What I Would Do DIFFERENTLY - Starting My Bookkeeping Business Today
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
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AJ Stockwell is the owner of Learn Bookkeeping Today LLC and Climb CFO LLC. He is a small business accounting and finance expert with a passion for sharing high-quality informative content for:
-Bookkeepers and aspiring bookkeepers or college students who are considering a career in accounting or starting their own bookkeeping business.
-Business owners who want to better understand their numbers or improve their accounting processes and controls.
-CPAs who are looking to bring even more value to their clients and streamline/update their processes.
What sets me apart is the fact that I have been in the shoes of all 3 of these groups. This channel is going to explore a wide variety of topics related to these areas.
Thank you for watching this video. Please subscribe and let me know in a comment below what you would like to see on this channel!
Go check out my blog and course offering here: www.learnbookk...
Not really into bookkeeping but my wife wants to start doing it on the side.
I really like how quickly you got into the material and didn’t ramble on about nonsense. I subscribed because I felt like you really tried to cram as much value into the video as you could.
I love the advice about specializing in one industry. This is what I'm working on now in my business. Thanks for the video--I definitely agree with all of your points!
I enjoyed your video, concise, to the point and good advice. I trained up learning Xero because it's the most common accounting software in NZ. I did a bookkeeping course and a Diploma in Accounting. I'm trying to land work with a bookkeeper or accountant using Xero because this is a new industry for me and I don't have the confidence to jump straight into starting my own bookkeeping business until I get some experience first. I'm finding that most people don't want to employ someone inexperienced like myself, they forget one day they started at ground zero just like me, hopefully one day soon, God willing, someone will Bless me with an opportunity. 🙏
Thank you so much Sir for making this educational video about bookeeping🙏🙏🙏God bless you🙏🙏watching from Philippines❤
Really good video. Just started a new job with a young company and it's great but I keep getting this feeling that I should be working for myself so I'm saving to do that hopefully within the year
This is great advice! Thank you! I’m just starting my business and I was considering not following through with my niche market but after hearing what you had to say, I am going to stick with it and build slowly. I appreciate you!!
Best!!thank you.
Please educate us on quickbooks to set up basic if you are ok
Please make a video on how to get clients from a beginner perspective.
Great advice!!!! Thank you!!!
Thank you for this
Thank you Very useful information.
Thanks for the video! I was thinking about getting into the business and looking for some ideas and you gave me some great insider information. Thank you!
This is very helpful, especially the part about choosing one industry to specialize in. I have a few questions: (1) Have you considered obtaining or have you obtained a professional bookkeeping license? (2) If so, did you use the AIPB's certification or NACPB's certification, and what is the difference between the two?
Thank you for the great feedback and advices well done
Great video, clear and direct!
7:54
Technically, as an independent contractor (1099 filer) you should already have your own office space. Careful with businesses that try to pass you off as an employee when youre not. Don't wanna be hanging out with the wrong crowed.
Great video. Instant sub!
Thank you, very helpful as we research going into this business. Appreciate your time
Thank you, I am just diving into getting my business started. Great Information.
Thank you for your video nicely done. I'm in school and looking to start bookkeeping.
Great advice. 👌
Awesome!!! Thank you!!
This is very inspiring! I’m a CPA and am considering starting my own business. How did you get your first client? Did you get from website? Online ads? Do you provide tax services too?
Great video!! This was everything I needed to hear right now.
Thanks! I really needed some clarity on opening my bookkeeping business! I have about 23 years of accounting in alternative investments and a family member ask me to keep his books for his real estate. I will focus my business on that angle. Is there any other advice that you can share about going into this niche of accounting?
Hi AJ, awesome video. I'm not a CPA like yourself, however I have been working in Accounting for years.
My question is this... Can I as a Non-CPA offer Accounting services to small businesses? Specifically local restaurants.
I want to offer more than just simple bookkeeping, such as tax preparation, budgeting and forecasting.
Yes I believe you can...
