If you're looking for a flexible stay-at-home job, part time or full time, you can become a remote (virtual or online) bookkeeper with little to no experience or degree.
Nicole Gallicchio-Elz of New York is the COO of Virtual Assist USA, a company that regularly hires bookkeepers to assist its clients. She says that how much you make as a bookkeeper is largely dependent on your experience and whether you work as an employee, specialize in a specific type of bookkeeping, or run your own business.
She's seen pay ranges starting around $15/hour for entry-level bookkeeping jobs up to $60/hour for independent bookkeepers who set their own rates and work with multiple clients. Highly experienced bookkeepers with certifications may command as high as $126 per hour.
We’ve put together the best resources for finding full-time, part-time, and freelance virtual bookkeeping jobs, including Bookkeeper Launch, an A+ BBB-rated course that offers:
- Training to help you build a website, market yourself, and get high-paying clients
- Access to an exclusive community of bookkeepers for networking and advice
Start with this FREE masterclass >>
3 companies hiring bookkeepers now
These companies have current job postings for remote bookkeepers:
Beech Valley Solutions
Beech Valley Solutions is an Atlanta, Ga.-based tech staffing firm. They match bookkeepers with opportunities to help them build a list of clients. All work is remote. The company has a 4.4 out of 5 rating on Glassdoor based on 22 employee reviews.
Here’s a remote bookkeeper position at Beech Valley Solutions posted on the BeechValley.com in March 2024:
Intuit
Intuit is looking for bookkeepers of all experience levels from entry-level to expert. You can join the Intuit Talent Community to get up-to-date information on remote job opportunities. Based on employee feedback, Intuit has a 4.4 out of 5 rating on Glassdoor, and is number 57 on Glassdoor’s 100 Best Places to Work in 2023.
Here’s an Intuit remote bookkeeper job posting found on Intuit.com in March 2024:
StellaLife
StellaLife is a dental hygiene product company. It has a 4.2 out of 5 rating with Glassdoor and a 4.8 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot.
Here’s a remote bookkeeper position from StellaLife listed on ZipRecruiter in March 2024:
10 other companies that regularly hire bookkeepers
These companies are known for offering virtual, on-site, and/or hybrid (a mix of online and on-site) bookkeeping gigs regularly:
1-800Accountant
BBB-accredited and A- rated 1-800Accountant is currently hiring virtual bookkeepers to support its base of business owners and startup companies. They hire professionals with at least three years of bookkeeping experience, aptitude with QuickBooks, and those who are able to work at least 30 hours per week.
Backyard Bookkeepers
Backyard Bookkeepers has online bookkeeper openings and offers flexible hours. You can work as few as 15 hours per week and up to 30. You’ll need QuickBooks experience, knowledge of accounting, and excellent communication skills.
Creative Financial Staffing (CFS)
CFS offers a variety of temporary and direct-hire opportunities for bookkeepers with flexible work hours. Positions are either on-site or online, hourly or salaried, depending on the CFS client. You can browse and apply for available jobs or work with a CFS recruiter for more individual help landing a gig.
Lee Hecht Harrison (LHH)
LHH connects job seekers with businesses who need their help. The jobs are a mix of full- and part-time contract/temporary or contract/temporary to hire with hourly or salaried pay. Experience requirements vary by employer, but most will require demonstrated knowledge of bookkeeping and accounting principles.
Some opportunities are remote but require you to live within a 50-mile radius of the office you support. Search bookkeeping jobs or connect with an LHH recruiter.
Find a bookkeeping job through LHH
Pinion
Pinion (formerly KCoe Isom) is a U.S. Top 70 accounting and consulting firm. The company often advertises virtual bookkeeping jobs. You’ll need at least two years of bookkeeping experience and knowledge of QuickBooks and/or Xero. Most bookkeeping positions will pay between $15-$25 per hour.
Search bookkeeping jobs at Pinion
ProLedge Bookkeeping Services
BBB-accredited ProLedge Bookkeeping Services works with small businesses up to 50 employees, providing in-person, remote or hybrid bookkeeping support in the following Texas cities:
- Austin
- Dallas
- Fort Worth
- Houston
- San Antonio
If you live outside of these areas, you can apply for a remote bookkeeping position. At a minimum, you'll need one year of bookkeeping and QuickBooks experience and at least two clients.
QuickBooks
Having a QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor certification could boost your marketability as a bookkeeper. In addition to helping you find bookkeeping jobs or clients, QuickBooks also looks for people holding its certification to fill internal bookkeeping positions.
