Starting a business can be an incredibly overwhelming process. As well as doing the work that you love to do, you’ll have to account for a myriad of factors that you might never have thought about before; things like taking care of all of your marketing needs, ensuring that you’re following all of the necessary legal protocols, and managing your finances can seem like intensely complex tasks.

Fortunately, there are ways to outsource all of this work. Today, we’ll take a look at some of the websites you can use to find an accountant for your business. Starting with…

Upwork

Upwork (formerly known as Odesk) is owned by the same people who own Elance. As someone who has worked for clients on the site numerous times over the years, I can vouch for its functionality and infrastructure.

Not only are you able to customize the application process for Accountants who want to apply for your job, but you can also ask for examples/certificates to prove that they have the necessary skills and qualifications, while the site’s in-built feedback system allows you to vet candidates according to how their past clients have rated them following the completion (or termination!) of their contracts.

Upwork is also the world’s largest freelancer marketplace, generating three million jobs annually worth a total of over $1 billion. The site has its own dedicated category for accountants and accountancy jobs; however, you will need to pay Upwork in order to advertise your positions there.

Reddit’s /r/forhire Subreddit

Another forum that I have personally used to find a lot of my work is the less formal /r/forhire message board on Reddit.

For those of you who don’t know, Reddit is essentially a massive discussion forum where users can create their own small areas to discuss specific topics. Because there are so many people visiting the site in general (more than 113 million people go there each month, as of April 2017), the dedicated board for posting and find work is actually an incredibly useful resource for both clients and contractors.

While you won’t be able to scour your prospective accountant’s feedback (because, there’s a good chance they won’t have any at all), there are some real benefits to this method: you can set your own terms, you won’t have to factor in a cut to Reddit when calculating costs, and you open your job up to the possibility of being easily shared (which Upwork, unfortunately, does not allow us to do right now, especially with friends who aren’t registered on the site).

PeoplePerHour

I can’t vouch for how easy PeoplePerHour makes the experience of hiring a good freelancer, but it is fast becoming one of the most popular sites for doing so.

Based in the UK, they have been running since 2007 and they do have physical offices in Britain as well. They offer access to thousands of freelance experts across hundreds of fields, and based in countries around the globe.

In 2012, they were named as one of Europe’s 100 Hottest Startups by Wired UK; since then, they’ve established a foothold as one of (if not the) biggest freelancing marketplaces in Europe. Well worth a look, but make sure to check out some of the site’s reviews on Google before you go ahead with investing your time and money into the site!

Hiring an accountant for your business – especially if they’re going to be freelance – can be intimidating at first. However, these sites will allow you to advertise according to your own level of comfort, while still being able to set your own terms for your jobs. Keep checking back for more great posts like this, especially if you’re just starting a small business.