What does the bookkeeper do
on everyday basis?

Bookkeepers are professionals who deal with companies accounting entries, billing, mail and everything concerning the administrative part of a company. They take responsibility for recording each book entry.

  • About the profession
  • Responsibilities
  • Pros & Cons

About the profession



Bookkeepers, also referred to as accounting specialists, settle accounts with accounting offices and deal with the financial matters of companies. Their professional tasks include: monitoring cash flows, managing incomes and expenses, compiling accounting records, preparing the budget, tax liability and social insurance contributions.

The position of a bookkeeper is one of the most popular ones in enterprises. Bookkeepers are indispensable to run any kind of business. Bookkeepers can find employment in service companies which offer the outsourcing of accounting services, and in consulting companies offering financial analyses and tax consultancy.

As corporate structures evolve, both in manufacturing and in service companies, bookkeepers can work both in companies and outside companies, as external support.

As a result of the popularity of the profession of a bookkeeper, there are a lot of job offers for bookkeepers in the labor market, and the competition is huge. The earnings of a bookkeeper depend, among others on the experience of the employee and on the size of the company.

Bookkeepers are expected to be experts in corporate finances, bookkeeping and accountancy. They should also possess knowledge of the tax law, and the regulations governing the activity of enterprises and their financial reporting. Basic knowledge of how enterprises function is also beneficial. Additionally, the tax system and financial law undergo constant changes, which results in the need to constantly and independently broaden one’s knowledge, and to be up-to-date with the situation in the tax system and financial law.

In order to perceive the profession of a bookkeeper with regards to the reality of the contemporary national and European labor market, it is worth familiarizing oneself with the national Integrated Qualifications System and the European Qualifications Framework.

The national Integrated Qualifications System, created under the supervision of the Minister of National Education as a response to the recommendation of the European Parliament and the European Council, answers the changes in the European labor market and economy. Its goal is to increase the number of people interested in official competences and raising their qualifications. This in turn has an influence on one’s professional situation and sense of security in the labor market. The Integrated Qualifications System is to help employees with a credible presentation of their qualifications not only to employers inside the country, but also to European employers.

The point of reference for the national Integrated Qualifications System is the European Qualifications Framework. It facilitates communication and the credible comparison of qualification systems in European Union countries. As a result, students, graduates and employers have the opportunity to better understand and compare the qualifications given in different membership countries and in different educational systems.

You can find more information about the European Qualifications Framework at:
www.cedefop.europa.eu
You can find more information about the national Integrated Qualifications System at:

1. www.eacea.ec.europa.eu (England)
2. www.eacea.ec.europa.eu (Northern Ireland)
3. www.scqf.org.uk (Scotland)
4. www.eacea.ec.europa.eu (Wales)
5. www.ncchomelearning.co.uk


Responsibilities

ACCOUNTANCE

Drawing up the companies accounting.

ADMINISTRATION

Arranging the main administrative, civil and tax obligations.

FINANCE

Drawing up the companies financial records, complying with the provisions of the Civil Code.

ANALYSIS

Analysing the companies financial records, by developing ratio analysis and carrying out a financial, capital and economic assessment of the company.

BUSINESS PLANS

Setting up financial and business plans; Analysing the financial needs of the company.

COST MANAGEMENT

Analysing the business costs for the company decisions; Setting up the operating budget and analysing the deviations between prior data and final data.

RELATIONS WITH BANKS

Looking after the company in its relationship with banks and dealing with the main banking operations.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Using the competences acquired by studying foreign languages (also with a view to tourist welcoming).

Pros & Cons

  • Big market - job growth expected
  • Minimal job preparation (high school diploma and on-the-job training)
  • Jobs available in various industries (retail trade, healthcare, finance and technical services)
  • Promotion paths e.g. to accountant available with experience and education
  • Long hours during peak seasons (tax season and holidays)
  • Stress to meet fiscal deadlines
  • Occupational diseases because of long hours in front of computer (eye/neck/back/wrist/aches and/or carpal tunnel syndrome).

Annual average salaries

The salary of a bookkeeper depends mostly on:

  • Profesional
    experience
  • Education
  • Ability to
    solve problems
  • accuracy and sense
    of responsibility
  • fast learning skills
  • Ability to think
    analytically
  • Knowledge of law
    and regulations
Similar jobs:

27,083 GBP
Average bookkeeper
salary in UK
29,180 GBP

Payroll
23,867 GBP

Accounts Assistant
46,884 GBP

Auditor
43,808 GBP

Finance manager
36,190 GBP

Analyst
more

Vocabulary

  • Income statement

    The financial statement that presents a summary of the company’s financial activity over a certain period of time, such as a month, quarter, or year. The statement starts with Revenue earned, subtracts the Costs of Goods Sold and the Expenses, and ends with the bottom line — Net Profit or Loss.

