The owner of a national bookkeeping franchise plans to expand into the Huntington area and is looking for interested franchisees.

Greg Jones, chief executive officer of Bookkeeping Express, said he drives through the area often when he's taking his daughter into Kentucky -- and he loves the town. So he's talking with folks to get some franchises open that serve Cabell, Wayne, Mason, Lincoln and Putnam counties.

"As we sell territory, it could be one office per county, or it could be multi- for one individual," Jones said.

His business model is based on the need among small businesses for a national organization that provides bookkeeping services, Jones said. Often, small business owners choose between a higher-priced CPA firm or an independent bookkeeper who may not have the entire skill set that can help grow the business, Jones said.

"All our bookkeepers are certified, with the economic cost structure around what an individual would charge," he said.

Franchise owner/operators may have a background as investors or with CPA firms.

"We have a tremendous training and certification program," Jones said. "We believe in technology and not sitting in one's office and doing one's work. We're all about creating efficiencies at a lower cost."

Two options available to Bookkeeping Express investors include Master or Area Development territories that can be operated out of home-based or commercial space locations, a release from the company said. Per territory start-up fees run under $50,000.

The 24-year-old business, which moved from California to the East Coast, now has more than 150 locations. Based out of the Washington metropolitan area, it has expanded into surrounding states.

"We just sold the state of North Carolina this past month, along with nine counties in Virginia," Jones said. "We have parts of Maryland sold and a couple counties in Pennsylvania sold. It fits the marketplace very well.

"Frankly, we'd love to sell the whole state (of West Virginia) to one organization and work with them to build out the whole state," he said. "In West Virginia, you're not talking tremendous volume where it's unrealistic."
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