Establishing and operating a bookkeeping service
Abstract
This book discusses a small firm offering a bookkeeping, accounting, and tax service which might consist of only one member and an assistant, or at most around 8 to 10 people. Gross receipts might range from as little as $3,000 to $4,000 a year for a newcomer to around $40,000 to $50,000 annually. The firm might be located in either a large city or a small community. The clients would themselves be small businesses�the neighborhood grocer and druggist, an auto repair shop, a trucking firm, a machine shop, a leather goods jobber, or perhaps ranchers or small grain elevators or canneries in the rural areas. You may be considering the idea of starting such a bookkeeping service. How do you go about establishing and operating it? What do you have to know? Do you have to be a certified public accountant? How much money do you need to get started? How much can you expect in the way of earnings? What are the advantages and disadvantages? What are the prospects for success?