Thinking of Starting a Bookkeeping Business – Looking for Advice

June 12, 2025

by an member in Los Angeles, CA, USA

Hi everyone, I’m 17 and almost done with my first year of college studying accounting. I’m planning to start a bookkeeping business soon and eventually grow it into a CPA firm once I get my license. Before I get started, I wanted to ask: What should I know before launching? • Are there any laws, regulations, or compliance issues I should watch out for when starting a bookkeeping business? • Do I need any licenses or certifications to offer bookkeeping services? • When I become a CPA, how hard is it to transition a bookkeeping business into a licensed CPA firm? • Any mistakes you made early on that you’d advise me to avoid? I’m especially looking for input from people who: • Have run a bookkeeping or CPA practice • Have scaled from solo to firm • Understand the legal/ethical lines between bookkeeping, tax prep, and CPA work Thanks in advance to anyone willing to share their experience.

Reply by a searcher
from Hillsdale College in New York, NY, USA

Way to go! Great bookkeeping is under-rated and hard to find. A few things that you don't learn in accounting class that you'll need to get good at fast: 1) Weekly bank reconciliations are a must. Quickbooks makes this easy, but taking over someone else's work means you might have to spend many hours cleaning up old books. 2) Related: always assume it will take 2-3 times as long to onboard a new client as you think, and you should expect to do that onboarding for a relatively low fee. you'll make it up in goodwill and in keeping the books clean for years going forwad 3) If you are used to services businesses and you need to do an inventory-heavy business, or a business with long-term contract accounting, ask for an expert to help you figure out the nuances. 4) Your actions directly impact the peopel in the business, and their actions impact you. Don't forget to communicate really clearly. I've never done bookkeeping, but I've done a lot of accounting in our portfolio companies and have also hired bookkeepers several times, so I know the pitfalls.

Reply by a professional
from DePaul University in Detroit, MI, USA

I think a minimum of 3 years with a good CPA firm would make a huge difference in your learning curve. It is amazing what you will learn doing diverse work at a CPA firm. And for someone wanting to run his own firm at a young age, I would recommend a local or regional CPA firm, not a large firm. You get exposure to all aspects of the practice at a smaller firm in the first few years.

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