QuickBooks offers full-time and part-time positions, and workers can choose a schedule that works best for them. Aside from holding the certification, you'll also need at least one year of experience with QuickBooks, strong technical proficiency, and three years of experience as a bookkeeper.
Learn more about the certification
Randstad
Randstad manages more than 94,000 people each week who support their clients in multiple industries including accounting and finance. If you are looking for a bookkeeping position, you can search jobs through Randstad and filter your results for remote positions as well.
Randstad offers entry-level to advanced bookkeeper jobs, so experience requirements vary depending on the position. Experience with QuickBooks is necessary for most roles.
Find a bookkeeping job via Randstad
Robert Half
Robert Half has been connecting businesses with talented professionals since 1948. The company has an A+ rating with the BBB and offers online bookkeeping jobs. You can apply for jobs or upload your resume to work with recruiters to find the right job fit.
These positions are contract-based and are temporary, temporary to hire, or permanent. At a minimum, you’ll need experience preparing financial statements, accounting experience, and knowledge of accounting software. Each job will state exact requirements.
Apply for bookkeeping jobs through Robert Half
Solomon Page
Founded in 1990, Solomon Page is a staffing agency based in Ohio that was named one of America’s best recruiting firms by Forbes magazine. The Accounting and Finance division of the company matches bookkeeping professionals with clients who need their services.
There are a mix of on-site, remote, and hybrid job postings for contract, temporary to permanent, and permanent positions. Most jobs require at least two years of experience with accounting.
Search bookkeeping jobs at Solomon Page
5 job search sites and more where you can find online bookkeeping jobs
If you're looking for a full-time or part-time online bookkeeping job, start with these places:
Job boards
Job boards like Indeed and ZipRecruiter are free for job seekers to browse, and you can narrow your search by location, salary, and work schedule. If you want to work from home, you can set your location to “remote” on most job boards to find virtual or online bookkeeping jobs.
Online communities
Online communities and groups provide resources for bookkeepers to learn from one another, market themselves, and network with other bookkeepers.
For instance, Bookkeeper Launch offers an online community for members to ask questions and get support from other members. Members also frequently post job openings for other members to apply for:
Tatiana Tsoir is a CPA and business coach based in Mount Kisco, N.Y., who began her career as a bookkeeper. She now offers her own bookkeepers training course and has written a book about becoming your own boss.
She says online communities can be an excellent way to connect with people searching for bookkeepers.
The Dubsado Community, Virtual Assistant Savvies, and Virtual Bookkeepers are Facebook groups where people regularly post job openings. LinkedIn, Twitter, and Reddit also have robust communities for bookkeeping professionals.
In these communities, you should try to be active in answering questions people post to establish a reputation and show you know what you’re talking about.
Company websites
Companies typically list open jobs on searchable career pages, so you can use the keyword ‘bookkeeping' to find them.
Accounting firms and small businesses, such as local retail shops, tax agencies, and solopreneurs, are good places to start.
FlexJobs lists these companies as some of the top employers of bookkeepers (they are ideal for virtual jobs):
- 1-800Accountant
- Creative Financial Staffing (CFS)
- KeyBank
- Kforce
- Lee Hecht Harrison (LHH)
- Pinion
- ProLedge Bookkeeping Services
- Randstad
- Robert Half
- Solomon Page
If you're going the direct-application route, Gallicchio-Elz recommends separately emailing the hiring manager or someone in upper management after you’ve applied.
She adds that writing a cover letter that's tailored specifically to that company rather than a one-size-fits-all letter can set you apart from other applicants.
Bookminders
Bookminders is an accounting service for small businesses and nonprofits that hires full-time and part-time accountants and bookkeepers. Their jobs are mostly online, though you must be willing to occasionally travel to one of the following locations:
- Austin
- Pittsburgh
- Philadelphia
- Baltimore
- Cherry Hill, N.J.
Candidates can apply through the Bookminders careers page for positions in their nearest city. Fill out the form manually or use your saved Indeed information to complete the application.
A Bookminders recruiter will contact qualified candidates to attend an open house and complete an exam before calling shortlisted candidates for interviews.
Upwork
Upwork is a platform to connect freelancers with businesses who need their services. You can sign up for a free Upwork account and search for virtual freelance bookkeeping jobs. Upwork charges a 10% fee on your earnings from the clients you connect with on the platform.
