How To Make Money As A Remote Accountant

July 24, 2018 | By | 6 Replies More

remote accountant

 

Technology has made it smooth to find accounting jobs to do remotely from home. Because of this, entire accounting firms have closed their brick and mortar doors and gone virtual, and new virtual businesses are sprouting up everywhere.

 

 

I often see this question around the internet: Can I work as a remote accountant?

 

The answer is: Yes.

 

Technology has made it smooth sailing for many accountants to work from home. Because of this, entire accounting firms have closed their brick and mortar doors and gone virtual, and new virtual businesses are sprouting up throughout the United States, the UK and Canada.

 

A drawback to these virtual accounting firms is that they are tiny. As in one- to five-people small. While being small is great for virtual business owners and their clients, it makes it difficult to find account jobs with them because job openings are few.

 

So how can you find remote accounting jobs without having to embark on an entire business venture of their own? The two best ways I suggest are:

 

1)  become a freelance accountant and market your services to both virtual and brick and mortar accounting businesses; and

2)  get a job with a well-established virtual firm that is growing and seeking to enlarge its staff.

 

Below I talk about both types of work, along with links to companies you can apply to.

 

 

Freelancing

Most accountants know filing taxes are periodic or seasonal. This is a golden opportunity for freelancers to find remote accounting jobs with companies of any size for work. Intuit, for example, is a huge company, but still contracts work to outside accountants during peak seasons. Further, large companies, such as Intuit , maintain job boards that help accountants learn what their needs are.

 

Smaller brick and mortar accounting firms also contract their overflow to outside or freelance accountants. For example, many small, yet successful firms, are fortunate to have a healthy volume of regular clients. Yet, during peak times they know using an outside contractor is much smarter than turning away work! This is when they reach out for temporary help. But, unlike the larger companies, these firms don’t keep a job board to post their hiring needs. Instead they reach out to candidates through other sources, such as a staffing agency. And, contrary to larger companies, these smaller firms want freelance accountants to to live in the vicinity of their company.

 

So, doing freelance accounting work is a practical choice. Start by applying with the larger companies while researching smaller firms local to you.

 

 

 

 

Work for a Virtual Accounting Firm

Locating virtual firms is a bit trickier than finding small brick and mortar companies. But the good news is that the number of virtual accounting firms are growing. Since their website is their “storefront”, they can post their work needs right on their sites,  along with other websites, making their job needs easier to find through proper search engine keywords. What is encouraging about these companies, too, is that since they are virtual they don’t usually require accountants to be local to them.

 

 

What are ways accountants can work from home?

While you could work almost any accounting position from home, some positions are more common than others. Below are a few of the most frequent job titles I’ve found that offer remote opportunities.

 

 

Controller

“[I]n a smaller company, the Controller might be equivalent to a CFO, in larger companies the Controller is the expert manager making sure that the work in billing, budgeting, tax preparation, and more gets done.”  (Accounting-Degree.org )

 

Companies such as AccountingDepartment.com hire experienced virtual controllers “who will be responsible for managing the activities of several bookkeepers and providing controllership services to our clients. The Controller should be a self-motivated individual who can provide superior and responsive professional services for clients on a telecommuting basis. This is a key management position that reports directly to the managing partners.”

 

Basic365.com is another accounting firm seeking experienced remote controllers to “review management reports and analysis utilizing our streamlined, web-based tools and procedures for a small group of our dynamic, small business customers.”

 

 

Tax Accountant

According to AccountingEdu.org, “The specialty area of tax accounting encompasses services that range from the simple preparation of individual returns to highly complex tax planning services for multinational corporations.”

 

Green Company is looking to add “CPAs at all staff levels in our thriving trader tax practice area. These jobs primarily entail tax compliance/preparation and reviews for business retail traders, proprietary traders, advisors, investors (all around the country) and non-traders, too.”

 

 

 

 

Enrolled Agents

Taxes are at the heart of many accountants’ job, but an Enrolled Agent (EA) “is a federally authorized tax practitioner who has technical expertise in the field of taxation and who is empowered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to represent taxpayers before all administrative levels—examination, collection, and appeals—of the Internal Revenue Service.”

 

BaldwinAccounting is one such company that hires experienced tax accountants to serve their clients in the Florida area. Business Financial Solutions seeks Enrolled Agents to “assist clients in working with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) matters and State tax entities,” in Maryland or Virginia.

 

Likewise, Greenback Expat Tax Services specializes in preparing tax returns for Americans living overseas, and is seeking specialized EAs to help them serve their expat clients.

 

 

Accounting Administrator

According to Study.com, “An accounting administrator is responsible for completing duties in the areas of management, accounting, tax preparation, and financial planning services. Accounting administrators are business professionals with a knack for understanding the planning and organization within a corporation.”

 

Under this category, there are different types of Administrators. For example, BlueRidge Esop Associates is looking for an Associate Administrator, a 401K Administrator, and an ESOP Administrator, each which have options to work from home.

 

 

Full-Charge Bookkeepers or Specialists

Not to be confused with clerks, Accountant Bookkeepers or Specialists offer a deeper service to their clients, such as report writing, and have a broader understanding about the world of finance. Consultance Accounting, for example, seeks an Accounting Specialist with a “demonstrated responsibility for successfully handling accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll and month-end closing services, as well as other accounting-related functions using applications such as QuickBooks, Bill.com, Hubdoc, Aero, etc.”

 

 

Balancing it out

Whether working for someone else or as a freelancer there are many options for remote accountants to earn good money. If you want to pick up a company’s seasonal overflow, sign on with several smaller companies to help them manage their clients’ needs, or join a virtual accounting firm. There are opportunities for you to put your accounting degree and experience to good use from the comfort of your home.

 


 

Let’s talk more about this! Find me on Facebook and LinkedIn.

 

Does your resume need help? Check out our resume rewrite packages!

 

 

Tags: , ,

Category: Freelancing, Telecommuting

About the Author ()

Pamela La Gioia is a resume writer and LinkedIn profile expert. She is also a pioneer in remote work, and has been researching and writing about remote work since the early 1990's. You can follow her on LinkedIn, for resume tips, LinkedIn insight, and general career help.

Comments (6)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Hi,

    I loved your writing sense as you have made best suggestion to make impressive amount as a remote accountant. It is great opportunity working as remote accountant. Your detailed writing taught me a bundle of things. Thanks for the precious words.

  2. Amit Kulkarni says:

    I am an accountant and also Tax consultant , having 20 years experience…Need work from home …please help …I am applying as individual… india….

  3. IXL Math Grade 3 says:

    Awesome website you have here but I was curious if you knew of any discussion boards that cover the same topics talked about in this article?
    I’d really love to be a part of community where I can get responses from other experienced individuals that share
    the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know.
    Many thanks!

  4. Denise Hilton says:

    Nice guide. I found another article that lists 5 websites for finding remote MS Excel jobs here: https://www.webemployed.com/remote-excel-jobs-websites/

Leave a Reply