Bookkeeper Duties Checklist: Are You Bookkeeper Material?

What does a bookkeeper do? This is a question I get asked all the time and there’s no simple answer. Bookkeepers have a lot of responsibilities.

For many people there is a lot of confusion between bookkeepers and accountants. On the surface, it seems like the same job because both jobs require dealing with the finances of the company. I often get called an accountant even though I’m a bookkeeper.

A bookkeeper’s duties involve more of the day to day aspect of a company’s books, whereas an accountant generally only looks at the books at year-end to do adjusting entries and the tax return.

So to clarify bookkeeping, here is a list of things a bookkeeper does on a monthly basis:

Bank Reconciliations

Every month the bookkeeper goes through all the deposits and withdrawals that went through the bank and reconciles them to make sure everything balances. This is one of the most important jobs for the bookkeeper because if there’s any fraud happening, the bank account will usually be the first place that it appears.

Payroll

Depending on the size of the company, one of the bookkeeper’s duties will involve doing payroll for its employees. The bookkeeper needs to be familiar with government regulations regarding deductions as well as laws pertaining to employees. Many times an employer is not familiar with these laws so it’s up to the bookkeeper to inform them to avoid potential legal issues.

Accounts Payable

The bookkeeper usually handles keeping track of vendor invoices that come in and pays them before they are due. Depending on the size of the company, sometimes the owner will do this himself and the bookkeeper will just post these paid invoices at month-end while doing the bank reconciliation.

Accounts Receivable

In order for a company to thrive, it must have an income. So a bookkeeper’s duties usually involve posting the accounts receivable in one way or another. Some companies invoice clients and others receive cash that must be tracked and deposited. Many times tracking daily cash sales involve using spreadsheets.

Inventory

If a company’s business involves inventory, it’s up to the bookkeeper to keep track of it in the accounting program. Inventory is affected by purchases the company makes as well as the income the company generates. Periodic inventory counts have to be done to make sure that everything balances so adjustments can be made.

That’s the basic list of things a bookkeeper does. Some companies are so large that they have different people handling various aspect of each bookkeeping job on a fulltime basis. Other companies are so small that these jobs can be easily done in a few hours a month.

NOTE: If you need to sharpen your bookkeeping skills, there’s now a new bookkeeping practice course available where  you can do just that.  Find out more here.

 

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