Whether you want to be your own boss or would like to make some extra money, becoming a freelance accountant can help realize your goals. Freelancing is an excellent career opportunity for accountants to move ahead of a bright career. A freelance accountant handles the financial accounts of a client. Generally, freelance accountants are recruited by small businesses as they cannot afford to have a salaried accountant.
As a freelance accountant, you are responsible to supervise, examine and record the cash inflow and outflow of your client. With flexible working hours, you will get an opportunity to provide your services to clients across the globe. The following are the few guidelines that help you get started with a freelance accountant.
Qualifications For Freelance Accounting
Even though mere accounting knowledge can help to succeed in this field, this might not work in all the cases. Today, employers are looking for highly trained professionals who can handle remote accounting job activities efficiently. The following are the few qualifications that are required to become a freelance accountant:
- Bachelor’s degree in accounting or a business degree
- Accounting courses would be an added benefit
- Financial Software such as QuickBooks, M.Y.O.B., would help
- In the case of attaining Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification, ensure that your bachelor’s degree has a sufficient number of training hours in accounting as a basic requirement for certification
- Your sub-specialization should be from the public, management, internal, government accounting or internal auditing
- Register yourself on websites that offer accounting assignments. Make your own blog to advertise your service and stay updated on the industry information
- The internship would be an added advantage to you
- Gain familiarity with advanced computer applications that help in an accounting process
Freelance Accountant Duties
The following are the few responsibilities of a freelance accountant:
- Recording and saving data in regards to profits, loss, tax, pending bills, tax, sales and other similar transactions in a timely fashion
- Tallying the accounts on a daily, weekly or monthly basis
- Calculating the details of tax returns
- Drafting financial statements to clients
- Make sure that all financial laws practiced by the company are legal
- Taking care of the administrative tasks of your own business
[Also Read: Freelance Financial Analyst ]
Freelance Accountant Career Opportunities
After gaining two to three years of experience, freelance accountants can advance their career as a full-time consultant. Upon gaining vast experience, you will have an option to become a financial planner or chartered accountant.
Freelance Accountant Salaries
The average salary of a freelance accountant is $32,000 per year. However, the salaries vary from company to company, location, industry, experience, and benefits. (1)
[Also Read: Freelance Marketing Consultant ]
Wave Accounting App
Wave Accounting is a free alternative for people who require freelance accounting software to manage the day to day aspects of their business. The tool offers detailed reports and offers an option to add accounts and directly link bank information from the app’s console.
The interface is intuitive and provides a good experience to the users.