  • Balance sheet

    The financial statement that presents a snapshot of the company’s financial position as of a particular date in time. It’s called a balance sheet because the things owned by the company (assets) must equal the claims against those assets (liabilities and equity).

  • Liabilities

    All the debts the company owes, such as bonds, loans, and unpaid bills.

  • General Ledger


    Where all the company’s accounts are summarized. The General Ledger is the granddaddy of the bookkeeping system.

  • Inventory


    The account that tracks all products that will be sold to customers.

  • Trial balance


    How you test to be sure the books are in balance before pulling together information for the financial reports and closing the books for the accounting period.

Educational path

The courses of study related to bookkeeping aim at raising up graduated people who can perform broad-spectrum professions, where it is possible to join, in a balanced way, a solid basic preparation, good language and logic skills and exstensive and systematic knowledge about the key processes about business management in economic, legal, organisational and accounting terms. Moreover, an IGEA high school graduated has to be able to analyze the relationship between the company and the background where it works, in order to face and overcome mainly management problems.


Formal path:

Economics HIGH SCHOOLS
with final qualification exam
By attending this school, students are directly allowed to pursue the profession of bookkeeper, because it supplies appropriate competence in mathematics, business administration and law. This course of study also supplies digital competences in ITC sector and many schools give the students the possibility to attend extracurricular courses in order to earn ECDL and foreign language certifications.
Studies in one of the fields
E.G. Cost and Managing Accounting, Records and Budget Checking, Commercial Law, Labour and Social Security Law, Insolvency Law, Private Law, Civil Procedural Law, Tax Law, Regulations of Adminisrative Budget and Consolidated Financial Statements, Corporate Finance, General Bookkeeping, Corporate Auditing, Banking, Industrial and Commercial Technology

Post-graduate education:

ITC and Management
programmes Basic Knowledge
In order to enrol in
Bookkeeper Professional Register,
at least 3 years of professional
practicing are required; then,
it is necessary to pass
the Bar Exam.
Enrolment in
Bookkeeper Professional Register.

Did you know, that doing your In-House monthly budget is a perfect training for a bookkeeper?
If you ever thought about your savings on retirement, vacation or health insurance you are on a good way to become a professional bookkeeper!

Career path

Bookkeepers who are registered in Professional Registers
are acknowledged to be capable of Bookkeeping,
Commercial Technology, Business Administration and about administration and tributes.

HEADACHEMAKERS
Invoicing takes too long
Period close too long
Too many spreadsheets
Manual data entry

Where can you work?

Bookkeepers can work in private practice or as an employee for public or private enterprises. They can be employed in several companies and sectors. Especially medium and large-size holdings need skilled bookkeepers, professionals who can deal with the administration to keep it under control. Public sector employs bookkeepers through specific open competitions.

Personal qualities

Being more professional, supporting our businessman in facing and overcoming problems and challenges. In order to be good at, it is necessary to acquire and/or improve not only technical expertise, but, above all, management skills, with an entrepreneural approach.

  • Problem solving

    Approach is a question
    of the method used to face a problem.
    It is crucial to take the view of a client who has a problem to be solved.
    Being able to listen to your client, trying solutions together with him,
    being aware of the errors possibly committed.

  • Flexibility

    Being flexible means being able to adapt
    to different situations and to background changes.
    It assumes:
    • - Adaptability to different situations, backgrounds,
        solicitations during your work activity
    • - Sensibleness about considering new situations
        or new points of view of the problems we are facing
    • - Tolerance towards the other people’s ideas

  • Resilience


    Capacity to cope with stressful or upsetting events
    and to rearrange in a positive way our lives when facing complications.
    It requires:
    • - Control of the situation and analytical capacity;
    • - Sense of challenge
    • - Capability to learn from mistakes
    • - Downloading the experiences in a creative way
    • - Willpower and dedication to chase our goals

Did you know...?

more

The Difference Between A Bookkeeper and Accountant

Bookkeepers manage the daily financial records of a business, literally keeping the books.
Accountants can have more advisory positions, performing audits, managing reports,
and offering advice to business owners.
LEARN MORE

What Am I

This is most classic “What Am I” riddle around.
If it’s information you seek,
come and see me.
If it’s pairs of letters you need,
I have consecutively three.
What am I?
Answer - a bookkeeper
Source
more

Most popular words

Assets
Income statement
Inventory
Balance sheet
Revenue

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