Thank you so much for this!! This is great info!!!
I was about to purchase a course but I didn’t know about the certifications . I will not
Investigate further. Thank you
Great video
Thank you! Great insights and presented well!
Very informative am watching all the way from The Bahamas am a recent college graduate with an Associate degree in Accounting and I want to be a virtual online bookkeeper and want some recommendation on how to go about it
Thank you for the great advice. I appreciate hind site videos. I would like to hear more of your videos.
Thank you!!
Thank you for sharing!
Sound advice sir
Thank you
Love production accounting n way competitive to lands clients
Thank you for all of the sound advice!
How much do you recommend to charge?
Please make another video based on practical works.
Hi Heater, thanks for your comment. Could you please elaborate a little on what you're looking for?
Loving the videos so far. Hoping you do some videos over interpreting/understanding financial statements.
I also looked up QB online, and it isn't free...
Hi Jason -- thanks for your message. I was referring to the QuickBooks Online Accountant program which is specifically designed for bookkeeping/accounting firms serving clients and is completely free. It can be found here: quickbooks.intuit.com/accountants/products-solutions/accounting/online/
I'm going to go ahead and update the video description with this. Thank you for bringing it up!
Thanks for sharing your valuable feedback. Definitely it makes sense to become a master of one type of industry and use one software. It is not always possible but it looks like a right business strategy. All other points regarding reasonable professional fees and serving more than just local clients are necessary and important as well. Best of luck to you and your business!!!
How to get customers
I am requiting you to make a series video how to start book keeping work practically.
I am currently in college studying accounting. I'm currently studying to be a QuickBooks pro advisor and to would like to start my own bookkeeping practice while I'm in college.
How much time passed from when you first started learning QuickBooks to when you first had the confidence to get your first client?
Thank you so much for you Video. Greeting from Panama
Thank you for your tips and suggestions!! It is very insightful.
Market place of find client online.
Thank you for the video! This was so helpful!
This is my favorite video so far.
Recently I earned my QBO Proadvisor badge, so I'm comfortable with QBO and I would like to use it exclusively. However, some people say it is only suitable for very simple businesses because it's features are not robust enough. I'm not comfortable stitching together a bunch of apps to use with it, as I find that overwhelming. Do you have any thoughts or advice on that?
Also, I would very much appreciate a video on how to convert desktop users to QBO, as it appears this can become quite complicated. (Maybe that is a training video, though. Do you do any training vids?)
Thanks for the great vid above. Your vids are very clear and easy to follow.
Thanks Greg! I'm glad you're enjoying the videos. I am a huge fan of QBO and think that it's come a long way over the last few years. In general it seems like the only people who are still better off using Desktop are those who have significant inventory tracking needs such as manufacturers.
That is a great idea for a training video topic. I don't have training on that yet but it is already high on my list. As you can imagine, you are not the first person to ask for it.
I have a training course on my site over at www.learnbookkeepingtoday.com/register -- but it sounds like you might already be pretty advanced on QBO since you're a ProAdvisor.
excellent Video thanks
Excellent and valuable information, thank you!!
Hi AJ. I’m researching what bookkeeping certification/training I’ll go into (I’m just wanting this job until I graduate my compsci program and I’d like to be able to be a part time bookkeeper while I go to school full time).
Your videos are super helpful so far! Thanks a bunch!
Thank you. I appreciate your videos, they are very easy to understand. I wanted to ask a question. How hard would it be for someone 70 years old to start an accounting business? I have a bachelors degree in accounting from many years ago. I have worked in banks auditing departments, again many years ago. During those years things were not internet based and I am not very tech savvy. For many years I was a stay at home mom and I started my own clothing business, which I have scaled by over the years. Again, I know I have to learn quick books online but what are my chances of being successful. Oh and two things you mentioned in another video, being dependable and communicating both of which have helped me in my clothing business.
@Kaydé Sanchez I have no idea.
Do you have the link to the free quick books online course ?
