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When you think of an accountant, you might think ‘Middle-aged man in a suit earning the big bucks’ but this isn’t always the reality. So here we have compiled a list of 8 side hustles for accountants, but these side hustle ideas could be used by anyone.
Whilst a career in Accounts can be lucrative there are a lot of factors that determine how much money an accountant makes. Location, qualifications, sector, the size of the company, experience… the list goes on.
It can also be quite a stressful sector to work in with tight deadlines and bigger workloads at certain times of the year.
The fact is, sometimes accountants might need to find other ways to up their income for whatever reason. And it’s not always as simple as ‘ask for a payrise’ or ‘get a new job’.
So whatever your skill level or financial situation might be – there’s a side hustle for you.
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How Can I Make Extra Money as an Accountant?
Most accountants complete formal qualifications to work in finance. They already have a great arsenal of transferable skills and knowledge to start a side hustle.
Which side hustle you choose will depend on your current circumstances.
But you can make extra money as an accountant both online and offline.
The Best Side Hustles for Accountants
Start a Book Keeping Business
Bookkeeping is a great side hustle for an accountant because it’s doing what you already do in your day job flexibly on the side.
Many small companies find running the financial side of their business overwhelming and look to outsource the work to a bookkeeper.
Book keeping is also a great side hustle if you work in finance but aren’t professionally qualified – you don’t need any formal qualifications to provide a book keeping service (though many do).
Services you might offer as a bookkeeper could include:
- sales and purchase ledger
- credit control
- bank reconciliations
- processing payroll
- filing and document processing/organisation
- preparing sole trader accounts
- preparing sole trader self assessments
You might be able to find recurring work with the same company on an ongoing basis or perhaps be able to help businesses get organised ready for the end of the tax year.
Complete Tax & Other Company Returns
…And speaking of the tax year, if you’re a qualified accountant, you could extend your services and complete tax and other company returns for businesses.
Offering this as a side hustle is a little less flexible than bookkeeping as all the work comes during specific times.
But it’s a much more profitable side hustle for someone who knows what they’re doing!
Become a Lecturer or a Tutor
If you have completed an accountancy qualification yourself then perhaps you could become a tutor for that subject.
The great thing about professional qualification courses is that they’re aimed at adult learners – meaning they’re taught outside of the regular 9-5 to make it accessible to those who are employed.
This makes it a great side hustle as it’s something you could also fit around your day job.
To become a lecturer/tutor in a college setting, you usually require some kind of teaching qualification – but you can get your foot in the door with a Level 3 Award in Education and Training.
A course like this is affordable and can be studied online in your spare time.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to teach in a classroom you could consider 1-to-1 tutoring. This is even more flexible as you can set your own hours and rates and take on as many students as you like.
This post can help you get started: How To Make Money From Tutoring.
Teach Online
Following on from the last idea, if teaching in person isn’t your thing – why not take it online?
Sign up to a website like Super Prof and start advertising your online tutoring services.
Start a Blog
If you work in finance, you probably consider yourself a numbers person – but who’s to say you can’t write?
Blogging is a great way of making extra money.
And even though it takes time to get your blog to a place where it provides an income, once it starts earning it has the potential to be your most profitable side hustle.
With commitment and dedication, you might even find that your blog income will eventually replace your full time income.
But what can you blog about? The answer quite simply is…anything.
What are you passionate about? What subject could you talk someone’s ear off about?
If you’re still stumped, then why not consider a personal finance blog? Accountants are great budgeters by trade and there’s a whole world full of people out there looking for help to be better with their money.
You could also write based on other skills you’ve picked up in the workplace – if you’re a spreadsheet whizz you could share excel tips and tricks, you could write about how to become an accountant, what it’s like to be an accountant in the particular industry you’re in, what the job looks like on a day-to-day basis, how to perform well at an interview for an accounts position, how to deal with deadlines, how to manage your workload… there’s so much value from your work experience that you could transfer into a blog.
How to make an entire blog in less than 24 hours
Write an Ebook
If blogging is not for you, you might consider writing an and self-publishing an ebook.
Writing a comprehensive ebook about a subject you’re knowledgeable in is a great way of creating a passive income stream.
Once the hard work of actually writing it is done, you don’t really have to do anything else.
Of course you can promote it and look at new places to sell it etc. to drive more sales but unlike a blog that requires periodic new content, you don’t have to keep creating.
Freelance Writing
Another great writing side hustle is freelance writing.
Again you can take your knowledge and expertise from your day job, and create articles for businesses and publications on your specialist subject.
This is great if you’re put off by the technical side of managing your own website or perform better working to a set brief.
Fiverr is a great place to start your freelance writing career.
This post has everything you need to give it a go: Getting Started With Selling Writing Services On Fiverr
Create an Online Course
Share your expertise by creating an online course if writing isn’t your thing.
Product creation is a great way of creating passive income (as mentioned in the ebook section previously) and online courses offer a different medium of providing content to the consumer.
Easily set out a guide or ‘how to’ course using a platform such as Teachable or Kajabi.
Many course providers like to teach via video with supplementary workbooks and written guides.
Teach anything from advanced excel techniques to how to prepare a set of management accounts.
Other Side Hustle Ideas
Of course, your side hustle potential is not limited to the options mentioned above just because you’re an accountant.
There’s an unlimited range of ways to make extra money out there.
How about checking out some of these posts for some more ideas?
25 Passive income ideas for those in the UK
