Qualifications Required to Get Work at Home Accounting Jobs

The main role of an accountant is to compile and organize information about the finances of a business to help shareholders and managers make good decisions. The reports made by accountants are used by the government to determine how much tax a business or individual needs to pay. Such reports are likewise used by investors to determine if a company is financially stable, and by banks to find out if it can qualify for certain loans.

Working From Home as an Accountant

Do you want to work at home as an accountant? Like bookkeeping, accounting is a flexible career field that allows telecommuting in most cases. Most home-based accountants start off working in an office-based environment and then eventually transition to a work-at-home arrangement if their employer allows them to. You can also start your home-based accounting business or find remote accounting jobs online.

Accounting Education Qualifications

Different employers set different qualifications. That said, the majority of accounting positions require education and licensure. Education in the accounting field is critical. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, accounting job prospects are more favorable for people with advanced degrees.

If you are interested in pursuing accounting as a career—even if you intend to work from home—you need to seek higher education. You can finance this by working on entry-level bookkeeping jobs initially while you complete higher educational requirements. Expect accounting coursework to be focused heavily on mathematics, economics, business, and finance. Some students who want to gain accounting training attend online schools. This is a viable option if you cannot travel too far from home.

Though it is possible to find bookkeeping jobs without becoming a CPA, you can certainly earn more if you become a Certified Public Accountant. To do this, you need to earn 150 semester hours (at a minimum).

Earn Money with Remote Bookkeeping Jobs

If you have a background in finance, then you can make a lucrative career working from home as a bookkeeper. Many employers in the accounting and financial industries actively look for part-time and full time bookkeepers interested in remote work. You can work as an employee on a freelance basis (as an independent contractor running your own small bookkeeping business). Remote online jobs are available online.

How Money Much Can You Make?

The actual hourly pay depends on the employer and the nature of the job, but full-time remote bookkeeping jobs typically pay at $13 to $15 an hour.

What Are the Responsibilities of a Remote Book-keeper?

In a typical remote bookkeeping job, you may be expected to oversee account reconciling and processing, conduct data verification, develop journal entries, as well as prepare and analyze reports. You may also be put in charge of handling accounts payables and receivables, payroll, and bank statement reconciliation. Some jobs require you to process and route invoices to certain people for approval. Note that aside from these bookkeeping tasks, you may be assigned light clerical tasks.

Higher-level bookkeeping may require producing quarterly and annual financial statements, as well as creating summaries and reports of crucial metrics for financial analysts and managers. Lower-level bookkeeping may involve preparing bank deposits, verifying receipts, sending out invoices, collecting overdue accounts, and coding financial documents to help facilitate data retrieval and storage.

Some employers require additional services like loan and interest payment monitoring, or compliance monitoring. You are expected to be skilled at using computerized systems designed for fulfilling bookkeeping responsibilities. Such systems can simplify data entry, generated reports, provide calculations, and store financial information securely.

Qualifications Required

Automation is expanding the roles and responsibilities of work-at-home bookkeepers, so education standards are also rising. Though you can technically apply to become a bookkeeper with just a high school diploma, many employers today expect some formal training in accounting. Having a two-year associate's degree will help you stand out from the crowd. Most importantly, you should practice using accounting and bookkeeping software.

You can get the highest-paying remote bookkeeping jobs with experience. You can also seek an unpaid internship. You can also apply for entry-level jobs that offer training to new recruits. Doing this will enable you to learn the standard procedures in the industry and give you the experience, employers are looking for.