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Thinking of setting up a practise

  • 25-09-2011 8:02pm
    #1
    Chicke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 107 ✭✭


    Im thinking of setting up an accountancy practise.have taken four years out with my little kids but they are starting playschool etc now and I have a small window of time now to start my own business that is flexible.
    I'm also thinking about doing the taxation exams as I want to be current in all tax issues
    Am nervous of going down the road of getting insurance doing the tax exams etc to find the is little work out there
    Anyone started their own practise?
    How hard is it to drum up business
    Have you any advice etc?
    Thanks


Comments

  • #2
    kennyb3
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,724 ✭✭✭kennyb3


    Its going to be very tough.

    There are plenty of bookkeepers out there already. There has prob never been so many unemployed accountants thinking the same as you.

    Not being up to date tax wise isnt going to help. Tax exams are going to take a huge time commitment.

    Having a small window of time wont suit clients when they want to ring you with queries or to travel to their house/premises.

    Are you confident on Sage, Tas, Quickbooks, Do my books? Can you prepare a personal tax comp from scratch and then the Form 11? Can you prepare a CT1 and B1? I'd ask yourself these questions. A lot of people think they know what they are doing but don't really.

    I dont mean to be totally negative so my advice would be to examine your contacts/friends/relatives etc and see if there is any work there. The best way to start out would be getting a few jobs from them and building from there and word of mouth.

    Build up a few bookkeeping and small tax clients and take it from there.

    PS its practice not practise


  • #3
    dbran
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,094 ✭✭✭dbran


    Hi

    I agree with what Kennyb3 says above. if you dont have any clients lined up it is going to be very hard (but not impossible) to build a practice. When I say hard I mean that you will need to stick at it for a very long time and slowly build things up. The first few years you may find your little business just about breaks even.

    You need to be able to show to potential clients that you know your stuff from the get go and that they can trust you. Then as you gain more clients you will hope they will refer new clients to you. It may take 2-3 years to reach fruition and it will definatlely not happen over night. Until then you will need to spend a lot of time networking, building contacts and getting your name out there.

    So if you dont have clients already you need to make sure that you are happy to stay in it for the long haul. Otherwise it could prove very frustrating.

    Good luck with it and hope this helps.

    dbran


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