Part-Time Bookkeeper | Remote, Chicago Area

**Part\-Time Bookkeeper \| Remote, Chicago Area** **$30–$40/hour \| Independent contractor \| 4–6 hours/week to start** Prism Collective is a small, remote accounting firm built around two goals: helping small businesses flourish, and helping the people doing that work have balanced, sustainable lives. We're looking for another bookkeeper to join our small remote team. This role will begin at approximately **4–6 hours per week during training**, with an expected increase to **6–8 hours per week beginning in January** and room to grow from there for the right person. The work is remote and largely asynchronous, but we're specifically looking for someone in the **greater Chicago area**. Our team already has roots there, and we'd like to continue building a local cluster even though we work remotely. **What you'll eventually own** Once you're trained and comfortable, you'll take ownership of recurring bookkeeping work for a small group of clients, including: * Weekly transaction review and bookkeeping * Monthly reconciliations and close * Investigating discrepancies and unusual activity * W\-9 collection and year\-end preparation * Creating and maintaining detailed SOPs * Helping with new\-client onboarding and cleanup projects * Flagging questions, inconsistencies, and things that just don't make sense * Communicating clearly by email when client contact is needed You will **not** be expected to know or solve everything independently. Prism intentionally builds safety nets into our work. We want you to investigate, think, try to solve the problem, ask good questions, and pull in another brain when you need one. There is no prize for sitting alone with a problem for three hours because you think you should already know the answer. **Who we're looking for:** Bookkeeping or accounting experience is strongly preferred, particularly experience with QuickBooks Online, but we care at least as much about **how you think** as what you've already been taught. We're also especially interested in hearing from people who have owned or helped run a small business. If your path into bookkeeping has been unconventional, that's completely fine with us. **You may be a great fit if:** * Something being off by $17\.43 makes you curious rather than annoyed. * You want to understand **why**, not merely learn which button to click. * You enjoy solving puzzles and following a trail until something makes sense. * You ask questions when you're unsure. * You communicate early when something is blocked or taking longer than expected. * You can follow an established system while still noticing when the system could be better. * You're comfortable saying, “Here's what I tried, here's what I found, and here's where I'm stuck.” * You're warm and clear in writing. * You enjoy helping people understand something they may initially find intimidating. * You're open to feedback and expect to keep learning. **You do not need** * An accounting degree * A bookkeeping cer