As a business owner, you wear a lot of hats.

But unless your primary business is accounting, my guess is the “bookkeeping” hat is one that’s not super comfortable. After all, you probably started your business to solve a specific problem or share your craft with the world.

And now you find yourself doing that … AND bookkeeping for yourself on the side.

That’s not an ideal use of your time — and the last thing you need is to make financial mistakes because you’re not exactly sure what you’re doing.

Which begs the question… should you hire a bookkeeper?

Do You Need to Hire a Bookkeeper?

At first, hiring someone to manage your books just looks like an additional expense. I mean, why hire a bookkeeper when you can do the bookkeeping yourself?

While this may work up to a certain point, there comes a time when things become too much for you to handle.

It’s important to remember that as an entrepreneur, your focus should be on building and growing your business. You can’t possibly do everything in your business forever.

The truth is, having a bookkeeper on your team makes a lot of sense. But before you hire one, it’s best to understand what they do and how they can benefit your business in the long run.

What a Bookkeeper Does

Like anything else in business, hiring a bookkeeper is an investment.

And like other investments, it’s essential to understand what you’re getting into before you start spending money.

So what does a bookkeeper do?

Below are some of a bookkeeper’s typical responsibilities:

• Posting and updating of journal entries
• Processing of payroll, accounts payable, and accounts receivable
• Reconciling bank statements
• Preparing trial balance
• Performing month-end closing
• Tracking fixed assets
• Preparing depreciation schedules

A good bookkeeper should have above-average analytical and problem-solving skills that they’ll need in resolving discrepancies.

Bookkeepers are detail-oriented, but also need good communication and soft skills while working with vendors and suppliers.

What is the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant?

Bookkeepers are not accountants. There are no formal certifications to become a bookkeeper, but a solid understanding of accounting and tax rules will certainly help.

To make it simple, a bookkeeper’s primary task is to record receipts, invoices, and other transactions.

Meanwhile, an accountant often provides business and tax advice based on the information compiled by bookkeepers.

When to Hire a Bookkeeper

This is a crucial question business owners need to answer right from the get-go. Ideally, you should have a bookkeeper on board shortly after starting your business — so you can have someone handle your day-to-day financials.

Of course, many of us are bootstrappers by nature, and try to keep costs low early on. I’m the same way!

That’s perfectly fine as long as you’re still able to perform your CEO functions. If you’re getting overwhelmed and you’re starting to see discrepancies in your financials, it’s probably time to get some  help.

Business owners usually hire freelancers for two reasons:

1. To free up their workload
2. To do work they couldn’t otherwise do themselves

Whatever the reason, one thing is clear. Hiring a bookkeeper accomplishes both, and also comes with a few benefits.

Benefits of Hiring a Bookkeeper

Here are the main benefits of hiring a bookkeeper:

1. Make tax season easier for you
2. Free up your time from bookkeeping tasks
3. Maintain current and accurate account information
4. Avoid data entry mistakes
5. Assist you in clarifying anything irregular about your income and expenses

Your Options for Hiring a Bookkeeper

The good news is, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to hire a bookkeeper these days.

I’ll do my best to outline some of your best options below.

1. Freelancer Bookkeepers

The gig economy is in full swing and it’s been very kind to small business owners in terms of providing talented freelancers that could perform different tasks.

From graphic designers to writers and social media marketers, these freelance marketplaces come with a deep talent pool that you can take advantage of. They also offer freelancers that are skilled in bookkeeping services.

FreeUp

FreeUp is a freelance marketplace of pre-vetted freelancers. That means is that you no longer have to review dozens of resumes or conduct interviews, because (in theory) FreeUp has already done it for you.

All you need to do is tell them about your ideal bookkeeper and your budget. FreeUp will then send you candidates that closely match your requirements. Next, you can set up a quick 15-minute conversation with them to see if they’re a good fit.

The service is great for entrepreneurs who don’t have the time to sift through resumes and conduct interviews. With FreeUp, you can be working with a freelance bookkeeper 24 hours after sending your requirements. It’s that quick!

Our full FreeUp review | Visit FreeUp

2. Online Bookkeeping Services

If you’re looking for a more specialized approach bookkeeping services would be the better option. Below are some of the top bookkeeping services you can consider:

Bench

Established in 2002, Bench is considered America’s largest remote bookkeeping service for small businesses. The software company helps small businesses by providing the following:

• a dedicated bookkeeping team
• powerful and easy-to-use financial reporting software
• monthly financial statements to help keep them on top of their finances

Bench offers pricing packages based on your monthly expenses.

Our full Bench review | Visit Bench

Bookkeeping.com

As the name implies, Bookkeeping.com is an online bookkeeping service based in California that has been in business since 2011.

The company offers several services that go beyond bookkeeping including the following:

• Human resources
• Insurance services
• Payroll
• Tax Services
• Time Clock

Since the company provides customized bookkeeping solutions tailored to the needs of its customers, they don’t offer any set pricing and plans to choose from. You’ll need to speak to them so you can get a quote.

