Who are Bookkeepers?

The bookkeeper job description involves calculating expenditures of a company, the filing of receipts, recording of both payable and receivable accounts, and the preparation of financial statements that reflect the profits and losses. Among several job descriptions, the profession requires being computer literate. Bookkeepers gather their knowledge of the job through education and experience earned by being an apprentice before moving on to being a professional in the field. Bookkeepers are employed to maintain the financial books of businesses ranging from small-scale to large enterprises. Bookkeepers are sometimes called accounting clerks or auditing clerks.

Nature of Bookkeeping Job Description

Individual bookkeepers are employed in small-scale businesses while large enterprises employ the services of whole auditing or bookkeeping firms to keep their finances in order. When financial books or records are left to amateurs, chances are high that any business will flop or fail either from mismanagement of assets or through forced closure because taxes are not properly paid. A bookkeeper job description is also to ensure that all assets are accounted for. Without the detailed work of an accounting hoc ke toan clerk, funds may go missing. Some firms even delegate the task of taking care of the payrolls, purchasing or procurement of tangible assets and collect form debtors.

Large enterprises employ a whole team of bookkeepers, each specializing in a particular segment of the financial books. The one that handles everything that deals with the payroll, may have the position of payroll master or clerk. Another will handle all accounts receivable and a colleague will handle all accounts payable. Entry-level clerks simply crunch the numbers, record and input data. More experienced ones holding supervisorial positions have additional duties like balancing of all records, doing bank reconciliations and formulating company-wide policies that will help achieve the financial goals of the entire organization. Corporations that need a team of bookkeepers either source out the responsibility to independent firms or they may maintain a whole department that deals with their finances. All businesses, however will employ independent auditors at least once to check on the records and postings of bookkeepers as a measure of checks and balances.

Becoming a Bookkeeper

Bookkeeping jobs require the patience in having to deal with 40-hour workweeks and excellent attention to detail. Some enjoy freelance jobs on the side together with being able to maintain fulltime jobs. In the past, bookkeepers held at least 2 million of the available jobs in the US. Statistical data show that there is a steady and growing demand for bookkeepers.

While a vocational course in bookkeeping after obtaining a high school diploma is enough to secure a job as a bookkeeper, bigger organizations prefer college graduates, or to some extent, they require you to be a certified public accountant. Others have coupled basic courses with units in business studies to be able to secure higher positions like top management seats. Those who are already employed seek the same or higher level of education to secure promotions.

On top of academic and experiential requirements, there are also non-tangible requirements that add to the bookkeeper job description, such as character traits for one to be considered apt for the job. These traits include:

?? Great attention to the tiniest details to spot and avoid errors at the same time.

?? Capacity for integrity and discretion as bookkeepers find themselves working with confidential matters from time to time.

?? Good communication skills interlaced with commendable interpersonal skills to properly deal with clients.

?? Good grasp of mathematical systems and ability to operate complex accounting computer software.

To be awarded a Certified Bookkeeper (CB) title, the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers requires at least 2 years of related experience before you are even allowed to take the qualifying examination. The certification is not an absolute and lifetime title, you have to maintain the qualification by engaging in continuing education once every three years to keep abreast with updates.

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