6 places where you can find online, freelance bookkeeping jobs
Freelance bookkeepers tend to have more flexibility than part-time or full-time bookkeepers because they can choose which clients to work with, when to work, and how much to charge.
“The future of bookkeeping is virtual, fractional, and outsourced,” Gallicchio-Elz says. “Paperless receipts, online bookkeeping platforms, and the ability to outsource and not pay for the overhead of an employee is extremely beneficial for business owners.”
These are some of the best places to find virtual bookkeeping clients for a bookkeeping business:
Bookkeeper Launch
Bookkeeper Launch walks you through the process of landing your first client and shows you how to build a business based on referrals. Ben Robinson, the site’s founder, encourages members to begin building a portfolio of clients even before they’ve finished the course.
Members also regularly post about potential clients in the Bookkeeper Launch online community.
Social media
Tsoir uses social media to build her network and foster relationships with other entrepreneurs. She posts thought-provoking LinkedIn and Instagram content to talk about her clients' pain points and her solutions for those pain points to spread awareness for her services.
Following and commenting on potential clients' content can also put you on their radar.
Bookkeepers can use hashtags like #freelanceopps or #hiringbookkeeper on Twitter and Instagram to find relevant posts from people or companies that want to hire bookkeepers.
Freelance marketplaces
Freelance marketplaces connect clients with freelancers in various areas, including bookkeeping. Bookkeepers can sign up for these marketplaces to market their services and search for posted bookkeeping jobs.
Bookkeepers on Reddit suggest finding freelance gigs through sites like Upwork and Craigslist:
Some people even said they hired a bookkeeper through Reddit:
From a hiring perspective, Gallicchio-Elz notes that Upwork is especially helpful in finding bookkeepers with specific skills, like Quickbooks or some accounting experience.
Freelancer.com, Guru, and Fiverr are a few more popular marketplaces to find bookkeeping gigs.
Website leads
A website can act as an online resume for your virtual bookkeeping business. Add SEO-optimized pages and blog content to your website to draw potential clients to your site to learn more about you and your bookkeeping services. Hubspot offers a free SEO certification course to get started.
Part of the Bookkeeper Launch course is creating your own website. Robinson will walk you through the process of building a successful website and securing high-paying clients through it. Read our full Bookkeeper Launch review to learn more about the course and other class offerings.
Referrals
In addition to finding bookkeeping work in online communities and job boards, Tsoir says referrals from past clients and people in your sphere of influence (family, friends, acquaintances, etc.) can send people to your business.
Referrals can happen naturally when you consistently deliver quality work to your clients. However, you can also reach out to past clients or relevant people in your network to ask them to pass on your information to others who might be interested.
Build rapport with people in your sphere by sending birthday and holiday cards, sending an email to occasionally check in, and referring people you know back to their business.
Belay
Belay is a company that offers virtual assistant services, including bookkeeping, to clients all over the world. The company hires both freelance and full-time bookkeepers to provide virtual bookkeeping services to its clients.
5 places where you can find online, part-time bookkeeping jobs
Part-time work is beneficial for bookkeepers who have a few hours each day to devote to bookkeeping, like when their kids are in school. You can find part-time virtual bookkeeping jobs in the following places:
FlexJobs
Gallicchio-Elz recommends FlexJobs to find part-time bookkeeping jobs because of its focus on flexible, remote, and hybrid jobs. As previously mentioned, you do have to sign up for a Flexjobs account to see and apply for available jobs, starting at $2.95 for 14 days.
With your subscription, you can also access a career advice Q&A library and register for virtual webinars and events. You can also speak with a career coach starting at $89 for 30 minutes or order a resume review for $179.
Or, get a free resume review >>
Google search
Google curates jobs from various job postings all over the web to show them in one convenient spot in Google's search results. Simply search for “part-time bookkeeping jobs” or “part-time virtual bookkeeping jobs” to find matching results.
Recruiting agencies
Recruiting agencies match companies with bookkeepers and vice versa, similar to how Gallicchio-Elz's Virtual Assist USA looks for bookkeepers to meet its clients' needs.
When you sign up with a recruiting agency, you work directly with a recruiter who alerts you when a job opening fits your skills, scheduling, and other criteria.
Consult with other professionals in your industry through online communities to find a reliable staffing agency, or search job boards and social media.
Local offices
Even if you're looking strictly for online work, use your local community as a guide. Tsoir says that reaching out to local accounting or tax preparation firms that hire CPAs or EAs could lead to some overflow work for you. Although she admits they may not pay as much as full-time bookkeeping jobs, they're ideal for adding experience to your resume.