Finance Pal

Finance Pal is another online bookkeeping service that offers a range of bookkeeping and accounting services to small and medium-sized businesses.

The company is fairly new, starting its operations in 2019 and currently based in Chicago.

Describing their business as a one-stop-shop for all of your business’s finances and accounting, Finance Pal also provides a host of other services including:

• Entity formations
• Payroll solutions
• Recovery and catchup
• Sales and use tax
• Tax preparation

They currently have 3 pricing plans to choose from like Basic, Plus, and Custom, each of them offering a different set of services customers can choose from.

3. Virtual Agencies that Offer Bookkeeping

Apart from freelance marketplaces and bookkeeping services, some agencies offer back-office support with bookkeeping being one of them. The following are some of the services that fall under this category:

BELAY

Established in 2010, BELAY started by helping churches and pastors outsource their administrative work.

The company, which employs only US-based assistants, has since expanded its operations and is now serving businesses nationwide.

BELAY helps its clients by providing them with virtual assistants that can help with admin work, bookkeeping, and website support and maintenance.

Our full BELAY review | Visit BELAY

My Tasker

A well-established company, My Tasker began its operations back in 2012 and is currently based in Kolkata, India.

Just like BELAY, the company also helps its clients by providing virtual assistant services remotely under the following expertise:

• Accounting and bookkeeping
• Writing and editing
• IT support
• Web design and development

My Tasker provides several plans that start at $140 for a 10-hour a month plan.

Our full My Tasker review | Visit My Tasker

RemSource

Remsource is a virtual administrative assistant company founded in 2009 and located in Baltimore, MD.

What makes RemSource different from its competitors is that it offers live admin support during regular 9-5 office hours. Their VAs can perform various tasks including answering phones and emails, scheduling appointments, customer service, and bookkeeping just to name a few.

RemSource is also just one of the few US-based virtual assistant companies where VAs work from an office instead of their own homes.

Their Monthly packages start at around $500-600 per month, depending on the client’s needs and requirements.

How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Bookkeeper?

Since a freelance bookkeeper isn’t technically an employee of yours, you’re not required to pay them any of the mandatory benefits a full-time employee is entitled to.

Depending on the kind of service you choose, freelance bookkeepers are usually paid for hours worked. Apart from skills and knowledge, a bookkeeper’s years of experience also plays a huge role in determining the cost.

A typical bookkeeper, whose role is basic data entry, could cost you between $10 to 35 per hour.

A more seasoned bookkeeper, with more accounting skills for example, can cost around $40 to 75 per hour.

More common with the virtual bookkeeping agencies is to simply charge a flat monthly fee. For example, Bench charges $139-349 per month, depending on the size of your business.

You can also refer to the prices for each of the services mentioned above.

Questions to Ask a Bookkeeper

Once you’ve decided on the platform and you have your budget in place, you’re ready to hire a bookkeeper.

To get the best person to help your business, you must ask the right questions during the interview. Below are some of the essential points you need to touch on.

What is the Scope of Work?

Though we’ve established a bookkeeper’s typical duties, different business owners have different requirements. There may be other tasks you need them to help with, so it’s important to find out if they’re capable of doing it or not.

• Do they have experience processing payroll?
• Are they good at reconciling bank statements?
• Do they know how to prepare a trial balance?
• What kinds of financial reports have you prepared?

Make sure to check if they’re capable of doing everything you need, and how much it’ll cost.

What Software Do You Use?

It’s important to establish early on the specific software your new bookkeeper will be using. Many bookkeepers specialize in Quickbooks, Xero, or other solutions.

You may already have a software you use in your business, so make sure to ask if they’re familiar with it — or if they recommend switching to another tool.

What Certifications Do You Have?

When it comes to bookkeeping certifications, there are no formal or legal requirements to practice.

Specific software tools and industry groups offer their own certifications. For example, Quickbooks encourages bookkeepers to certify as a “ProAdvisor“. Meanwhile, the National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers has their own certification program.

These show that bookkeepers are serious about their practice, but shouldn’t necessarily disqualify a candidate if they’re not certified.

Instead, ask for referrals to clients with businesses similar to yours. If they had success, odds are you will too.

Implementing referral program software early on can help you find good candidates for this deal by tapping into your network and encouraging referrals.

How Will Tax Filing and Preparation Work?

Tax season is one of the busiest seasons in an entrepreneur’s life. This is also one of the best reasons to hire a bookkeeper.

While a bookkeeper usually won’t be filing your taxes, they should be able to make it easier for you and your accountant by providing complete and accurate financial information.

Ask what documents will be provided and what the typical process looks like.

Final Thoughts on Hiring a Bookkeeper

Given the skills and experience they can contribute to a business, it’s safe to say that just about every business owner will need to hire a bookkeeper at some point. This won’t just just free up your workload, but also helps ensure your financials are well taken care of.

