So, you’re looking to find the best side hustles for accountants, look no further!
Did you know you have some pretty lucrative skills as an Accountant?
Yep! You do indeed. You’re great with computers, a dab hand at math and your organizational skills are second to none.
How Can I Make Extra Money as an Accountant?
It’s no wonder you’re looking to create extra streams of income.
With student debts on the rise and the cost of living being ever more expensive, having extra money to combat these issues can be a real help.
Below you’ll find a list of well researched and profitable side hustles that you can start today.
1. Tax Prep Service
Submitting your tax for the year can be stressful.
The thought of providing incorrect figures and being audited is a fear of many business owners.
You could provide a tax prep service to organize all the numbers. This will save business owners time, and stress and may even lower their tax bill.
This side hustle is talked about a lot online under the search term “tax preparer side hustlereddit”
It has become a popular way to earn a bit of extra cash, especially during “the busy season”
2. Create An Online Course
Remember when I said you have some pretty lucrative skills? Well, you could put all these skills into an online course!
Accounting is a highly sought-after career. Creating a course on how to become one could be pretty lucrative.
There are some amazing platforms where you can make and sell your online course.
Here are just a few:
- Udemy
- Thinkific
- Teachable
To create a structure for your online course you will need to divide your content into modules and lessons.
Once you have your online course made you’re going to have to market it. This is probably the hardest part.
Sharing it online, creating blog posts that are SEO optimized or using paid advertising are a few methods you may want to consider.
Creating an online course is no mean feat, but this could be one of the best side hustles for accountants if you’re willing to put the work in.
3. Virtual CFO
Many small businesses require strategic financial guidance, yet most cannot afford to hire a full-time CFO.
You could offer part-time or project base services helping with financial planning, forecasting, performance analysis etc.
The main ways to find work as a Virtual CFO:
- Build a strong online presence
- Offer free consultations
- Leverage referrals and testimonials
- Content marketing
To find work as a virtual CFO highlight your experience, areas of expertise and the specific niches you’ve worked in.
4. Write a Guide on Excel for Accountants
Having experience in using Excel is a huge benefit to employers if you’re looking for a job.
People would be willing to pay you to teach them how to use it from beginner to advanced level.
Here are some topics that you could teach within your guide:
- Sorting data
- Merging documents
- Doing calculations
- Grouping data
- Freezing columns or rows
- Creating graphs
- Custom formulae
The best-paid platform to make your guide is Adobe InDesign and the best free platform is Canva.
5. Virtually Assist Accountants
As you already know there are a multitude of tasks that Accountants have to do and being able to unload some of those tasks onto a VA would free up a lot of time.
You could also class virtually assisting accountants as freelance accounting.
So if you have the time to help out a fellow Accountant or Bookkeeper you could make extra income that way.
The tasks that you could help with are:
- Email management
- Organizing financial data
- Handle pricing and invoicing
- Prepare balance sheets
6. Tutor budding Accountants
Have you ever thought about teaching?
Right now some students are studying to follow the career path you took.
You could teach them what you know and help them become unstuck on subjects they’re having trouble learning.
With the likes of Zoom and Google Meet, you can easily start teaching through video calls.
7. Start a Finance Blog
With your in-depth knowledge of finance, creating a blog could be a lucrative side hustle.
To make money through a blog you need to get traffic (readers) to it.
You can do this by creating in-depth articles about topics within the accounting and bookkeeping world.
Below I have written the key ways you can make money through a blog:
- Advertising
- Selling your services
- Affiliate marketing
- Selling digital products
- Sponsored posts
WordPress is the most popular platform to build your blog, boasting over 40% of all websites on the internet.
8. Offer Bookkeeping Services
As an accountant, you have all the necessary understanding and organisational skills to offer bookkeeping services.
Many small businesses can find bookkeeping overwhelming. Starting a bookkeeping side hustle can let businesses concentrate on working “on” the business and not “in” the business.
This can be an ideal opportunity for you to offer your services and earn some extra money on the side.
Bookkeeping tasks consist of the following:
- Accurate record keeping
- Tax compliance
- Financial planning
- Financial analysis
- Processing payroll
- Sales and purchase ledger
By leveraging your expertise in accounting you could bring a higher level of financial analysis and help businesses make better-informed decisions.
This has got to be one of the best side hustles for accountants as you wouldn’t need to learn any extra skills and you can start straight away.
9. Freelance Writing
A way many accounting businesses market themselves is through a blog.
You could offer to write good quality articles for these blogs!
Having a portfolio of work is highly advantageous when pitching to clients.
I suggest writing 4-5 articles on different topics within the accounting niche.
For example:
- Tax Planning Strategies for Individuals and Businesses
- Financial Statements: A Complete Overview and Analysis
- Exploring Different Accounting Methods: Cash vs. Accrual
To find freelance writing opportunities, sign up to freelance websites such as Fiverr and UpWork.
Another option would be to email the companies directly and ask if you can be of service to them.
Most freelance writers charge by word count or with an hourly rate.
So be prepared with a figure in mind of the hour you charge.
10. Write An Ebook
How about writing and selling an Ebook about accounting?
