📘 1000 Side Hustle Ideas Home ← Online Freelancing & Gigs ← Bookkeeping & Accounting
HUSTLE #084 1.9 Bookkeeping & Accounting

Set Up and Organize Chart of Accounts for New Small Businesses

💰 Startup Cost $0
⏰ Time/wk 5-10 hrs
📊 Difficulty ★★☆☆☆
🏆 1st Month $ $200-600
💵 Monthly Range $800-2,500
⏱ First $ In 1-2 weeks
Upwork (QuickBooks setup and chart of accounts design jobs from new businesses), Fiverr (QuickBooks setup and bookkeeping configuration gigs), LinkedIn (pitch newly-formed LLCs and startups who post about incorporation — they need their books set up immediately).
New LLC owners open QuickBooks, stare at the blank chart of accounts, and have no idea which categories to create for their industry. You build a clean, logical chart of accounts tailored to their business type — income accounts, expense categories, asset and liability accounts — so their books are structured correctly from day one. Charge $200-500 flat for setup. Getting it right at the start avoids expensive cleanup later.
🚀 First Step
Create a free QuickBooks Online Accountant account, build a sample chart of accounts for a fictional photography business, and screenshot the organized account list.
  • Use QuickBooks' industry-specific default charts as your starting template and customize from there — it is faster and more thorough.
  • Number accounts logically (1000s for assets, 2000s for liabilities, 4000s for income, 5000s for expenses) — professional numbering matters.
  • Provide a 1-page 'Chart of Accounts Guide' explaining what goes in each account in plain English — small biz owners need the reference.
🛠 Tools & Resources: QuickBooks Online Accountant, Xero, Wave Accounting, Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel