It is easy to confuse the job of being a bookkeeper with that of an accountant – this is mainly due to the fact that bookkeepers are often referred to as accounting technicians or accounting clerks. Although these jobs can be very similar the job of a bookkeeper is normally more focused on keeping accurate and prompt record keeping of financial data which ranges from income, payments, sales, purchases and all the costs incurred in running a business. Where as an accountant will take all of this information and create a financial statement for the company or business which can be used for tax returns and also enable the company to see how it is performing. So although these two jobs are similar and intermixed they are quite different in a number of ways.

Accountants will normally be required to go to colleges for there qualifications but because the qualifications for a bookkeeper are not as high you can take accredited courses to become a bookkeeper and once you have passed the course you will get a certificate listing your qualifications. You will find that a bookkeeping course takes in quite similar tasks of a basic accounting degree which include processing accounts information and processing financial transactions. If you are good with numbers and have a good attention to detail then becoming a bookkeeper could be the career path for you. When deciding which bookkeeping course is suitable for you check out the accreditation and qualifications you will end up with as the better this is the more chance of landing a decent job, some of these courses can qualify for government aid to help you with the costs, but its best to check first.

As the name suggests Bookkeepers keep the records of transactions in books or ledgers and there are various ways which they can achieve this the first is by using a method called “The Double Entry” which uses a system of balancing the credits and debits of the company which is separated by two different ledgers within the books this system is quite complicated and time consuming but very safe and secure. The other method is the single entry system where the data is kept in a revenue and expense journal and uses accounts which consist of just income and expense which is much easier than the double entry method and less time is required keeping the records accurately. There can be lots of different books which are kept for accounting purposes and they all need compiling into the master books which will be used by the accountant to complete the company accounts.

Bookkeeping is not a simple or easy job and you cannot hurry it as this is when mistakes are made but if you are good with figures and have a good attention to detail then accounting maybe the job for you. Most companies and businesses will require a bookkeeper and large companies will have an accounts section where lots of bookkeepers are employed you can either work for a company or several small companies where they will hire you for a period of time each week for you to complete their bookkeeping. If you enjoy bookkeeping but want to further your career this could be a good stepping stone to becoming an accountant as well.

 

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Filed under: Accountancy Careers • Accountant Work • Becoming an Accountant • Small Business Bookkeeping

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