Have you ever thought of becoming a bookkeeper? If you have and still finding ways to become one, this is the right write-up for you. In this writing, you will find out ways to become a bookkeeper and how long will it take you to become one.
Bookkeeping is a systematic way of recording the financial activities of any business with proper documentation following accounting principles. If you follow
the definition, you can understand, bookkeeping is all about systematically recording data.
Nowadays, bookkeeping is one of the highest-paying jobs in both online and offline media. It is an interesting choice of career, but a good one if you don’t want to learn the complexes of accounting.
You need some basic skill sets to pursue a career in bookkeeping. This will take you, at most, 3 years to become a bookkeeper with professional knowledge. This is a long way. You can just learn the basics and start immediately, too. In that case, your career progression will entirely depend on your knowledge progression.
Contents
What are the functions of a Bookkeeper?
A bookkeeper has several roles to play for any company. They are at the start point of the journey of the financial statements. They usually do the following
functions:
- Do single entry or double entry based on company policy.
- Input debit and credit entries to relevant accounts.
- Do software-based input if the company has access to bookkeeping
- software.
- To preserve the relevant documents according to entries.
- Assist an accountant to prepare financial statements.
- Verify the accuracy of any accounts if necessary.
What basic skills do you need to become a bookkeeper?
Before starting to pursue any educational qualifications for a bookkeeping job, you need to acquire some basic skill sets. A bookkeeper must have math skills along with other basic traits to commence a career in bookkeeping.
Math Solving Skill:
Basic math solving skill is a must for a bookkeeping job. These skills are required for debit credit entries, input correct data, numerical calculations, etc.
Observation Skill:
This is a special skill that stands out as an extraordinary bookkeeper from an ordinary one. A bookkeeper is required to calculate fractions of digits. So observatory skill helps them to make their works error-free.
Problem-Solving Skill:
A bookkeeper is required to do fact checks, reconciliation of income and expenses, risk assessing, which requires problem-solving skills.
Multitasking Skill:
Often bookkeepers are needed to do lots of tasks at one time as a single transaction may be complex enough to hit different books. A bookkeeper has to
be agile and organized to perform multiple tasks at a time.
Transparency:
Transparency is more of a virtue than a skill for any bookkeeper. All the tasks done by the bookkeeper are very important to an accountant to prepare financial statements for the stakeholders. So transparency of above-mentioned data is an obligation for any bookkeepers.
Confidentiality:
Last but not least is confidentiality. Bookkeepers often come in contact with information that can help the rivals to take market advantage, like the cost of
materials, source of materials, etc. To protect the business from such leaks, a bookkeeper must keep such data to him/herself and maintain confidentiality.
The above-mentioned skills are not taught in any higher education institution, rather, they are inherited while growing up. If you have the above-mentioned skill by yourself, you are ready for the next step to becoming a bookkeeper.
Basic pathway to Bookkeeping:
If you want to become a bookkeeper with a little effort, all you need to do is look for a job and learn through it. If you have the above skills through your academic progression, then you can easily start your bookkeeping career. But the scope of growth under this way is limited. This may be the shortest way to
become a bookkeeper but not the progressive one. In order to get a progressive career in bookkeeping, you need to follow the professional way, which is described in the next bullet.
Professional pathway to Bookkeeping:
The Professional pathway to bookkeeping will take around a year to become a professional bookkeeper. Bookkeepers who intend to provide BAS service in
exchange for the agreed fee must have at least Certificate IV qualification.
Certificate IV or Diploma in Accounting can be an easy academic solution for those who are trying to become professional bookkeepers. Complete BAS and GST unite while completing Certificate IV. Then apply to Tax Practitioners Board for a professional career.
Apart from certification, you need to learn about bookkeeping-related software like MYOB, Xero, QuickBooks, etc. to make your professional bookkeeping career a top-notch one. This career opportunity is a very good one in terms of progression and career building.
If you go through the above article, you will find the fastest way and the progressive way of bookkeeping career. This can be a good career choice for you if
you are determined to pursue it.
