Accountants usually have a variety of career options to choose from. Working for a firm, working for a private corporation or non-profit organization, or running your own business are a few of the options available. For some, the security and stability
of working for someone else fits the bill, but for others, the
entrepreneurial spirit calls. These are the folks who strike out
on their own, driven by the desire to run their own business and
have control over their own futures.

The professionals who take this road are faced with the
challenge of building up a base of clients that will provide the
financial stability they need. Many opt to utilize a staffing
agency as a means to keep a steady amount of work coming in.
Staffing agencies usually take a significant percentage of the
total payment for a job, sometimes even half. This can make a
drastic decrease in earnings potential, which is discouraging.
But the arrangement may be worthwhile if you need the kind of
matchmaking and placement help that these organizations provide.

If you're choosing to hang your own shingle and you've got
the ability to maintain great relationships with clients, the
best way to maximize your earnings is to cultivate your own
clientele. While this can take time, your efforts can amount to
a significant income in the years to come. Marketing your
services to small and mid-size businesses is an excellent place
to start, because those companies are typically the ones that
would benefit financially from outsourcing accounting tasks
rather than hiring an in-house staff accountant.

The good thing about the accounting field is that every business
must do accounting. Some business owners start out by trying to
handle it all on their own, and a few savvy ones will get the
hang of it and manage it all alone. Many others will be quickly
overwhelmed and realize the value in paying for an expert to
handle delicate financial matters. Marketing yourself as a
specialist in start-up corporations, or in small business, is
often an excellent way to start building a clientele.

You can also specialize in a certain industry, but make sure
it's an industry where there will be a lot of business.
Specializing in a given area, rather than general accounting, is
a great way to gain name recognition. Attending local business
events and meeting fellow members of the local business
community is also very important. Everyone knows someone who
might someday need your services, and you want to be top-of-mind
when the topic comes up.

An additional option, if you have a broader business background
and high level experience on your CV, might be to market
yourself as a virtual CFO and help with the larger
financial matters of small and medium sized companies.

Once you've established a base of clients and have a steady
income stream flowing in, there really is no need to continue
utilizing a staffing agency. You will continue to gain more
clients through referrals from existing clients and
word-of-mouth, and it would be silly to continue handing over a
high percentage of your potential earnings to someone else when
you are perfectly capable of finding enough business to keep
yourself busy.

Once you get to this point, and are comfortable finding your own
clients, there is an opportunity for tax savings waiting for
you. Many independent accountants are finding it advantageous to
work with an employer of record. Accountants in particular
recognize the value of these services, because you are, after
all, experts in the financial business. Having a consistent
employment infrastructure while still maintaining your
independence, and still having all the advantages of taking
business deductions for your expenses, can save you both time
and money. Another benefit to umbrella corporations is that you
may be covered under that organization's general liability
insurance and other business insurances, and you may gain access
to true group benefits like health insurance and a 401(k)
retirement savings plan.

If you're an independent accountant, whether you're new to
the field or an industry veteran, you may want to take the time
to find out how much money you could be saving by using this new
way to work solo.

By Angela Stringfellow is a Marketing Communications Consultant, who has found a way to save on taxes by using MBO Partners.