A bookkeeper is a worthy investment, especially since the cost to hire one is relatively low compared to the benefits.

Read More

After blogging for the last 10 years, I feel like I finally have a decent process in place for outsourcing content creation.

I still write a lot of my own stuff (like this article), but over time I’ve realized I don’t need to write every word of every article that gets published on my sites.

There are other writers that are better, faster, and cheaper than I am!

Content creation is critically important to my businesses. Depending on the site, 65-85% of the traffic comes from organic search.

(And Google tends to rank pages, or articles, instead of homepages.)

So how do I go about outsourcing content that finds its way to the first page of Google?

Here’s my general process.

Figuring out What Keywords to Target

The first step is figuring out what to write about. I do this in a number of ways:

• Suggested search terms in Google auto-complete. Type in seed keywords and then hit the space bar. Then try it again going through the alphabet letter by letter.
• Site search results in Google Analytics for queries on my own site (what are people typing in but not finding great results for?).
• AnswerThePublic.com. (Punch in your topic and watch all the related queries pop up.)
• Competitive site research in ahrefs.com (a premium tool but well worth it).
• Customer questions.

One thing to keep in mind is to NOT simply create content for the sake of maintaining some sort of arbitrary publishing schedule.

A friend of mine put it this way: “if you’re going to spend time creating something, you better have a plan in place for how it’s going to generate traffic (and income).”

Sad to say, but I’ve written hundreds of articles that almost no one read. Doing the keyword research upfront, and creating content with intention, helps avoid that.

Estimating Search Volume and Competitiveness

Before I decide to create an article targeting a specific keyword or phrase, I want to know if that keyword or phrase is something people are actually searching for.

You can get this metric from ahrefs, the Google Keyword Planner inside your AdWords account, or from a free tool like the What’s My Serp Everywhere browser extension.

For me, keywords that are searched 500 times a month or more are generally worth going after, but for certain “buyer intent” keywords I’ll go lower.

Perhaps the more important consideration is competitiveness of the keyword. Ahrefs will give you an estimate of how hard it is to rank for that keyword.

The lower the number the better, and I’ll prioritize articles that have higher search volume metrics and a KD or keyword difficulty score under 10.

Research and Outlining

If I have a general knowledge on the topic, I’ll create the outline myself. Normally this involves writing down the common questions the article should answer.

If it’s something I don’t know much about, I’ll assign it to Fancy Hands for research. I let the assistant know they can spend up to 3 tasks (about an hour) on the research. (If you’re on the “Professional” plan, that’s about $15 worth of research.)

They deliver this back to me in a Google Doc, which I pass along to my writer. For certain routine articles, I can just add the outline/research doc to a certain folder in Dropbox, which will automatically trigger an email to him thanks to IFTTT.

Getting the Content Written

The next step is for the writer to draft the article. I provide the outline and research, along with the keyword to target and the desired word count.

I have a few writers I work with. A couple I connected with through my network but the other I found on FreeeUp. For the sake of reference, they charge anywhere from $12 to $100 per 1000 words.

Related: Here of some of our top-rated content writing services.

Formatting

When they’re done, my writer will add the content to WordPress in draft form.

Then, my assistant (from OkayRelax) goes in and formats the article based on our process, adds images, and adds the title, meta description, and categories.

Final Review

Before hitting “publish”, I give the article one final review. This includes editing for voice, proofreading for any typos, and occasionally adding internal links to related content.

This follows the 10/80/10 rule of outsourcing I’ve discussed before. I do the 10% of work upfront in the form of keyword discovery and research, Fancy Hands, the writers, and my assistant do the 80% in the middle, and I do the final 10% review before publishing at the end.

Following this process, I’ve landed several new “first page of Google” articles in the last 12 months, worth thousands of visitors every month.

Your Turn

I’m sure this will evolve over time, but I’m feeling pretty solid about this outsourced content process and wanted to share.

How do you tackle content marketing? Are you writing everything yourself? Do you have a similar process in place?

Let me know in the comments below.

Read More

Looking for other sites like Fiverr?

With millions of freelancers available for hire, Fiverr is the one of the largest freelance marketplaces in the world. But there are still plenty of alternatives.

With more and more businesses opting to outsource tasks to freelancers instead of hiring full-time staff, the global talent pool has become bigger and easier to access.

If you’re looking to outsource some of your company’s tasks, the list below should help you narrow down your choices and help you find the type of service that best fits your needs.

Freelance Marketplaces Like Fiverr

These general freelance platforms offer just about any type of freelance talent across different industries and niches.

They are basically one-stop shops for outsourcing where you can find virtual assistants, writers, designers, developers, and tons more.

FreeeUp

FreeeUp is an up-and-coming marketplace that prides itself for hiring only the “top 1%” of freelancers the market has to offer.