This would be similar to making a course but in a much smaller digestible digital product.
Writing an Ebook is a great way of creating a passive income stream as you create the Ebook once and it can sell time and time again.
Canva offers lots of beautiful templates. You can simply edit the content and replace it with your own.
To make your Ebook structured you’re going to need to divide it into chapters or topics based on accounting.
You can self-publish your book on Kindle Self Publishing.
Another option would be to sell the Ebook to an existing audience if you have one.
11. Start A YouTube Channel
Did you know one of the highest-paying niches on YouTube is the finance niche?
There is a vast array of finance YouTube channels making well over £10,000 a month.
The most common way of making money through YouTube is advertising. Ads are placed in the middle of your videos and you make money when people watch them.
Providing value to your audience and solving people’s problems is the best way to gain subscribers and get watch time on your videos.
Another way of monetising your YouTube channel is to sell your products to your audience.
12. Financial Coaching
Beyond crunching the numbers, how about helping others with financial coaching?
So many people have trouble controlling and organizing their finances. You could be the one to help with; debt, reaching financial goals or changing money mindsets.
With the likes of Zoom and other video call software, you can simply arrange a time/date and coach online.
Income potential can vary depending on your experience, expertise and the services you offer.
Ultimately you could start earning between £50-£300 an hour.
This has got to be one of the best side hustles for accountants if you’re looking for a rewarding way to help transform someone’s finances.
13. Start Investing
This technically isn’t a side hustle, it’s more of a way to help grow your money.
I’m no financial advisor, but historical data has shown that investing your money in the stock market (S&P 500) has given average returns of 10%.
Each month you could invest a portion of your salary to help combat inflation and grow over the long term.
This could be the best side hustle to create passive income for accountants.
14. Sell Humorous Accounting Merchandise
This is the wildcard of the list of ways to make extra money as an accountant.
Believe it or not, there’s plenty of accounting merchandise out there. Mugs, greetings cards, t-shirts… even colouring books!
People are searching for these products every day and you could be the one to profit from it.
Companies such as T-spring and Canva offer services to create your designs.
Etsy is one of the best marketplaces to sell your merchandise. They are renowned for personalized greeting cards and all things handmade.
Passive Income For Accountants
Making money in your sleep is a dream for most, but is it actually possible?
Yes it certainly is. Although passive income doesn’t just magically appear in your bank account, you’ll need to put in the work up-front.
Passive income for accountants can be created through the following side hustles:
- YouTube Ad Revenue
- Digital Product sales (Ebooks, Courses, Guides)
- Investing (Dividend Income)
- Merchandise Sales
- Blogging (Ad Revenue, Affiliate Income)
Each of these ideas requires putting the work in. Whether that’s writing content for your blog, building an audience for digital product sales or creating videos so you can get ad revenue.
Once you’ve laid the foundations for your passive income stream you can cut back on accounting work or quit altogether!
How to be successful and make money with your side hustle
To be successful at any of the side hustles below there are 4 key areas you must consider:
- Time Commitment – Knowing how long each side hustle takes and how much time you can commit will stop you from putting unnecessary pressure on yourself.
- Knowledge and Expertise – Work to your strengths! Lean on your pre-existing knowledge to help pick your side hustle.
- Money Goal – Pick an amount you want to make from your side hustle… be realistic though, setting unrealistic goals will leave you frustrated and you’ll end up quitting.
- Consistency – Are you able to consistently show up to work on your side hustle? If not, then don’t start.
Knowing the answer to each of these will make life much easier when it comes to which one of these side hustles you’re going to pursue.
F.A.Q’s
Can an accountant be a millionaire?
Yes, an accountant can be a millionaire.
The most common and achievable route for an accountant to become a millionaire is to either continue training to become a CFO (chief financial officer) or work your way up to partner with a large company.
How to make money online as an accountant?
Every method above is a way you can make money online as an accountant.
Making money online has become hugely popular, but a word of warning, it still requires work!
What side hustle can I do as an accountant?
Take your pick from any of the side hustles listed above. You’re sure to find something that will suit your skills
and interests.
What is the highest-paying job in accounting?
The role of Chief Financial Officer is the highest paying job in accounting.
Salaries can vary depending on location and experience, but the average can range between £98,000-£157,000.
The main role is to direct and manage a company’s finances.
This includes but is not limited to cash flow, financial planning and taxation issues.
Do accountants have a lot of free time?
A standard working week for an Accountant is 40-45 hours a week.
Although this can increase to 60-80 hours a week during the “busy season”.
Final thoughts on side hustles for Accountants
Well, there you have it, the 14 best side hustles for accountants.
Each of these side hustle ideas is achievable.
With determination, thought and planning you could start making extra money in no time.
2 Responses
This is super informative, i’m not an Accountant but have purchased products like budget trackers which have been super helpful for someone like me who struggles with excel. Also, know people who use accountants for there tax returns yearly. It seems like theres alot options out there for accountants to diversify their income!
Thanks Stella 🙂 Yes budget trackers are super useful. Its so convenient to purchase a ready-made one if you’re not great with excel. I agree, accountants have a lot of skills which they can utilize to grow a successful side hustle.