I got QuickBooks certified in a week and landed 3 bookkeeping clients
Omar · North Virginia Started October 2023 ~8 hr/wk ~$750/mo
I have a finance background but work in corporate accounting — nothing entrepreneurial about my day job. A colleague mentioned freelance bookkeeping and I looked into it.
I spent a week going through Intuit's free QuickBooks Online certification (about 6–8 hours total). Then I offered my brother-in-law's catering business a free first month. After that I had a real reference.
I posted on a few local business Facebook groups and got two more clients within a month. I charge $250/month per client for basic monthly bookkeeping (categorizing transactions, reconciling, sending a P&L report). 3 clients = $750/month, roughly 8 hours of work. I plan to grow to 6 clients.
Key lessons
The free certification is real — Intuit's material is thorough and credible
Start with someone you know to build a reference fast
Monthly retainers are far better than hourly billing for this type of work