What makes FreeeUp different from its competitors is that it (theoretically) spares you the hassle of going through dozens of resumes and conducting interviews because they’ve already taken care of both.

After you submit your requirements, FreeeUp introduces you to a pre-vetted freelancer. Those candidates have already gone through a rigorous screening process and FreeeUp believes they’ll be a match for your needs.

Like Fiverr, FreeeUp prides itself on speed, though it’s not quite as fast as Fiverr’s a la cart system. Still, you can post your request on FreeeUp, get introduced to a qualified candidate, and start working with a new remote team member in less than 24 hours.

Our full FreeeUp review | Visit FreeeUp

OnlineJobs.ph

OnlineJobs.ph is a Filipino job board that caters exclusively to remote online work opportunities.

What makes this service a great option is its powerful filtering system. Technically a resume database, the site allows you to filter by skills required, desired salary, the date the listing was posted, and skill level.

Unlike other freelance marketplaces, this platform is subscription-based which means you have to pay for a nominal fee for you to be allowed to get in contact with a freelancer.

Our full OnlineJobs.ph review | Visit OnlineJobs.ph

Upwork

Upwork is the world’s largest marketplace for freelance workers. It’s free to post your job and you’ll likely have a dozen qualified candidates bidding for your work within 24 hours.

Back when it was called Elance, I actually had great luck in finding long-term VA hires through this site.

Our full Upwork review | Visit Upwork

FlexJobs

FlexJobs is a leading job board for both work-from-home and telecommuting jobs.

The platform offers a wide variety of opportunities both from big and small companies, as well as those seeking virtual workers.

The marketplace is best-suited for full or part-time remote jobs. As an employer, you’d post your job(s) and wait for applications to come in.

Workers pay a nominal membership fee for access to the listings. Because of that, you can generally expect a more motivated and driven pool that takes their job search seriously.

Our full FlexJobs review | Visit FlexJobs

Guru

Guru is considered to be one of the original freelance sites, having been around since as early as 1997.

It works pretty much the same as other freelance marketplaces, including Upwork. You create a job posting and receive bids from several freelancers that match the skillset you’re looking for.

What sets it apart is the rewards program. Each dollar you spend earns a corresponding Guru Loyalty Dollar which you can use for future projects.

Our full Guru review | Visit Guru.com

Freelancer.com

Freelancer.com is considered by many as one of the world’s largest freelance marketplaces, with over 7 million users.

Formerly known as GetAFreelancer.com, the site follows a similar model to Upwork. Employers create job postings and workers bid on them.

One key difference is that the site limits the number of jobs freelancers can bid on under a free membership. With that cap in place, freelancers tend to only go for jobs they’re confident they’re qualified for.

(On Upwork, freelancers might take more of a shotgun approach.)

Our full Freelancer.com review | Visit Freelancer.com

DynamiteJobs.co

Founded in 2017, Dynamite Jobs is a relatively new freelance marketplace.

Like FreeeUp, workers are pre-vetted for their skills. The site tends to attract a younger, more entrepreneurial crowd seeking location-independent job opportunities with potential for learning and growth.

Our full Dynamite Jobs review | Visit Dynamite Jobs

WeWorkRemotely

We Work Remotely is the remote jobs board created by 37signals, the software company behind the popular Basecamp project management tool.

The site caters to employers and employees with a tech-industry focus. Job categories include customer support, design, programming, marketing, and more.

The service is free for job seekers but charges employers $299 per job posting, which will remain active on the site for 30 days.

Visit We Work Remotely

People Per Hour

People Per Hour is a London-based company founded in 2007 is similar to Fiverr. Freelancers post their respective gigs using a format like:

“I can do ___ in ___ hours for $___.”

Prices for gigs are a bit higher than Fiverr, with most virtual assistant gigs priced between $10 and $20 per hour.

If you’re having a hard time finding an off-the-shelf gig that matches your requirements, you can also post the exact help you’re looking for.

Our full People Per Hour review | Visit People Per Hour

XPlace

XPlace is one of the largest and oldest freelance marketplaces today, having been around since 2004.

Like its other competitors, XPlace offers a platform for business owners and freelancers to connect. What sets them apart is the hundreds of categories you can choose from. Each one clearly organized, making profile searches easier than usual.

The platform also differentiates itself from its competitors by operating on a monthly membership model which allows them NOT to take any cut from every project completed.

Our full XPlace review | Visit XPlace

Hubstaff Talent

Initially created to provide time tracking software for remote teams, Hubstaff eventually ventured into the staffing solutions business and uses the “pre-vetted” freelancer model (like FreeeUp).

This means that hiring a freelancer is quick and easy because the platform takes care of all the filtering and interviewing on your behalf.

Just send them your requirements and they’ll send you back a pre-vetted freelancer that matches your requirements.

Our full Hubstaff Talent review | Visit Hubstaff Talent

Twago

Twago, short for TeamWork Across Global Offices, is considered one of the biggest freelance platforms in Europe. It uses the same model as Upwork and other marketplaces where a business owner posts a job and gets sent several candidates to interview.

