What is a Bookkeeper? Jobs, Skills, Salary & Career Path

You may also be an ideal bookkeeping candidate if you want a good job with a respectable wage and decent security but may not be looking for a long-term career. Bookkeeping offers much lower barriers to entry, and the competition you face in the job search is less fierce. As an accountant, you must pay attention to figures and financial details, but it is more essential to possess sharp logic skills and big-picture problem-solving abilities. While bookkeepers make sure the small pieces fit correctly into place, accountants use those small pieces to draw much more significant and broader conclusions about a company’s finances. One of the beautiful things about owning your own bookkeeping business is that you do not need any specific bookkeeping certification, degree, or formal training to get started.

The following analysis compares the education requirements, skills required, typical starting salaries, and job outlooks for accounting and bookkeepers. Yes, virtual bookkeeping services can help doctors with tax preparation and filing. Many virtual bookkeeping services offer tax preparation and filing services as part of their offerings.

Step 2: Experience – How to Become a Bookkeeper

Completing a course can increase your knowledge of bookkeeping, but to prepare for a career, go for the certification so you can obtain the license. You’ll have the CPB credential to add to your credibility as you pursue jobs or start your own virtual bookkeeping business. Completing this course https://goodmenproject.com/business-ethics-2/navigating-law-firm-bookkeeping-exploring-industry-specific-insights/ can improve your understanding of bookkeeping, but you’ll need more training to get started with bookkeeping as a career. To help you, LinkedIn Learning offers a bookkeeping learning path to help you learn the craft and earn a certificate of completion that you can use to market your skills.

Online bookkeeping courses allow you to learn the business on your own timeline. Even if you have no formal education, you can get a bookkeeping certification online to present to future clients and employers. The main takeaway concerning average bookkeeper salary is that it varies due to a number of factors and constantly changing economic situations. On the one hand, modern technology simplifies our lives, but on the other hand, it motivates us to develop, get new skills, be flexible and leave our comfort zones. The advance of digital bookkeeping has its tangible effects on bookkeeping jobs, and that should be seen as positive and helping professionals to grow. Transfer-friendly programs, online courses, and dedicated services for working professionals make Franklin University a top choice for those seeking a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Accounting software

If you are already a CPA, you can act as an enrolled agent without passing the exam. For a long-term career, accounting offers much more upward mobility and income potential. The education required to be competitive in the field is greater, but the payoff down the road can be considerably higher. This is the equivalent of around $45,000 per year, assuming a 40-hour workweek. The advantage of hourly pay is you receive 1.5 times your average wage for hours worked more than 40 per week.

• Bookkeepers use their phone for business, talking to clients, booking appointments, and so on.
• Bookkeepers may start working for a small business to gain experience and then go back to school for a degree in accounting or finance.
• It is important to possess sharp logic skills and big-picture problem-solving abilities, as well.
• Employment of bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks is projected to show little or no change from 2016 to 2026.
• The education required to be competitive in the field is greater, but the payoff down the road can be considerably higher.
• Intuit® has also just released a brand-new training in accounting fundamentals, and if you complete the requirements, you will be an Intuit Certified Bookkeeping Professional.

Her monthly income is $4,050, and her monthly expenses are $767, which leaves her with a net profit of $3,284. With the example I’ve been working with today, the total expenses are $767 per month, which sums to $8,736 annually. Depending on what state you live in, the cost for a business license can vary. In Oregon, for example, it is $150 annually to file a business license, law firm bookkeeping which budgets to $12.50 per month. Bookkeepers need quality internet connection, and once again, you’ll most likely be using it for both personal and business, so I estimated about $30 a month for business purposes. Business insurance is important to keep your personal assets out of reach if a client is unhappy and takes legal action against you for any reason.

Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivable

If you’re detail-oriented, enjoy working with numbers, and have good organizational skills, a career as a bookkeeper may be for you. With the proper training and experience, you can become a certified public accountant or a chief financial officer. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the United States says that the median annual salary for a bookkeeper is $45,560. However, the amount of money a bookkeeper makes can range widely depending on factors such as their level of education, where they work, and how much experience they have.

They must pay attention to detail in order to avoid making errors and recognize errors that others have made. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks need to be comfortable using computer spreadsheets and bookkeeping software. Employers generally require bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks to have some postsecondary education, particularly coursework in accounting. However, some candidates can be hired with just a high school diploma.

Accounts receivable bookkeepers collect money owed to the business and report delinquent accounts. Even though you don’t need a specific degree to be a good bookkeeper, some degrees might give you better job opportunities and training in accounting, finance, and business management. Certificates in bookkeeping usually include courses on accounts receivable, tax laws, and making balance sheets. Advances in accounting software are largely responsible for the evolving bookkeeper’s role, which has reduced time spent on routine tasks, allowing for a greater focus on strategic, value-adding tasks. Small businesses will continue to rely heavily on bookkeepers and accounting clerks because they’ll be more cost-effective than the software programs utilized by larger companies. According to the BLS, occupational openings represent the sum of net employment change and separations.

• For you to do well in your job, you need to know that even a small mistake in one area can lead to bigger problems in the future.
• Standard methods of bookkeeping are the double-entry bookkeeping system and the single-entry bookkeeping system.
• Accountants, on the other hand, tend to use the bookkeeper’s inputs to create financial statements and periodically review and analyze the financial information recorded by bookkeepers.
• Despite this, the BLS estimates that there will be a total of 170,200 job openings annually across the board for bookkeepers, accountants, and auditors.
• The answer depends on where you are in your career, along with a few other factors.
• Careless mistakes that seem inconsequential at the time can lead to bigger, costlier, more time-consuming problems down the road.