When contacting an office, mention that you're specifically interested in part-time, virtual work.
Going back to school at 30 or 40: Is it worth it for single moms?
FAQs about online bookkeeping jobs
Exploring a career as an online bookkeeper? Here are some answers to common questions you might have:
What are the different types of online bookkeeping jobs?
A virtual bookkeeper can find full-time, part-time, or freelance jobs. These are some of the online positions a bookkeeper can apply for:
- General bookkeepers: General bookkeepers perform basic bookkeeping functions for one or multiple companies. Duties might include entering revenue and expenses into a ledger, creating invoices, submitting financial statements, and verifying receipts.
- Full-charge bookkeepers: Full-charge bookkeepers have similar duties as general bookkeepers, except that they spearhead a company's accounting. Therefore, they tend to have more managerial responsibilities and are expected to report directly to a financial manager or owner of the company.
- Auditing: Auditing clerks are responsible for checking the accuracy of financial statements, receipts, invoices, and other financial records. They may oversee the work of other bookkeepers and accountants.
- Tax preparation: Bookkeepers with tax preparation skills can prepare and file taxes for individuals or companies. In addition to typical bookkeeping duties, these bookkeepers organize tax-related documents, help clients find tax deductions, and review tax forms for accuracy.
- Payroll specialists: Bookkeepers sometimes double as payroll specialists for small businesses, tracking hours and issuing paychecks to employees.
Is there high demand for virtual bookkeepers?
Yes, there is high demand for virtual bookkeepers. FlexJobs reports that accounting and finance (which includes bookkeeping) is one of the top seven careers for online work.1
While the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook (BLS OOH) shows a projected 6% decline through 2032 for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, there are more than 183,000 openings for these jobs each year.2
With so many openings for virtual bookkeepers and training like Bookkeeper Launch from Bookkeepers.com, the profession is growing.
Are there any virtual bookkeeping jobs with no experience?
Yes, you can find virtual bookkeeping jobs without experience. Gallicchio-Elz says that her virtual assisting company is open to hiring bookkeepers with certifications or degrees, even if they have no prior experience.
Consider reaching out to a recruiting agency or browsing job sites to match with companies hiring entry-level bookkeepers.
Likewise, having a certification through a reputable program like Bookkeeper Launch can help you get your foot in the door without any experience.
If you are looking for a job with a quick certification process that allows you to start working without experience, bookkeeping is a great option.
11 quick job certifications that pay well
How much do virtual bookkeepers make?
Yes, online bookkeeping can be an excellent job for people looking for a flexible and potentially high-paying career. According to BLS OOH, the median bookkeeper salary is $45,860 per year or $22.05 per hour as of March 2024.3
According to Bookkeepers.com, you can earn anywhere from $20 to $50 per hour based on experience or charge a minimum monthly retainer of $100 to $150 to small business owners who only need a few tasks completed each month.
Check out this video from Bookkeepers Launch about why bookkeeping is a great career for stay-at-home parents:
Bottom line: Can you work remotely as a bookkeeper?
Yes, there are companies hiring bookkeepers who work remotely from home.
However, you can also work for yourself.
If you want to launch a successful bookkeeping business, we recommend taking a course through Bookkeepers Launch because:
- A+ Better Business Bureau rating
- Thousands of people have started successful bookkeeping businesses and learned to attract high-paying clients, often earning $100,000+ per year
- Payment plans available
- Money-back guarantee
- FREE masterclass
Bookkeeping not for you? Check out these other jobs we recommend for moms and our post on six-figure jobs.
A virtual bookkeeper can find full-time, part-time, or freelance jobs. These are some of the online positions a bookkeeper can apply for: general bookkeeper, full-charge bookkeeper, auditing, tax preparation, and payroll specialist.
Yes, you can find virtual bookkeeping jobs without experience. Consider reaching out to a recruiting agency or browsing job sites to match with companies hiring entry-level bookkeepers.
Sources:
- “7 Growing Career Fields with Fully Remote Jobs in 2023” FlexJobs https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/fastest-growing-remote-career-categories/
- “Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook September 6, 2023 https://www.bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/bookkeeping-accounting-and-auditing-clerks.htm#tab-6
- “Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook September 6, 2023 https://www.bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/bookkeeping-accounting-and-auditing-clerks.htm#tab-1
