Bookkeeping as a Side Hustle Job: Realistic Earnings and How to Scale Up.
A Brief History Of Bookkeepers!
You can start a bookkeeper job without any prior experience!
In this post, we’ll clearly explain the processes involved (how to become a bookkeeper and work from home with no previous experience).
We’ll also look at two people who succeeded in this bookkeeping job without any prior experience to motivate those just starting. Their names are Rachel and Olly.
The bookkeeping job lets you earn a living from home. You can do it from any corner of the world—you don’t need an office. You can work wherever you’re comfortable.
In a bookkeeping job, you can charge clients $40 to $80 per hour.
This job suits you if you’re interested in it. If you want to become a certified bookkeeper, get the “Intuit Bookkeeping Professional Certificate” offered by coursera.org (it’s available with a free trial or low-cost subscription).
Take advantage of the “FREE class about starting a virtual bookkeeping business” on Udemy. Udemy also has many other free courses for all your needs.
Do you know why a premium service platform like Udemy offers some courses for free?
It’s because some companies that sell premium video courses on Udemy release example clips or introductory content to build customer trust and attract more students.
That’s why you see free courses on Udemy.
With free online courses from platforms like coursera.org and udemy.com (as mentioned above), you can quickly gain clarity about the bookkeeping business.
For example, before starting a bookkeeping business, you need to understand exactly what the business involves, what tools/skills you’ll need, and how to get started!
Okay, friends! Now it’s time to learn the basics about the bookkeeping job.
Disclaimer: All links in this blog post are my affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you purchase a product or service through my links (at no extra cost to you). Please read our Affiliate Disclosure for more information.
What Does a Bookkeeper Do All Day?
As a bookkeeper, the main tasks involve recording clients’ financial transactions, tracking how money flows in and out, keeping copies of receipts and confirmation documents, and preparing professional financial statements for clients.
No, you don’t need to “fix” anything major—but if you notice errors or quality issues in client statements, this business includes monitoring and reconciling their monthly cash transactions.
A Good Bookkeeper:
If you want to become an excellent bookkeeper, certain skills are helpful. It’s great if you can run a company on your own or manage a team.
Even if you don’t have these skills yet, you can develop them. There will be many situations where you solve your clients’ problems independently.
So, focus on learning how to solve problems easily and quickly—you’ll find solutions that will be very useful in your bookkeeping job.
How Much Can You Make Per Client?
In a bookkeeping job, you do not have to work day in and day out for your clients. Instead, it is usually enough to work 5 to 6 hours once a month per client.
It also depends on your efficiency — if you work quickly, your required hours are likely to decrease. You can typically charge $250 to $450 per month per client.
How to Become a Bookkeeper with No Experience: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide.
Can You Become a Bookkeeper With No Experience?
Previous bookkeeping experience is helpful in becoming a better bookkeeper. However, to start as a bookkeeper, you do not need any prior experience. What you do need is proper skills and training.
For that, I recommend a great resource: the website bookkeepers.com and its paid course called Bookkeeper Launch.
Steps to Get Started as a Bookkeeper,
You can handle basic tasks for your clients — many of which are similar to things you already do in daily life. These include:
i) First, learn the basics of bookkeeping.
You will be responsible for managing your clients’ debits and credits, paying necessary expenses, collecting receipts and bills, generating invoices for the business, and preparing financial statements.
ii) Market your bookkeeping business.
Once you have learned the basic knowledge required for bookkeeping, work on techniques to impress potential clients easily.
One effective strategy is to offer your services free for the first 3 months to a few selected clients (for example, your first 10 clients). This helps turn them into long-term paying customers.
iii) Business set-up.
You need to follow the proper procedures to run your bookkeeping business professionally. This includes registration and other necessary set-ups.
Make sure you clearly understand and correctly implement all the steps mentioned above for a successful bookkeeping career.
The basics I mentioned can often be found in free resources such as:
“FREE class about starting a virtual bookkeeping business” (Intuit Academy Bookkeeping Professional Certificate – coursera.org).
Free online bookkeeping courses on Udemy.
Paid bookkeeping courses (like Bookkeeper Launch) will guide you through every step to sharpen your skills — so never skip them.