The platform caters to businesses of any size and provides support for a variety of areas like mobile design apps, translation services, and website development among others.

Our full Twago review | Visit Twago

Outsourcely

Outsourcely is a virtual assistant company that makes it easy for business owners to connect with freelancers.

After creating a strong presence in the Philippines, the company’s talent pool as seen a lot of growth since and now have around 250,000 fully pre-vetted remote workers in their database.

The platform uses the “search and hire” model and is totally free of charge for freelancers. Clients pay for a fixed monthly subscription ranging from $9-99 per month. The company doesn’t take a cut from transactions and is simply in it to play matchmaker.

Our full Outsourcely review | Visit Outsourcely

Hire My Mom

HireMyMom.com is an online outsourcing service founded in 2007. Unlike other freelance marketplaces and job boards, Hire My Mom–as you might guess from the name–specializes in matching your business with qualified work-from-home moms.

The site caters to businesses of any size that are looking for help in areas such as bookkeeping, online research, graphic design, and more.

The company doesn’t take a cut of the contract price like other outsourcing sites do, helping moms keep whatever they earn. Instead, the site charges the moms a membership fee to access the gigs.

Our full Hire My Mom review | Visit HireMyMom.com

Speedlancer

Speedlancer prides itself as the first freelancing platform to use the power of crowdsourcing for speed.

Established in 2014, what sets the company apart from your usual freelance marketplaces is the promised 4-hour turnaround time on all projects.

This 4-hour promise is applicable even for projects with multiple tasks, something you’ll rarely find in an outsourcing platform.

Our full Speedlancer review | Visit Speedlancer.com

Cloudpeeps

Established in 2015, CloudPeeps aims to provide clients and freelancers a platform where they can connect and begin a working relationship.

The platform works in a similar fashion to Upwork where you post a job, receive bids from “peeps,” then connect and hire the best one that matches your requirements.

Visit Cloudpeeps.com

PartTimerz

PartTimerz is a Sarajevo-based freelance marketplace operating globally. The site caters to small businesses and startups by connecting them to the professional freelancers who can help them with their needs.

Like Upwork and other freelance platforms, PartTimerz allows freelancers to bid on job listings posted by business owners. The site covers a wide variety of skills that include software development, writing, translation, marketing, and administration among others.

Visit PartTimerz.com

Workana

Workana is a freelance marketplace launched in 2012 aims to help business owners find freelancers that can help them in certain areas of their businesses.

With over a million freelancers in its pool and more than 20,000 projects per month, the platform is considered one of the biggest marketplaces today. (Especially popular in Brazil and South America.)

Like your typical freelance marketplace, the platform works by having clients post a job listing that freelancers will bid on. The client may then reach out to the freelancer of his choice to work out all the details before they begin working together.

Creating an account, posting jobs, receiving bids, and speaking with freelancers is free. The only fees clients need to pay is a service cost that represents a value equivalent to 4.5% of the total project value.

Our full Workana review | Visit Workana.com

Fiverr Alternatives for Graphic Design

Niche marketplaces are freelance marketplaces that focus on a specific area of expertise such as graphic design, copywriting, or bookkeeping–to name a few.

What makes these services a viable option for business owners is that being focused on a certain skill ensures that there’s quality control, getting you the best bang for your every buck.

A friend of mine said for businesses in growth mode, it often makes sense to hire a specialized agency before hiring a dedicated freelancer or even a part-time employee. His argument was that the agencies have already done the legwork to vet their team members and have proven processes in place to work with companies like yours.

Design Pickle

Design Pickle is a cloud-based company offering personalized graphic design and support services to small and medium-sized business.

What sets them apart is the 24-hour turnaround time they offer for some of their projects which is really helpful especially for businesses that are on the rush but doesn’t have the time and patience to do it on their own.

The system works by connecting the client and the freelancer via email where designers will ask questions about the project and ask for images and other files they will need to come up with a design.

You should then get a design done within 24-hours. If you’re not satisfied with the results, however, Design Pickle will continue to work with you until you’re happy.

Clients will have to subscribe to start enjoying their services. Since there are no contracts involved, clients can also cancel anytime they wish to do so.

Our full Design Pickle review | Visit Design Pickle

Delesign

Delesign is another subscription-based graphic design service founded in April of 2018 that’s based in San Jose, California but whose freelancers are located in the Philippines.

Like Design Pickle, the company offers a 24 to 48-hour turn around time on projects that are open to revisions should you not be satisfied.

The service works by allowing its clients to fill out a short questionnaire where they’ll be asked about their company, the project they need help with, and the timezone that works best for them.

The company then assigns the best designer on their roster that suits your requirements and begins working with you.

