Hi Everyone
I am new to the forum and have my own bookkeeping business which I am now going to take virtually, does anyone have any get started tips, and how long does it take to build up a virtual bookkeeping business?
thanks, Marge

Hi Marge,

I don't have any tips but just wanted to let you know that I am in the same boat. I started my bookkeeping business in April of 2006 and am now looking to take it virtual. My first truly virtual client is my brother in Utah. (I am in CA.)

I look forward to reading any responses you get. Thanks for posting the question! Good Luck!

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Sarah
Accurate Office Help

Hi Sarah
It is so nice to meet you we will have to keep sharing our experiances as we go since we are both in the same boat!! So how is it going so far for you with your first virtual client? Was it alot different to set up compared to your local clients?
Thanks for responding,
Marge

In my opinion it's easier to start a virtual bookkeeping business after you've already started a local business. (Not to say it's not possible to start virtual first, but...) With that said, there are some differences in being local vs. being virtual. Before you start looking into that market be sure you have the answers to the questions you're going to get: How can you do it? There are some threads on here on how to access your client's records, this one is pretty informative. You'll also want to have in place how you'll get your client's records (e-mail, fax, ftp, mail, etc.).

How long it takes depends on how much you market yourself. There's no answer to that. If you are currently going on-site for your clients see if any of them are willing to go virtual. It saved my on-site clients money when they let me go virtual -- they didn't have to pay for travel time or my on-site premium.

Good luck! Be sure to read through all the threads in this section, there's a lot of great information here.

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Lanel Taylor, CVA ~ Virtual Bookkeeper
Taylored Office Solutions
Custom fit solutions for all your office needs.

HI Lanelt,
I have a pretty good start so far, I am set up with a fax, just need to check into the free fax number I saw on one of the threads, that was very helpful, and I am a qb proadvisor so I can do remote access for my clients now but the only limitation on qb rem acc is I have to go to their computer to set it up with my computer so it only works for locals not someone a long distance from me, now the qb servers sounded very interesting especially the swizznet, I did check the website out, very cool but do you have an idea how much it costs they did not list any prices? Another question for you, you said you have a private server, what exactly is that?
I also am taking an internet marketing course this month and so far I have learned a ton so it will be interesting to see how that pans out once this month is done and I am all done with the course, I will let you know. I checked out many of the threads on the forum and found some awesome information that is very helpful to me, thanks so much for all the info.
Talk to you again,
Marge

I don't know how much Swizznet costs. Most that I've looked at are around $30 a month per user. The private server is in a colleague's office that I rent server space from. It's a dedicated server and allows many people to log in to it at the same time and work. It's really the same idea as Swizznet only on a smaller scale.

Good luck!

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Lanel Taylor, CVA ~ Virtual Bookkeeper
Taylored Office Solutions
Custom fit solutions for all your office needs.

I have both local and virtual clients I do bookkeeping for. One of my virtual clients sends me invoices, copies of checks, statements via fax or priority mail. A lot of the information I am able to access online through their accounts; such as banks and vendors. Most clients are not going to give you access to their accounts if you are just starting with them, but once you have gained their trust this may be a possibility for you. My other virtual client sends everything through fax and occasionally via email.

One has QuickBooks online and the other I access her QuickBooks 2008 via GoToMyPC. So far it works good and I have no complaints. It really depends on your preference and the client's preference. Some don't want to have the added expense of faxing all the time. Another option would be for them to scan and email the documents. For my one client that mainly faxes, I got an efax number that is local to her and it comes right to my email. I use the expense as a write-off for the business because I use it for other things too, but if you are using it exclusively for one client you may want to consider charging the cost back to them.

I hope this helps!

Thanks for your info, it is always nice to hear what is working for others. I did check further into quickbooks remote access and found out I can have the client set it up on their computer thru an email that is sent to them from my remote access, I tried it out with a local client that I am using it on and it worked great, I did not have to set it up for her so that will help alot for longer distance clients. For anyone else who wants to try it, the cost is only 3.99 per month per client for me and my first two are free because I am a proadvisor for quickbooks and the client pays nothing, I couldn't find a price any cheaper or even that is comparable to this, it is definitely the way to go.

I have my own home-based business since January 2008. A client of mine came up to me at a Network Association and asked me if I would be interested in providing my services for his business remotely on a MAC. I said sure, when do we start? So he then trained me for 40 hours and showed me how he does his books.

I bought myself a MacBook Pro Laptop and installed, Text Expender, Name Those Files, Virtual Portal Network Software, and so on.

I access his MAC Server by using a VPN, then to post his Books, I then go on to Remote Desktop PC and post all of his business transactions directly from his Server.

And ever since, I am hooked on Virtual Bookkeeping

Lynne, Kingston, ON, Canada

Thank you for the encourgement. I am a newbie and just doing more research at this time.

Thanks Again,

Anna