In this post, we discuss:
- Bookkeepers and Accountants Tasks
- Level of Education
- Pay scale for accountant and bookkeeper
In my view, a quality bookkeeping in business is central and it provides a solid foundation for accounting work.
Tasks
Bookkeepers work involves day-to-day management of the incoming and outgoing business transactions. Whilst accountants review data, created by bookkeepers, investigate errors, post manual journals, analyze financial reports and form set of accounts to file with the tax office. Here are a few examples of what can bookkeepers and accountants do, to see the difference in their roles:
Bookkeepers:
- Raise sales invoices, quotes or post purchase invoices, purchase orders;
- Perform bank reconciliation of the business accounts, credit cards;
- Run a payroll, pay staff and send payslips;
- Chase the outstanding payments from clients;
- Arrange payments to suppliers on time;
- Assist accountants with preparation of the accounts.
Accountants:
- Analyze accuracy of posted transactions, make adjustments;
- Post necessary manual journals, like depreciation, deferred income or liability;
- Calculate tax and submit reports to the tax office;
- Form the financial reports and submit to the tax office;
- Prepare and submit the VAT returns to the tax office;
- Calculate self-assessment for directors;
- Liaise with the tax office on any related with submissions issues.
Education
In terms of education, accountants are required to have a higher skills set and experience in a field.
Accountants often begin their career as bookkeeper whilst studying towards the qualification with institutions such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). I have qualified with the ACCA in the UK and to me, it was the right choice. I can write more about it in later posts. Ultimately, by investigating what fits best to you in terms exams structure, exemptions, fees schedule and globality of the institution – is something I would be looking at.
Bookkeepers can also pass the official exams and become qualified with the Association of Accounting Technicians for instance AAT. However, bookkeepers are not required the official qualification. Bookkeepers need to be reliable, work fast and efficiently, understand the basic bookkeeping principles. If you are looking for a job as a bookkeeper, it is really worth looking to get a certification in Xero, QuickBooks or Sage.
🦉 Learn more about business transactions, that bookkeepers involve at work.
Pay
Typically there are self-employed bookkeepers or accountants and internal employees, so first are paid per hour or agreement and second ones- salaried. Self-employed are typically working flexible hours, using software like Xero, QuickBooks, Sage. The average bookkeeper per hour in the UK earns anywhere between £20-40, entry level can be at £12-15, this is before deducting taxes. For salaried bookkeeper the average pay is around £27,000.
Once qualified, accountant can earn between £37,000-40,000 on average in the UK. So it is definitely worth to gained the valuable qualification.
In conclusion
Depending on your career plans, you can start as a bookkeeper and progress towards the qualification. I hope this article made it clear on distinction between the bookkeeper and accountants roles. Please comment below for any questions.
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