Great advice. You covered the important points.
Thank you, this was very helpful.. ☺
Great information
How would you suggest deciding on a specific niche or industry to master? Should it be an industry I'm personally interested in?
This is an amazing video, thank you
Great video. Thank you
Thanks Joe! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Great video. I have been in retail for 30+ years and ready to start something new that doesn't require me to work more than 3-4 days a week. Is this something that could fit within the bookkeeper schedule. Also, I am into real estate and is there a niche for beekeeping in the real estate sphere? Appreciate any feedback.
Hi, thank you so much for sharing this video, its being very helpful! I have a question though. Most people are advising us to choose an industry and master in that, instead of working for every kind of industry, but how can we figure it out which industry we would like to work with, if we don't try them? I'm assuming there might be another way? Thank you for your time!
Hi Talita, this is a great question. Early on, you certainly can try out different industries to see which one you like. It's a good idea. Three other factors that I recommend considering are if you have experience in a particular industry, if an industry has always been interesting to you, or if you have connections to business owners in a certain industry.
@@LearnBookkeepingToday awesome, thank you so much for your time and help!!!
Must have a certification for Bookkeeping?
what kind of services did you provide while being a student?
Hi,I hope to join a bookkeeping/Accounting firm as an virtual employee. I like to work for US,UK,Australian or New Zealand bookkeeping firms. I live in Sri Lanka(My country-It is south Asian country).How can find a job?
So as a CPA, what do you do besides bookkeeping? What softwares do you use besides quickbooks? Thank you.
Hi Mel, thanks for your question! I run a CFO consulting firm that offers outsourced bookkeeping, controller, and CFO services to companies. QuickBooks is the only accounting platform that I focus on. I also like to use Asana for task management, Dropbox for file storage, and Gusto for payroll.
I have owned and ran my lawncare business for the last 7 years. I am going back to college in August for accounting. Do you think it would be best to get my bookkeeping certification and pick up only lawn care companies to do there bookkeeping/payroll and refer them to my current accountant for the yearly tax returns until I have enough education to do there year end taxes as well? How would you sell them bookkeeping services with out tax prep?
Hi Ethan, this is a fantastic idea. You already know all the ins and outs of a lawncare company so it definitely makes sense for you to focus on that industry. Referring the clients to your current accountant for their tax returns makes sense too if you are confident that the accountant will provide the level of service/experience you want when you refer your clients to someone. In my mind, ongoing bookkeeping services and annual tax prep are completely separate services and make sense to promote separately, especially when you already have a specific accountant to refer the tax prep to. I have never offered tax prep services in my life.
Hi Ethan there is Strattford unviersity you can online diploma and Quick book free learning video help you bookkeeping for if you have bussiness you can learn online with your own time.
Wow, this is great content. I'm loving it. How do you pick a field to specialize in?
Hi Kevin, thanks for your question. I'm actually planning to make a video about this topic this week. Make sure you're subscribed and get notifications when I post a video so you don't miss it!
How can we find customer
How would you research what the chart of accounts would look like for a specific industry Ex (Automotive Body Shops)
Hi Brenda, I would suggest either googling it or speaking with an accountant/bookkeeper/CPA who works with auto body shops to see if they can give you any pointers.
How do i sign up for free quickbook online?
When you say the Quickbooks Online Accounting program is free, are you referring to the 30-day free trial?
Hi Christopher -- No, I'm referring specifically to the platform for accountants to manage their firm serving multiple businesses that use QB Online, not the core QBO program itself for small businesses. You can find the QBO Accountant program here: quickbooks.intuit.com/accountants/
Hi, do you have a video help setup a bookkeeping business?
Hi Alanna, thanks for your comment! Right now this video is all I have on the "how to setup a bookkeeping business" topic, but I definitely plan to continue making videos about this in the future. Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss when I post those!
@@LearnBookkeepingToday subscribed. Thank you!