Some people avoid free resources thinking they won’t be valuable, but many high-quality free classes and courses are available online and can be extremely helpful.
Can You Work From Home as a Bookkeeper and How?
I would like to share an interview with two highly successful bookkeepers who built their businesses using both the paid and free bookkeeping courses mentioned above.
This interview will answer most of your questions and confusion. Read their responses carefully to discover the key steps they took to succeed.
Do You Have Any Thoughts On Purchasing the “Bookkeeper Launch Course” Offered By Bookkeepers.com?
Rachel:
Usually, I do not have a great deal of confidence in paid courses like this. So I first looked at some free bookkeeping courses and started my bookkeeping business.
Four months passed with no progress in my bookkeeping business! I knew within a few days what the reason was.
No matter how much I thought about how to market my bookkeeping business and find potential clients, I had no luck. Circumstances like this gave me a lot of difficulty.
Because I had all the knowledge and ability to do the bookkeeping business effectively, but the only thing that worried me was that I did not have a customer base.
I searched many articles online to see if there were any ways to get out of this problem. But all the results I got gave only the basic tips for the bookkeeping business (I could not find the right way I needed).
It was only after I realized that I could no longer do this business alone that I concluded that I should access the paid course (hence the “Bookkeeper Launch Course”).
Olly Murs:
There is nothing wrong with spending a small amount of money now on something that will pay off later in life as a business.
However, I did not really have the money for the paid course then. That’s what gave me a stumbling block!
2026 – Bookkeeper’s Course Cost?
Three Options:
- BL Pro — $249/year OR one-time payment $2,499 — Bookkeeper Basic Course only.
- BL Premier — $299/year OR $2,999 — Course + Group Coaching.
- BL Team — Lots of services available here — $499/year OR one-time payment $4,999.
A 30% military discount package is available for qualified persons. Bookkeepers.com offers a 30% discount on annual or one-time payments for military personnel.
📢 https://bookkeepers.com/investment-options/
Those who buy the Bookkeeper Launch Course with lifetime access via a single payment have a 100% Money Back Guarantee for only 30 days.
Course Period?
Rachel completed the Bookkeeper Launch Course in 8 months. Olly Murs finished in 11 months.
If you want to complete this course quickly, you must follow the training they provide and make a serious effort to complete the course.
How Much Time Do You Spend Per Day on This Course?
Rachel:
My focus was on completing the bookkeeping course. So I would take the course training at whatever time I got, without wasting even 15 minutes.
I’m not sure, but I continued with 1 to 3 hours of the course per day.
Olly Murs:
I spent 2 to 3 hours a day on this course.
What Does the Course Cover?
Rachel:
There are two main parts to this course. The first part teaches the basic things that bookkeepers need to do.
That is, recording the client’s financial transaction details as a bookkeeper, the ways in which their cash transactions take place, copies of confirmation certificates, and the customer’s professional statements.
Need to fix something? Notice if there is quality in customer statements? And clearly monitor their monthly cash transactions.
The second part teaches how to run a business and the marketing process clearly.
Olly Murs:
This course showed me a clear path. That is, bookkeepers are taught many tips on how to run their business without loss and attract customers in this online world.
On top of this, all the questions I asked and the answers from the two people were mostly the same.
Are the Classes Done at Your Own Pace?
Yes! Yes!
Course Pros and Cons?
The bookkeeping training is well provided, and I cannot say anything negative about it.
Your Profit?
I charge from $280 to $390 per customer per month.
How Many Customers Do You Currently Have?
How to say? My number of my clients keeps changing from month to month. Strictly speaking, my number of my clients is 8 to 15 per month.
My Opinion!
Any profession is okay! No matter how many questions we ask the winners, no matter what they answer, it will fall on deaf ears, and its effect will be limited to words.
So even if the advice of others comes from prior experience, it’s okay to buy it, take it with one ear, put in full effort, and try—even if you fail!
Do you understand what I am saying now? In a nutshell, what I want to say is: first complete the course, and then clarity will come to you.
You do not have to worry about it, even if their answers vary. Try to complete this premium course first.
Don’t worry about the money! We spend so much money unnecessarily in life. Spend 1% of it on this and create a business for yourself.
Freelance Bookkeeping Jobs: Where to Find Gigs and Charge What You’re Worth.