Our full Delesign review | Visit Delesign

Fiverr Alternatives for Content Writing

Copywriter Today

Founded in 2014, Copywriter Today is a content creation service located in Cleveland, Ohio that aims to provide bloggers and small businesses with top-quality written content on an ongoing basis.

The company prides itself for its “unlimited” writing service.

After signing up, all you need to do to get an article done is to submit a content request. Depending on the length of the content, you’ll receive the finished product back in as little as 48 hours.

Each monthly plan comes with a corresponding number of words, turnaround times, and a couple of other services like proofreading and editing, giving you more value for your money.

Our full Copywriter Today review | Visit Copywriter Today

HireWriters

As the name implies, this company, which began in 2012, helps connect clients with writers from all over the world.

This on-demand content creation service offers some very affordable pricing.

Our full HireWriters review | Visit HireWriters

TextBroker

TextBroker is a content-writing marketplace that began in 2005 and has since expanded its international presence with more than 80,000 writers in its network to date.

What separates TextBroker from other virtual assistant and freelance marketplaces is that you don’t have to make a decision on who to hire. Just submit your job requirements and it will be done and sent back to you the way you wanted it.

With TextBroker, articles are priced based on the length and quality. Writers are rated based on skill and writing style, which determines the type of jobs or projects they’re eligible to work on.

Our full TextBroker review | Visit TextBroker

Fiverr Alternatives for Bookkeeping

Bench

Established in 2002, Bench is a remote bookkeeping service. They specialize in providing tax-ready financials for small businesses across the United States and Canada.

Though the tech-savvy bookkeeping service’s clients are mostly located in the US and Canada, their bookkeepers are well-versed and knowledgeable in accounting practices and laws in other countries, making them a top option for businesses outside of the United States as well.

Through their highly-intuitive software and app, the company makes it easy for clients to connect with bookkeepers. This is a popular option to take time-consuming tasks like preparing tax returns and balancing your books off your plate.

Our full Bench review | Visit Bench

Bean Ninjas

Bean Ninjas is an online bookkeeping and accounting services company established in 2015. They cater to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses using the accounting software Xero.

The company provides you with your own team leader who will serve as your point of contact, and a dedicated assistant who will work on your account.

These individuals will also help train you and convert your current accounting software over to Xero for a smoother transition.

Our full Bean Ninjas review | Visit Bean Ninjas

Fiverr Alternatives for Virtual Receptionists

Ruby Receptionists

Ruby Receptionists or “Call Ruby” is a virtual answering service for small businesses founded in 2003 and located in Portland, Oregon.

The company helps by answering and forwarding calls, taking messages, and answering FAQs on your behalf. All you need to do is customize your “scripts” and let them know about your guidelines. Ruby Receptionists will take care of the rest.

They can even provide you with your own toll-free number, make outbound calls, confirm appointments, and relay information on your behalf to make your company sound more legit and trust-worthy.

Each plan they offer is priced based on the number of receptionist minutes per month as well as the number of users. They also come with a 21-day money back guarantee.

Our full Ruby review | Visit Ruby

Gabbyville

Gabbyville is another virtual receptionist service founded in 2013 to help businesses of any size that don’t have the budget to do it in-house.

From accountants and CPAs to lawyers and physicians, Gabbyville’s helpful receptionists help businesses at a much lower price than it would cost hiring someone in-office.

Unlike its competitors, Gabbyville is HIPAA compliant and is on-call 14 hours a day.

Our full Gabbyville review | Visit Gabbyville

Fiverr Alternatives for Technical and Marketing Help

TopTal

If you’re specifically looking for remote engineers and developers, TopTal is one of your better options. The service specializes in connecting clients with the “top 3%” of talent the industry has to offer.

(That’s where the name comes from; Top Talent.)

Established in 2010, TopTal’s network has been continuously expanding and now has more software engineers and designers scattered all over the world.

The marketplace offers pre-qualified professionals categorized based on the following skillsets:

• Front-end Developers
• Back-end Developers
• Quality Assurance
• Designers

Like other freelance marketplaces, hiring and working with a remote worker in TopTal is easy. All you need to do is send a request detailing your requirements and the company will send you the best freelancer that matches your description.

Our full TopTal review | Visit TopTal

Codeable

If you’re looking for help with anything related to WordPress, Codeable is one of the best services you can use.

The Denmark-based on-demand service for WordPress tasks was established in 2013 and has more than a hundred WordPress experts in its pool.

From fixing bugs, developing custom plugins, and migrating sites, Codeable pretty much does it all for you as long as it has anything to do with WordPress.

The process starts with a client submitting a detailed task brief which will garner lots of bids from various experts. Unlike other freelance sites, however, Codeable removes price from the equation so you can pick based a developer based on work history, feedback, and area of expertise.

Our full Codeable review | Visit Codeable

Credo

Credo matches you with qualified SEO and digital marketing agencies.

The company, whose name is short for “credible,” uses a similar approach with that of FreeeUp and other marketplaces that offer pre-vetted professionals. That eliminates–or at least shortens–an often tedious hiring process.