@@alannatolentino5513 I made a video on how I started my bookkeeping business, check it out if you want! I also have another similar one planned in the next few weeks. 🙂 th-cam.com/video/MF3AmuVplLA/w-d-xo.html
It asks for an accounting firm name when signing up. Do i just make up one to do the training? Im a junior accounting student but im almost 30, career change. Why do you not also offer tax services? I've been considering that and financial planning/budgeting or something. Seems to be more useful to the average person. All of my friends are near 30 and starting families so it seems that would be a better route for me but my cousins helps ppl start nonprofits so i feel like this is also perfect to learn now. Im keeping my options open until i get close to graduation though. Trying to get as many opinions and viewpoints as I can.
You can enter whatever you'd like for your firm name, but if you're actually going to offer accounting/tax services, I'd recommend looking into getting a DBA or business entity registered and using that name. The reason I don't offer tax services is most of my career experience is in corporate finance, not tax prep, so I've decided to specialize there and become as good as I can at that, rather than adding new skills and becoming "pretty good" at a bunch of skillsets. I also just really enjoy helping founders build their brands in a more ongoing, hands-on way. Kudos to you for looking at a career change and going into business for yourself.
I enjoyed your video and I would like to talk with you sometime.
before start a bookkeeping business,i want to work as virtual bookkeper in virtual bookkeeping firm(part ime or full time )i am sri lankan,If i have proper qulification can i find a virual bookkeeping job in virtual bookkeeping firm.I am not asking the name of the firms,Can i know, bookkeeping firms in USA or any other country recruite the employess from another @t you know any websites give information those job vacancies?Thank you
I had my own import export company in India. So I am learning QuickBooks online at present with a view in my mind to serve clients related to import export. Please comment.
Hi AJ!! It was a great video.
I am a Chartered Accountant (with over 8 years experience) based out of New Delhi, India. I plan to take up book keeping assignments on outsourcing basis. If you are looking for economical outsourcing solutions for your clients, please reply so that we can connect further.
I'm interested
Great advice.Thanks
Hey i am qbo pro advisor and begnner bookkeeer do some favour plz to get strt
You should put CPA in your TH-cam name dude
HOW MUCH TIME REQUIRE TO EARN $10000 IF I HAVE LEARNT BOOKEEPING +QUICKBOOK SOFTWARE AND work 14 hours a day??? is it possible in 4 months
Do you hire employees?
Or do you pass on any access work on commission basis?
Quickbooks is a trusted industry product....why would people push back at it?
Have to disagree with your statement @ 8:50: "advisor.....". Are we talking about a bookkeeper or a CPA?
If it's a bookkeeper, you shouldn't be advising except on bookkeeping processes. Have to be careful venturing into that territory.
Too many bookkeepers think they are the clients CFO. FAR FROM IT.
Are you affiliated with Quickbooks, are they paying you? Not judging just trying to gauge how biased or non biased your video is.
Hi Cody, thanks for asking! No, I am not an affiliate with QuickBooks (at least not yet). I make money from selling my training courses. I could make those for any software platform but recognize that QB is the best and most popular small business accounting software out there, so I focus on that. I also believe it makes sense to specialize/focus on one platform because it allows you to become more of an expert.
Hi! I have a couple questions about your day-to-day as a bookkeeper. Do you have an email address I can connect with you at?
Hey AJ my name is Danish Bokhari, do you think I can get 30 mins of your time. I want you to speak to me and my team to answer a few questions. I know you are very busy and I’m willing to pay for your time
This video looks like paid by QB. A bit biased. You mention QB in almost every other sentence.
Hi K - thank you for your comment. My videos currently have no sponsors, but I understand why it would feel that way. I have focused my business on QuickBooks because I truly believe it provides great tools for both businesses and their accountants. There are other great platforms out there (such as Xero), but I've decided to just focus on this one because I'd rather try to know everything I can about one platform than know "just enough" about several.
Thanks 😊
Good video, thank you!
Great advice. Thanks.
great content. Thanks very much.