Teenage Bookkeeping Side Hustler
I have been on the hunt for an example of a very young teenage bookkeeper for a long time. I have been telling y’all folks with teenagers that having your teen learn along side you and work in your business could be a such a valuable “kill two birds with one stone” plan of attack as you venture into this virtual bookkeeping entrepreneur journey.
Well, I finally found one! Well, FIRST I found his dad in the Bookkeeping Side Hustle Facebook group. Then I asked, “Can I interview your son?!?”.
I am so glad I asked. This conversation was a real treat.
- These two guests describe how special this has been to their relationship as father and son. Really, really sweet to hear both of them share their side of the story.
- Mikey is a critical part of the Accounts Payable Process for his dad’s clients. This is not busy work.
- The partnership structure Boss Day Micheal discusses at the end is pure tax saving genius.
- Mikey is saving 45% of his paychecks in an IRA (have you put “AGE 14” in a Roth IRA retirement calculator recently!!! Eye-popping figures!).
- Mikey wants to study engineering, not accounting. Can you even imagine how valuable knowledge of accounting and administrative management will be to his future engineering firm employeer? Goodness gracious.
I’ll be honest. I was not expecting what Mikey and his dad were doing to be nearly as legitimate as it was. I thought it would be more of a situation where the dad had created some busy-work because someone so young couldn’t do truly meaningful bookkeeping work.
But these two guys have created a legitimate system where Mikey is a critical part of the Accounts Payable process for his dad’s clients. They have a thorough SOP written up. Mikey is a legitimate part of the internal controls process. It was really inspiring.
I also was struck by the fact that Mikey is only 14 but said that he has been doing this for a few years. Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor. Now granted, Mikey does seem like an exceptional kid. Perhaps you are looking over at yours right now and thinking “No way!”. But I challenge you to find something that CAN work inside your business given your kid’s strengths. Here are some ideas off the top of my head.
- Process improvements in your business? Becoming your Zapier queen/king?
- Video tutorials and editing with some nice intro bump music?
- What about some rocking future-facing budgets for your clients?
- If they love writing, could the be in charge of creating process documents for your firm?
- Could you create some sort of payment incentives that would motivate them because they need that high risk/reward payoff to be motivated?
At the end of the day, you are stuck with your kiddos for life, right? Much of parenting is slogging through some hard and awkard stuff for the long term payoff? Image that 22 year old NOT moving back in because she is a total catch to an employer (accounting industry or otherwise) because of the skills you helped her develop.
Maybe if the oldest one is a total punk about it, he can get an attitude adjustment when he sees kid brother with money in hand when and in the bank account when he can’t even afford to buy popcorn at the movies with his friends.
I have no doubt that over the next few years as Mikey enters high school that his roles and responsibilities and knowledge of bookkeeping processes and even accounting fundamentals will grow.
I have every intention of interviewing these two guys again in 2 years to see how Mikey has grown professionally and to get an update on his life and goals.
I hope you give this interview a listen. Tell me what you thought about it below or over in the Bookkeeping Side Hustle Facebook Group.