Credo’s pool of qualified agencies can help small business with SEO, PPC, Content Marketing, Link Building, Online Reputation Management, and more.

Visit Credo

Crew

If you’re looking for some web design and development help, Crew.co is a great service to consider.

Founded in 2012, the company provides its clients with a platform where they can connect with designers and developers from different parts of the world.

What makes Crew a reliable option is the way they make things easy for clients. By sending you three pre-vetted freelancers they manually picked based on your requirements, you are spared from the tedious hiring and vetting process while also getting someone of top quality.

Crew specializes in programming and graphic design projects and can help your company with app development, e-commerce support, logo design, and branding among others.

Our full Crew review | Visit Codeable

Gigster

Gigster is an on-demand software development platform. It helps companies by providing teams of experts who can write or create the software they have in mind.

The service operates on a fixed price and fixed scope basis. This covers the entire life cycle of a client’s digital initiatives, which means they’ll be working with you from the planning to the testing stage.

The Gigster talent network is made up of designers, developers, and project managers from all over the world. The company prides itself on ensuring top quality and quick delivery.

Our full Gigster Review | Visit Gigster

Gun.io

Gun.io aims to connect freelance software developers with businesses in need or professional software development services.

Their talent pool is composed of US-based team leaders and developers who specialize in the following services:

• iOS apps
• Android apps
• Web applications
• SAAS products
• UX strategy
• Scripting
• Desktop programs
• Project management
• MVP development

Working with Gun.io is simple. You just provide the scope of your project and the budget you’re working with one of their team leaders who will then create a plan and handpick team members who will work on your project.

Our full Gun.io review | Visit Gun.io

Yeeply

Yeeply markets itself as a company that provides a platform for businesses to find the best professionals for their mobile applications and tech projects.

The company uses a similar model to that of Gun.io and Gigster where you’ll be assigned a team of pre-vetted professionals that matches your requirement using a matching algorithm. You will then receive one or more proposals, then sign a contract once you’ve made up your mind.

Visit Yeeply

Fiverr Alternatives for Local Hires

As exciting as remote work is, there are businesses that still require help onsite. Though they may be relatively new, local hire is slowly emerging as an option business owners can count on should they require additional sets of hands both at home and in the office.

Handy

Formerly known as Handybook, Handy is an online platform that connects individuals with independent service professionals who can do all sorts of hands-on tasks around the home.

From a regular cleaning task to something that requires certain expertise like furniture assembly, Handy has a professional within its vast talent pool that will match your requirement.

Just tell them what you need and you will be emailed back with details about the available professionals and prices you can choose from. It will then be all up to you whether you’ll accept, decline, or change your details.

Our full Handy review | Visit Handy

TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit is a marketplace between people who are looking to get some of their stuff done and people willing to do it for a given price.

Founded in 2008, the platform is a pioneer in the peer-to-peer commerce space.

Unlike Upwork, TaskRabbit focuses on in-person tasks and gigs. For example, you can find professionals to clean your house, pick up stuff from the office, or any other errand or task you don’t have time to do.

Just send them your requirements so TaskRabbits can bid on them and help you decide which one matches your needs best.

Our full TaskRabbit review | Visit TaskRabbit

Thumbtack

Thumbtack is another online platform similar to Handy that helps you find professionals for tasks around the house.

Founded in 2008, the company makes it easier for you to find the professional you’re looking for. Just tell them what you need and you’ll receive free estimates so you can compare and make a hiring decision faster and easier.

With Thumbtack, you can find the nearest professional in your area who can help you house cleaning, massage therapy, event catering, handyman, and appliance repair services, just to name a few.

Visit Thumbtack

Bidvine

Bidvine is a local professional hiring platform in the UK. The site helps you find professional services covering industries like Health, Events, and Home Improvement among others.

Like most of its competitors, Bidvine sends out details of a client’s requirements to matching professionals. This allows you to receive a couple of bids to assess and compare.

Visit Bidvine

Wonolo

Wonolo is an on-demand staffing marketplace. The company aims to connect your business with temporary workers called “Wonoloers” who can help.

It works by allowing clients or “Requestors” to post jobs which Wonoloers can review and decide if it’s something they’re willing to do.

The company provides businesses a wide range of skills like general labor, food production, event staffing, washing and cleaning, merchandising, and more.

Visit Wonolo

Virtual Assistant Companies

Virtual assistant companies are firms that provide outsourcing services.

While most of them are located in countries like the Philippines and India, there’s also been a rise in the growth of similar companies both in the US and the UK.

The biggest advantages of working with a virtual assistant company instead of searching for a freelancer on Fiverr are:

• Recruiting and screening — the company has already done this for you!
• Backups and replacements — important should your VA ever leave or quit!
• Multiple skills under one roof.

Time Etc

This UK and US-based virtual assistant company was established in 2007 and has since expanded and penetrated the US market.

