Best Bookkeeper Job Description for 2021

Free bookkeeper job description. A bookkeeper is a professional who keeps a record of financial transactions. This professional is part of the accounting process in a business. The bookkeeper keeps records of purchases, sales, receipts, and payments for an individual or organization.

A bookkeeper is sometimes referred to as a full charge bookkeeper and auditing clerk.

What is a Bookkeeper?

A bookkeeper is a finance professional who assists accountants with general ledger duties. They assist with monthly financial reporting, process accounts receivable, check bank account balances, and perform daily accounting tasks.

They oversee business transactions, process subsidiary account summaries, and process monthly payroll for a number of businesses.

Required Training, Education, and Certifications

No formal education or training is required of this position. While it's best that a professional has a bachelor's degree, it's not a requirement. The professional could have an associate's degree is a similar or related field.

On-the-job training is most commonly provided to professionals in this field. They are provided the information necessary to succeed. This includes training related to the company. Or training related to the type of accounting work they will get tasked with.

No certifications are required for this field. Though, some related certifications can be held in order to process other types of financial products, like retirement accounts.

Bookkeeper Key Skills

Bookkeepers should have the following skills in order to succeed in their position. They should have thorough knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (MS Office). And should be able to utilize their technical abilities to do things such as processing payments, analyzing historical records, and practice general data entry.

• Integrity and transparency.
• Time management skills.
• Math skills.
• Problem-solving skills.
• High degree of attention to detail.
• Organizational skills.

Top skills for a bookkeeper

The top skills of industry professionals include being adept at accounting software and new technologies, being able to stay organized, and having key relationship building skills.

This is due to the bookkeeper having interaction with customers, clients, and potentially front-office duties.

A senior bookkeeper who is overseeing a team should have management experience and a strong background in accounting to assist the other team members in their duties.

Bookkeeper Job Description Sample and Template

Below is a sample bookkeeper job description that can be used to write a job posting or job advertisement.

Job Brief

Our business is seeking a professional bookkeeper (certified bookkeeper) to add to our finance and accounting team. The bookkeeper will work closely with the lead accountant and oversee a general ledger. This includes a financial statement report, income statement, bank deposit history, and other financial data for clients. The bookkeeper may collect supplier invoices, bank deposits, financial records, and other statements to record for our clients.

Bookkeeper Duties and Responsibilities

Below are sample job duties and bookkeeper responsibilities.

• Handle payroll for clients and the company.
• Develop a monthly financial report for clients and the company.
• Handle a general ledger (a trial balance) and journal entries.
• Oversee subsidiary accounts.
• Handle recording transactions manually.
• Work closely with other finance clerks (an accounting clerk) and bookkeeping clerks.
• Oversee cash receipts and log journal entries.
• Maintain general cash flow and revenue reporting for the company.
• Provide a company balance sheet.
• Handle the company posting process (general journal to general ledger).
• Review a company's financial data and compliance by maintaining accurate books on accounts payable and receivable. In addition, assist with payroll and daily financial entries.
• Comply with state, local, and federal government reporting requirements.
• Provide financial information to the external accountant who creates the financial statements for the business.
• Assist with tax preparation. File local and federal taxes.
• Advise management on needed actions that comply with filing reports, adhering to federal requirements, local requirements, and state requirements.
• Able to practice knowledge of bookkeeping and generally accepted accounting principles on a regular basis.
• Generate monthly, quarterly, annual financial reports.
• Handle payroll taxes, tax calculations, and tax payments. Including day-to-day financial transactions.
• Ensure legal requirements compliance.

Full Charge Bookkeeper Duties and Responsibilities

• As an experienced bookkeeper, oversee all client objectives.
• Process general ledger reconciliation.
• Report on business metrics for business leaders.
• Practice your detail-oriented mentality on a regular basis.
• Utilize your understanding of GAAP.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills should be practiced reguarly.

Assistant Bookkeeper Duties and Responsibilities

• Assist with data entry projects.
• Process reconciliations and oversee data integrity.
• Help to oversee and issue chartered accounts.

Church Bookkeeper Duties and Responsibilities

• Process bank reconciliation tasks on a regular basis.
• Handle all of the general ledger entries. And ensure that our general ledger is up to date.
• Coordinate with other CPA's (Certified Public Accountants), CA's (Chartered Accountants), and assistants.
• Record payments processed through the church ledger.

Senior Bookkeeper Duties and Responsibilities

• Work closely with the bookkeeping team, using your bookkeeping experience to motivate team members, develop accounting knowledge, and ensure the team is in good standing.
• Ensure we are tracking and utilizing separate ledgers for various types of accounts.
• Be responsible for summarizing account information for senior staff.
• Produce reports on a weekly basis for the small businesses that come to us for accounting assistance.
• Have excellent knowledge of accounting so you can assist junior bookkeepers in the bookkeeper role.

Non-profit Bookkeeper Duties and Responsibilities

• Oversee our general ledger.
• High degree of attention to detail should be practiced on a regular basis.
• Have the ability to work remotely. And have the ability to be reconciling entries and accurately record transactions while working from home.

Bookkeeper Requirements

Qualified candidates should have the following. The job requirements are as follows:

• High School Diploma or equivalent.
• Holds a Finance bachelor's degree (preferably followed by accounting CPE courses).
• Bachelor's degree in accounting is strongly preferred.
• Associate's degree in accounting or business administration.
• Certified Bookkeeper.
• Work with accounting software and bookkeeping software like Microsoft Excel.
• Previous experience in an accounting role preferred.
• Familiar with accounting software like FreshBooks, Kashoo, and KashFlow.
• Customer service skills.

Bookkeeper Average Salary

According to The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average median hourly wage for a bookkeeper was $20.65. With a mean annual wage (salary) of $42,960. On the low end, a bookkeeper is paid $12.44, on average. On the high end, a bookkeeper is paid $30.01, on average.

Job seekers submitting a job application in the job search process should expect compensation ranges as the following.

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