If you don’t have your books clean and your financial records organized, you’ll have a harder time filing your taxes. Then, payments need to be deposited and a record of this goes into the company’s financial ledger. Alongside invoices, bookkeepers also scan and file receipts to keep an electronic record of all company purchases made by employees. This may involve reimbursing staff for expenditures, such as travel costs, business lunches, and hotel stays. Maintaining an organised system for all expenses allows bookkeepers to accurately report on spending and helps businesses to assess their outgoings, make cutbacks, and allocate budgets. And all this needs to be discussed with department managers and business owners, therefore regular communication is key.

• In addition to moving up into higher-level positions, remote QuickBooks Live bookkeepers may also be able to enter into the tax domain by completing Intuit training and certification for taxes.
• If bookkeeping is something you truly dread, you’re going to spend as little time on it as possible, which could lead to inaccuracies and cause you even more headaches.
• Prior to earning either designation, you must prove that you have sufficient bookkeeping experience.

No shame, you literally have 5million more important and more fun feeling tasks on your to do list. The accounting equation means that everything the business owns (assets) is balanced against claims against the business (liabilities and equity). Owners of the business have claims against the remaining assets (equity). The chart of accounts may change over time as the business grows and changes. Accounting software know-how can make you an even more valuable asset to clients. Software tools help streamline the bookkeeping process, which means you can do your job efficiently.

Certified Bookkeeper Certifications (CPB and CB)

The first is the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB), and the second is the National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers (NACPB). Both offer similar benefits regarding membership, resources and renewable credentials. While other bookkeeping credentials do exist, those offered by AIPB and NACPB are the most renowned and respected. You can work with other bookkeepers and tax experts to share and expand your knowledge. If your prospective bookkeeper does, you should consider what you’d do if they’re sick or call out for other reasons—have a backup plan in case your bookkeeper is out of office. Communication styles are sure to vary between bookkeepers, so consider looking into how they interact with their current clients.

The exams use multiple-choice questions to test knowledge of key topics, including adjustments and error correction, payroll, inventory, and fraud prevention. Professionals must complete 24 hours of approved continuing professional education each year. The first two parts of AIPB's exams require in-person scheduling at Prometric testing centers. Test-takers complete their exam on a computer and receive a printout of their final score before leaving the center. These requirements are the same for all U.S. professionals, regardless of state residency.

Market Your Business

As an alternative to accounting, bookkeeping is an appealing field for professionals who want to work with financial statements and computers. This profession has fewer entry-level requirements than accounting, meaning that individuals may be able to become bookkeepers more quickly than they would accountants. The NACPB requires you to complete four bookkeeping certifications to obtain the CPB license. These include certifications in bookkeeping, payroll, QuickBooks Online and accounting. NACPB estimates seven to 13 weeks per class, but you may finish earlier if you dedicate more time to studying. A certification includes a pre-assessment test, the course itself, a post-assessment test and a certification exam.

Pathways to a bookkeeping career

You would want your bookkeeper to feel invested in the work that you give them and expect to process, working to the best of their ability to meet your business’s bookkeeping needs. If bookkeeping is something you truly dread, you’re going to spend as little time on it as possible, which could lead to inaccuracies and cause you even more headaches. The Certification assures employers of your bookkeeping knowledge and skill. If you are going to offer your customers credit or if you are going to request credit from your suppliers, then you have to use an accrual accounting system.

Hire an in-house bookkeeper

Very small firms may use a basic spreadsheet, like Microsoft Excel. Larger businesses adopt more sophisticated software to keep track of their accounting journals. One of the first decisions you have to make when setting up your bookkeeping system is whether or not to use a cash or accrual accounting system. If you are operating a small, one-person business from home or even a larger consulting practice from a one-person office, you might want to stick with cash accounting. Follow these six steps on how to become a bookkeeper, and you’ll be well on your way to launch a career as a virtual bookkeeper. With enough motivation and discipline, you can learn to be a bookkeeper even without previous experience.

In that case, whether you’re a freelance bookkeeper with several clients or simply looking to handle the bookkeeping for your own business, FreshBooks can help. Our cloud-based bookkeeping software solution is quick, efficient, and capable of saving you countless hours of administrative work. Once you’ve had some bookkeeping training, you’re ready for real-world bookkeeping jobs or experience. This is a great way to gain real-world experience as you become a bookkeeper and, potentially, a bookkeeping business owner.

Pay attention to the job description to identify which jobs are remote bookkeeping jobs and which are in-house. Did you know that you can learn how to become a bookkeeper in less than one year with no experience? This makes bookkeeping a popular choice for those without degrees or those ready for a career change. If your goal advantages of vertical analysis is to grow your business, you will eventually need to hire professionals to manage your bookkeeping. It will be less time-consuming and expensive to work with a part-time partner now. If you pursued a postsecondary degree or certificate, you will likely have career center resources to help you find a bookkeeping job.