The company prides itself on having completed more than a million tasks and projects and for working with big names like Apple, Facebook, IBM, and AOL.

Some of the tasks Time Etc virtual assistants can handle include:

• customer service
• administrative assistance
• sales and lead generation
• marketing support and writing
• recruiting
• accounting and bookkeeping

Each plan they offer comes with a set number of hours per month as well as a few other perks like a dedicated US assistant and unused hours rollover among others.

Our full Time Etc review | Visit Time Etc

My Tasker

My Tasker is one of the biggest names in the virtual assistant industry.

Established in 2012, the India-based company has been continually growing and has achieved much success since as a standalone platform.

The company assigns a qualified VA based on the requirements you sent. Their VAs are highly-skilled and are well-versed in different tasks like general admin, appointment setting, and other back-office tasks to name a few.

Each pricing plan comes with a corresponding number of hours you can avail for 30 days.

Our full My Tasker review | Visit My Tasker

Boldly (formerly Worldwide101)

Boldly is a premium subscription staffing company founded in 2009.

What separates the company from its competitors is the quality and experience their virtual assistants bring to the table. They only hire VAs with a minimum of 7 years of executive assistant experience (most of them have 10 to 15 years under their belt).

The experience requirement is such because their clients are mostly founders and executives of large companies.

Their approach is highly-personalized, going as far as having clients speak with an assistant who matches their requirement even before they sign up which aligns perfectly with their vision of becoming the “go-to” company when it comes to reliable and quality remote workers.

Our full Boldly review | Visit Boldly

BELAY

Formerly known as eaHELP, BELAY is a virtual staffing solutions company established in 2010.

Exclusively employing US-based assistants, the company began helping churches and pastors outsource their administrative tasks but has since expanded in a big way.

Their services fall under three main categories:

• Virtual Assistants
• Web Maintenance
• Bookkeeping

The company provides a relationship manager who will help you get in touch with an assistant that best fits your requirements, helping make the hiring process faster and easier.

Our full BELAY review | Visit BELAY

Fancy Hands

Fancy Hands is a New York-based virtual assistant company that helps customers complete one-time tasks they don’t have the bandwidth to perform.

I use the service for online research, flight check-ins, proofreading, and responding to simple customer emails.

From online research, conference call setups, to restaurant reservations, Fancy Hands has US-based, native English-speaking assistants ready to serve you.

By simply submitting your requests via email, text, or via the mobile app, a qualified assistant can claim and work on it in 20 minutes or less which is a huge plus for customers on the go.

Our full Fancy Hands review | Visit Fancy Hands

OkayRelax

OkayRelax is a task-based virtual assistant company founded in 2015 that aims to help busy people save time by performing some of their time-consuming tasks on their behalf.

Unlike its competitors though, OkayRelax uses a hybrid approach between a task-based service and a dedicated virtual assistant service.

The service handles a variety of tasks and has become a crucial part of my team. I rely on my assistant for several weekly recurring tasks.

Our full OkayRelax review | Visit OkayRelax

Uassist

Uassist.ME is a virtual assistant company established in 2009 that has offices in Miami and El Salvador. The company began with the idea of providing remote administrative services to businesses in the US and across the globe.

The company has continuously grown over the years with their services expanding to cover other tasks like SEO, Social Media Marketing, and Telemarketing to name a few.

They’ve also included real estate among the services they offer as well as web development, graphic design, and content writing.

Our full Uassist review | Visit Uassist

Zirtual

Zirtual is a virtual assistant company established in 2010 with the purpose of providing virtual assistant and personal concierge services to customers from around the world.

The company prides itself for employing US-based, college-educated virtual assistants that are ready to perform various tasks that may include travel reservations, scheduling of meetings, online research, making/receiving calls, and responding to emails just to name a few.

The service comes with an “epic guarantee” that you’ll be satisfied with their work because they have a seven-step hiring process that includes personality tests and thorough background checks, all designed to ensure that clients are getting top quality work done for them when they need it.

Our full Zirtual review | Visit Zirtual

TaskVirtual

Task Virtual is an India-based virtual assistant company and is a relative newcomer to the virtual assistant services industry.

The company offers a wide range of services performed by highly-skilled and pre-vetted assistants at very competitive rates.

Their target customers are entrepreneurs and business owners who are looking for additional hands but don’t have the budget to employ in-house staff.

Task Virtual offers several payment plans with their Personal Assistance Services priced in task bundles, with each task being classified as 10 to 15 jobs. They also offer Business Assistance Services which are priced in hours.

Our full TaskVirtual review | Visit TaskVirtual

Please check here for our full directory of virtual assistant companies.

Final Thoughts

Truth be told, this list just scratches the surface of alternatives to Fiverr for hiring freelancers. And new platforms are popping up all the time.

You’ve definitely got options when it comes to outsourcing. All you really need to do is identify which marketplace or company suits you best.

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