They also prepare reports for the managers and trial balances to assist the accountants. A bookkeeper may also help you run payroll, collect debts, generate invoices and make payments. A Bookkeeper is responsible for recording and maintaining a business’ financial transactions, such as purchases, expenses, sales revenue, invoices, and payments. They will record financial data into general ledgers, which are used to produce the balance sheet and income statement. Bookkeepers frequently use spreadsheets to record financial data; therefore, knowing how to use spreadsheet tools can be helpful for bookkeepers. A bookkeeper should be able to create a basic spreadsheet for everyday tasks like keeping track of an account’s details or listing a group of fixed assets.

• From pre-planned projects to last-minute requests each week will have various tasks that need urgent action.
• A bookkeeper’s work helps to provide company owners and managers with the data to make key decisions that they wouldn’t be able to make without.
• Bookkeeping lays the groundwork for many accounting processes, so you can use your experience and knowledge as a stepping stone to becoming an accountant.
• Organizational skills are identifiable, like effective time management and the ability to properly prioritize tasks.

Another soft skill that is important for bookkeepers is the skill of time management. More often than not, bookkeepers will find themselves facing strict deadlines. In today’s competitive business environment, strong, soft skills are essential for any professional to differentiate themselves from the competition. Bookkeepers must process invoices, bills and reports within a set timeframe. To complete these tasks, you’ll use a range of financial documents. You’re responsible for ensuring these records are accurate and error-free.

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There are many platforms in the writing business willing to help you. The last best soft skill for bookkeepers is problem-solving skills. Problems may arise due to different reasons in the bookkeeping process.

• However, compensation will widely vary depending on the employer, location, and candidate experience.
• In some cases, the knowledge you are required to have with numbers depends on the kind of business you work with.
• Start with a free account to explore 20+ always-free courses and hundreds of finance templates and cheat sheets.
• An accountant can certainly perform bookkeeping tasks, but the title generally involves other responsibilities as well.
• Although software and calculators do most of the math, basic skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are essential to helping you catch errors quickly.

Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist covering small business marketing content. She is a former Google Tech Entrepreneur and she holds an MSc in International Marketing from Edinburgh Napier University. For example, note which software you want a candidate to be familiar with–including general programs that your office uses.

Bank Accounts

Below we’ve compiled a list of the most critical bookkeeper skills. We ranked the top skills for bookkeepers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 12.3% of bookkeeper resumes contained payroll tax returns as a skill.

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The journal entries also keep the date of transactions and the names of the accounts that were affected by the transactions. Their priorities are to maintain consistency in how they record financial data and to make sure it’s accurate. Since we live in the digital age, bookkeepers are expected to be tech-savvy or at least proficient with using various software. There are still some bookkeepers who prefer to use manual methods of recording data.

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You can earn certification from the National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers (NACPB) and the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB). The NACPB offers a certified public bookkeeper (CPB) certification, while the CPB offers a certified bookkeeper (CB) certification. Both the net debit balance definition CPB and CB certifications require similar eligibility requirements. Your job as a bookkeeper entails systematically keeping track of an organization’s financial transactions. For the information to be reported as a financial statement, it needs to be identified, accepted, classified, and recorded.

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Companies require and respect these standards to ensure that bookkeepers don’t carry out illegal activities. As a certified bookkeeper, you can quickly establish trust with your employers. In your resume, programs like Quickbooks, Freshbooks, and Zoho will be a huge plus.

Financial Transactions

Moreover, it assures companies that you are job-ready and won’t need extensive on-the-job training. Industry-recognized bookkeeping certifications teach you best practices for efficient bookkeeping while providing proof of knowledge and capabilities you already possess. As a certified bookkeeper, you show employers that you are serious about developing your organizational skills and financial literacy for workplace success. You may need several iterations of your resume to show your bookkeeper skills accurately. You may also get professional help from a resume writing service to ease the task.