Many Australian students enrol in subjects without really understanding what tasks they will complete once they have graduated. Many students who are searching for educational courses make decisions based on the earning potential of a specific job. They would Google terms such as ‘how much money does a bookkeeper earn’ or ‘job security in the accounting sector. Whilst these are obviously important factors, we believe that understanding what you will be doing on a daily basis is just as important.

What does a bookkeeper do?

A bookkeeper is a knowledgeable person who manages the record-keeping process of an organisation meticulously while bookkeeping itself refers to the day-to-day techniques employed to accelerate the broad spectrum of the record-keeping process in an organisation. It may be defined as a group of records management tactics that cover the inputting of the value of goods or stocks, dates of the transactions, and sources of information for each entry on both the income and expenditure sides of the ledger. If you are interested in becoming an Accountant or  Bookkeeper please have a look at our Certificate Bookkeeping qualification –  View details here.

Top 5 tasks for a bookkeeper

The following practices are important for a bookkeeper to observe to achieve efficient performance in an organization. By observing them, one can be sure that they are implementing an effective bookkeeping scheme.

1. Keeping separate accounts records for business and personal expenditure: The number one practice for bookkeepers is to make sure that the personal records are not mixed up with the business records. It is also advisable to use dissimilar credit cards for personal and business purposes and to indicate every transaction clearly in the ledger.
2. Revenue and expenditure should be recorded on a daily basis: Accurate records of accounts must be kept by the bookkeepers to assist the organisation in making useful decisions to help the business progress and grow.
3. All entries must be reviewed to ensure accuracy: Business ledgers must be reviewed to ensure that all records are properly kept. Incorrect information can be of great detriment to a business and could put the business on a pathway to failure.
4. Reconciliation of bank statements with company accounts: This means that if you are an end-of-the-month reconcile, then you need to request a month-end cutoff so that you do not have to look at more transactions than required in your ledger. This practice will also help inspire a sense of timekeeping whereby you conduct your accounting omission activities at just about the same time each month-end.
5. Proper documentation for audit success: You may be an honest and upright bookkeeper, but you will need to be able to document your dealings very clearly and you should learn new computing technology that will allow you to speedily access information should the need occur. The implementation of a consistent bookkeeping system entails establishing a well-formulated organisational system whereby checks are kept in numerical order without skips or recording lapses at any particular time. In an ideal world, you should be able to go back and recreate your business activities for at least one year, if not two or three to be successful during auditor’s visitation.

Now that you have a good understanding of some of the tasks completed by a bookkeeper, you can make a better decision if an accounting and bookkeeping course is the right path for you.