A Bookkeeper – Adept Professionals to Maintain Financial Records

To maintain accurate debit and credits accounts, companies hire professionals who are skilled at accounting and have completed high school as bookkeepers. The salary of these professionals rises with increase in qualification and experience.

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A Bookkeeper - Document All Business Transactions

There are many business transactions occurring everyday like purchase, sales, income and expenses that need to be recorded. A bookkeeper is responsible for recording and classifying the numerical data of all such business transactions and inventory on a daily basis. They are also entrusted with the task of corroborating the accuracy of figures provided and cross checking entries made to balance the debit and credit accounts of the company. Assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses, and equity details are debit and credit entries that should be created with accuracy as they make up the company’s annual financial reports. A document is produced every time a business transaction occurs which can be checks, deposit slips, invoices, receipts, etc. The complete details of these documents are written down in a journal by a bookkeeper.

Bookkeeper Jobs - Duties Assigned

Typically, most bookkeepers work under the guidance of senior accountants and their main job function is to record business transactions. Most bookkeeper jobs are full time and they work about 40 hours in a week putting in some extra time during the end of fiscal year or quarter and also when taxes are to be paid. They usually document day books and all supplier, customer and general ledgers. The accountant works further on these ledgers to prepare a company’s income statement and balance sheet. For most bookkeeper jobs, completing high school is a must and it is an added advantage if one has a bachelor’s degree in accounting, business management, or finance.

Bookkeeper Salary

The salary of bookkeepers has been increasing in the last few years and the demand for the job is expected to grow further in the coming future. In 2008, bookkeeper salary was around $32,000 which was increased by roughly 11% to become $36,000 in 2010. Sometimes bookkeepers can earn as high as $45,000 also but these are just the top 10% in the profession. Most companies do not allocate a very high amount for the salaries of bookkeepers in their budget, thus the median salary usually remains around $30,000 and increases with the qualification and experience of bookkeepers. Additionally, the salaries are seldom lower than $20,000, even for the entry level inexperienced professionals.