You may be interested in starting your own accounting company as an accountant or CFO. Although starting your own business is more than just a job, it can offer many benefits. You have the freedom to manage your company in your own way, you can collaborate more closely, and you get to be proud of your business.
You will face the daunting task of finding a physical address as you embark on your small business venture. Most professionals are hesitant about working in an office due to high rents, logistical issues, and the possibility of COVID-19 shutting downs. There are virtual accounting offices available that allow remote work, regardless of whether you are offering virtual bookkeeping or virtual accounting services. Although virtual firms offer many benefits, what does it mean to start a virtual CPA firm?
What is Virtual Accounting?
Virtual accounting firms are businesses that operate online and not in a physical location. Remote businesses can choose from a variety of structures, including a satellite office structure or a completely remote virtual accounting hub. Fully remote and flexible firms can use a variety of software accounting solutions to help them perform their functions. These include communication software and servers for cloud storage.
What are the benefits of a virtual accounting firm?
Virtual accounting firm offer many advantages over physical-office counterparts. Although some users may have difficulty adjusting to Zoom meetings and miss in-person interactions, virtual firms offer many benefits for business owners.
Lower overhead expenses
Virtual accounting firms are cost-effective in that you don’t have to pay rent or utilities. Although you might spend some upfront money to offer remote hardware such as tablets or laptops for employees, the savings you make will more than offset these initial costs.
A better work-life balance
A Flexjob survey found that 73% of respondents felt they have a better work-life balance by working remotely. This includes more time with their families, partners, and pets. A Thomson Reuters survey found that 36% said working remotely had a strong positive impact on their well-being, while 35% stated that it had a slightly positive effect. Remote work has been shown to reduce stress and improve employee happiness. Remote work has also been shown to decrease mental health-related sick day rates. Employees can use their PTO for positive vacation experiences, which will help them achieve a better work-life balance.
How to start a virtual accounting firm
To attract clients and generate positive cash flow, a virtual accounting company must be planned. Understanding your values and goals is the first step.
Understanding Your Goals
Setting your company’s goals is the first step to creating a successful business. A clear vision of where you want to go will help you to make subgoals and take steps to reach your ideal client base, and offer outstanding services.
1. Which services would you like to offer?
Your accounting firm should focus on tax planning and tax preparation. Do you prefer to work with financial reports or general data analytics? You can decide what services you wish to offer. This will help you determine the employees you need, the software you will require, and the feasibility of your business plan.
2. What do you want to do?
You can market yourself better to the ideal clients by choosing the right client base. Do you want to work with individuals, small businesses, or large corporations? Identifying your ideal customer will help you determine how to position yourself relative to scale and services.
3. What size do you want to grow to?
Knowing your ideal clients and services will help you decide how big you want your company to grow. You can plan your architecture for future expansion by knowing ahead of time what you are planning.
4. Are you looking to be involved in every aspect of the business for at least 5 years?
Virtual accounting firms can be more hands-on than some accounting firms. You can decide whether a virtual firm is right for you or if you prefer to interact with clients in a more personal way.
Develop Your Core Values
A hybrid or remote virtual accounting firm should have core values to foster culture and help everyone stay on the same page. These values can help you provide quality service regardless of the location.
1. Your vision
A vision statement is a way to outline the goals of your company and what you hope to achieve long-term. Your vision statement should be no more than one to two sentences. This will give employees an idea of the company’s goals.
2. What do you value?
Think about your core values. Are you focusing on quality work, client relations, caring service or precise analytical services? It is possible to create direction in your vision statement by focusing on what you most value.
3. How do your clients value you
Your vision should include what your clients think about your company. Whether it’s personal one-on-one service or a quick resolution to a problem, decide what will set you apart from your competition.
Create Efficient Remote Workspaces
It is essential to ensure that your home workspaces work efficiently in order to create a positive experience for remote workers. To make happy employees, it is important to build a tech stack that meets your company’s requirements and supports hardware and other equipment.
Home office
A healthy home office is a key step in creating a productive remote workspace. You can make your home office more comfortable in many ways. When setting up remote offices, we recommend the following:
- Choose a space that is private to ensure privacy.
- Select the right lighting for your home office.
- When choosing a place for your desk, consider the noise
Inspire yourself - You can make your office space yours by customizing it
- Green spaces can be added to your home office for increased productivity and less stress
- Install ergonomic equipment, such as a chair, a keyboard, and a desk.
- Other equipment requirements such as internet, routers, headsets, webcams, and whiteboards should be considered.
Data Security
Remote work can pose a risk to data security. It is easier to hack or steal mobile devices and laptops while working remotely. Make sure your employees have a solid data security policy and prepare for any eventualities. You can prevent major damage to your business by taking steps to prepare for the worst.
Select the right productivity tools
Your team will succeed by choosing the right technology stack and productivity tools. Remote work can be just as collaborative or more efficient if you have the right tools to automate and manage your projects.
1. Software for project management
Project management software can be used to bring together your entire team. It is simple and intuitive to assign tasks and automate your workflow so that you can send reminders directly at the assigned persons. Many remote companies have difficulty tracking productivity. Excellent project management software will help you ensure that your employees are productive.
2. Software for conferencing and messaging
Employees can stay connected through instant messaging and virtual meetings. Although your employees may not be talking around the water cooler, they can keep in touch with one another by sending them quick invitations for meetings or messaging each other through instant messaging software. Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Teams have all seen significant growth in popularity since the pandemic. You can integrate messaging and video functions into any other products you might purchase in your tech stack.
3. Software for eSignature Collection
If you intend to work remotely, eSignatures will be an integral part of your business. Software that allows you to collect signatures from clients will help you save time and streamline your workflow.
Summary
It is now a great time for you to start your own virtual accounting business, as remote work is becoming more common. Remote firms are successful for their flexibility, employee happiness, lower overhead, and other reasons. To create a solid foundation for your business, it is important to discuss details like your company’s goals and values when you begin planning. It is difficult to create a strong company culture remotely so it is important that you start planning early. Clients and companies are increasingly interested in virtual accounting services. This is a great opportunity to get into the market and be ahead of your competition.