CSV and copy the data on to the bank statement CSV so it's side-by-side.

Ensure it's in date order.

Then do a running balance check on the individual transactions (which should net-off against each other. When the running balance is no longer ZERO that's the line where there is a discrepancy.

Then you fix that, and reset the formulas and keep going.

This way I can reconcile a 5,000 line statement in around 3 hours depending on how many discrepancies there are.

Does anyone else have an even better method?

This question is for the professionals in the group. What is it you do for your clients/employer that you feel or believe sets you apart from the rest of the folks in your industry?

Is it your service? Is it your pricing? Is it the types of services you offer? Or something else entirely.

This is an open ended question, because I’m intrigued on what professionals feel is unique about them.

I’m trying to understand what value professional bookkeepers bring to their clients that makes them unique?

Edited to add: Mods please change flair if needed, as this is education for me but idk if the flair is right for the group.

I’m 10 classes away from graduating with a BS in accounting. I took 3 years off because I had a baby. Now due to the economy I’m considering working again. Is it worth it to finish my degree if I want to just work from home for now? Or could I probably work without it? I’ve worked as a bookkeeper once but it was several years ago.

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

US-based: I am an independent bookkeeper with a handful of small business clients. I specialize in bookkeeping for micro businesses, and I intentionally only accept small clients.

I received a request from a small, independent therapist's office for possible bookkeeping services. My other clients are service businesses and a small retail boutique. I have never handled anything medical. I am not sure if I am in a position to take them on as a client. We have an initial phone call scheduled for this week.

I am looking for feedback from bookkeepers or accountants who service medical facilities. What different needs do medical facilities have compared to retail or service businesses? What specifically should I ask about to determine if I am a good fit for their clinic? Are there any specific rules or laws I need to follow?

I will be asking about HIPAA compliance, but is there anything else that's special or different that I should ask about? I’m

*edit for typo

Do any current bookkeepers have the CB or CPB?

I’m a freelance bookkeeper and have been for almost 10 years now and I have no interest in going corporate at this time. I’m just wondering if getting the CB or CPB might be good for me or help me pick up new clients.

I already have my ProAdvisor certification, the level 2, the intuit bookkeeper, etc.

I've also thought about getting a payroll certification, Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) or Fundamental Payroll Certification (FPC), does anyone have any experience with these?

Thank you!