Becoming a Bookkeeper: Skills, Qualifications, and Career Paths

While bookkeepers may not need any professional certifications or credentials, many employers prefer them and some even require them. Because of these factors, advancing your bookkeeping career to a role Insurance Accounting in accounting can be advantageous. For instance, the job outlook for accountants and auditors has a 6 percent growth rate from 2023 to 2033. The median salary for these roles is also higher than for bookkeepers at $79,880 per year 6. Bookkeeping is a crucial function of accounting, and earning a bookkeeping certification is a great way to show employers your expertise. While a certificate is not a requirement to become a bookkeeper, some professionals pursue certification to show their skills to employers and stand out in their job search.

Initial Training of Industry-Related Software

They oversee the flow of money in and out of the business, ensuring that invoices are issued, and payments are collected on time. Similarly, bookkeepers ensure bills and vendor invoices are paid promptly, maintaining strong relationships with suppliers and avoiding late payment penalties. If you’ve been curious about the role, I highly recommend seeking bookkeeping opportunities, whether you’re just dipping your toe in part-time, or ready to take the finance world by storm. The higher your experience and skills level, the higher your earning potential. You don’t need to have a degree to become a bookkeeper (though education in finance, accounting, or business administration is always a plus!). Because bookkeepers oversee many moving pieces, organization skills are paramount in this position.

• Bookkeeping is the structured process of recording, organizing, and managing a business’s financial transactions.
• No contractual rights, either expressed or implied, are created by its content.
• Moreover, both the CB and CPB credentials are respected in the bookkeeping field and can help you stand out to employers.
• For example, the CPB exam tests you on bookkeeping, payroll, QuickBooks, and accounting.
• Because bookkeepers oversee many moving pieces, organization skills are paramount in this position.

What is a bookkeeper’s salary?

There are a lot of cheap bookkeeping courses online and a lot of free content too. You can find bookkeeping courses on standard bookkeeping work tools like bookkeeping software and financial reports. This is a great way to gain real-world experience as you become a Certified Public Accountant bookkeeper and, potentially, a bookkeeping business owner.

Ways to Avoid Financial Burnout

Proficiency in bookkeeping software and general computer literacy, as well as strong mathematical computing skills, are key for any bookkeeping professional. Some employers offer on-the-job training for employees with little to no bookkeeping experience. Many bookkeepers play a role in helping businesses stick to their budgets by tracking expenses and comparing them against planned allocations. This oversight helps prevent overspending and ensures resources are used effectively.

Those who earn licensure through NACPB gain the Certified Public Bookkeeper (CPB) title. The first is the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB), and the second is the National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers (NACPB). Both offer similar benefits regarding membership, resources and renewable credentials. While other bookkeeping credentials do exist, those offered by AIPB and NACPB are the most renowned and respected. The demand for bookkeepers is also high, so you won’t be having problems getting a job or finding clients. If you want to expand your side hustle, bookkeeping can easily be turned into a full-time business.

You should be a great multi-tasker and skilled at maintaining a number of easily accessible records. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median salary for bookkeepers in the US is $45,860 per year as of 2021 1. You can sometimes choose between full-time and part-time positions, and you may go to work in an office or work from home. Bookkeeping is keeping records of all financial transactions of a business (or an individual).

• The fuel industry has special software designed for the hundreds of fuels created from a pipeline.
• For example, they may often use ledger sheets and receipt books alongside calculators, computers, and software programs for accounting, auditing and document management.
• If the bookkeeping process is largely about collecting data, the accounting process is about interpreting data.
• While you might choose to hire an accountant for specialized services or tax preparation, you can always handle the books yourself.
• According to ZipRecruiter, bookkeepers made an average of $24.31 per hour as of November 2024.

They have something for you, no matter what stage of your bookkeeping business you are in. If you want to find out if bookkeeping is hard to learn, stick around, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the life of a bookkeeper. Mostly every business could find value in having someone look after their financial books and records. Learning how to become a bookkeeper is also a great career choice if you like the idea of working remotely. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

• In 2024, the average bookkeeper in the United States earned an annual salary of $44,607.
• A bookkeeping course can teach you the basic knowledge you’ll need to prepare financial reports, organize data using tools like Microsoft Excel, or understand how to balance books.
• The key is maintaining accurate records of everything your business owns (assets) and everything it owes (liabilities).
• For example, you cannot pay a vendor without receiving an invoice from them outlining what you need to pay for.
• Apply proper procedures for receiving and recording cash, checks, and vouchers in compliance with federal, state, and company policies, procedures, and regulations.
• As a bookkeeper, and especially if you run your own business, you don’t have a boss who tells you what to do.
• Those in the bookkeeping field can be fairly confident that the work they do will always be needed.

Bookkeeper salary

After all, you don’t want to start working toward a career that could be obsolete in five years, forcing you to go back to the beginning. Those in the bookkeeping field can be fairly confident that the work they do will always be needed. Cloud-based solutions have further transformed the landscape, allowing bookkeepers to access financial information from anywhere, at any time. This flexibility is particularly beneficial for businesses with remote teams or multiple locations.

How Can I Make Bookkeeping Easier?

To maintain certification, you need to earn at least 60 continuing education credits every three years. The Certified Bookkeeper (CB) program from the AIPB requires you to be a working bookkeeper or have at least one year of accounting education. The program includes self-teaching workbooks that prepare you to pass the CB exam.