articles link to it . please introduce links to this page from related articles ; try the find link tool for suggestions . may 2016 bookminders type cottage corporation industry accounting founded 1992 founder tom joseph headquarters pittsburgh pennsylvania united states number of employees 65 website bookminders.com bookminders is an american company providing outsourced accounting and bookkeeping services for small businesses and nonprofit organizations and is an innovator in utilizing a home based professional workforce . the company has devised a unique system that compensates their home based professionals based on the volume of transactions processed . the incentive system helps to attract and retain high performance employees and was inspired from a 60 minutes segment on lincoln electric a company that successfully used employee incentives to manufacture world class products . bookminders has a licensing program for accountants who want to build a large scale bookkeeping practice . the program consists of marketing & sales programs pricing & compensation systems and service delivery processes . they also provide training programs help systems and reference materials to address the unique challenges of the industry . 1 the company developed the concept of the cottage corporation . 2 3 a cottage corporation has its employees working from home and its corporate headquarters in an office building unlike a home based business which has its main office in a home . bookminders has been featured in media outlets including philadelphia business journal 4 pittsburgh business times 5 smart business network 6 teq 7 intuit advisor spotlight 8 accounting today 9 and the wall street journal . 10 contents 1 history 2 awards 3 references 4 external links history edit in the early 1990s tom joseph founded bookminders 11 with the idea that he could attract top tier talent if he offered a flexible work environment . it s a concept he devised when implementing an accounting system for his father s business . his sister agreed to act as the company s bookkeeper but only if she could do most of the work from home . they created an arrangement in which she would go onsite each week to collect their financial data but did the data entry from home when her schedule allowed . the seed of an idea was planted in joseph s mind . while conventional home based businesses usually have a goal of growing beyond the home joseph s goal was to grow bookminders into a company of home based accountants . the company expanded to philadelphia in 2006 . awards edit bookminders was recognized by the pittsburgh business times in their 50 best places to work listing honored by the pittsburgh human resources association for their unique employment model 12 and was presented balance award company of the year by the american society of women accountants 13 for demonstrating a commitment to work life balance . they were also recognized as pennsylvania home based business champion for outstanding performance by the u.s. small business administration and among pittsburgh s 100 fastest growing private companies by the pittsburgh business times in 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 and 2004 . references edit accountingtoday.com accounting today article referencing licensing program . retrieved on 11 22 2011 . and the winners are pittsburgh teq . retrieved 15 june 2012 smith laura . bookminders cottage corporation accountingcrossing . retrieved 15 june 2012 curry jennifer . financial outsourcing company bookminders comes east 23 october 2006 philadelphia business journal . retrieved on 11 22 2011 . bookminders looks to e commerce possibilities for business growth 11 september 2000 pittsburgh business times . retrieved on 11 20 2011 . scouting solutions 30 june 2003 smart business network . retrieved 14 june 2012 managing smart growth pittsburgh teq article by company president . retrieved on 11 5 2011 . bookminders.com pdf of intuit advisor spotlight from 2002 . retrieved on 11 20 2011 . highbeam.com accounting today article . retrieved on 11 8 2011 . sun sentinel.com reprint of the wall street journal article . retrieved on 11 20 2011 . bookminders.com bookminders history on company website . retrieved on 11 20 2011 . ten regional employers honored 2 november 2000 pittsburgh business times . retrieved 14 june 2012 bookminders.com american society of women accountants press release citing award . retrieved on 11 7 2011 . external links edit bookminders official site retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title bookminders & oldid 718933169 categories companies established in 1992financial institutionshidden categories orphaned articles from may 2016all orphaned articles navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store 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