Bookkeeping Vs Accounting: Whats The Difference?
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On the other hand, Accounting is all about designing a system of records and preparing reports, taking the recorded data as a base. Further, it involves the interpretation and communication of these reports. Bookkeepers play a vital role in managing financial records, while accountants offer valuable expertise and financial advice. Depending on your needs, you may want to consider working with both a bookkeeper and an accountant. The bookkeeper posts accounting transactions in the general ledger using documents such as receipts, invoices, and other records of business activity. The general ledger is a sheet that houses all accounting data and financial records within a business.
Accountants are often responsible for not just keeping financial records in order, but for also interpreting financial documents, analyzing trends in spending and profit, and more. While it may seem very similar to bookkeeping, accountants will also report on projected trends or things they think will happen financially based on historical company data. If you don’t need a full-time bookkeeper yet, you can find a proficient financial professional to handle bookkeeping tasks on a part-time or contract basis. Bookkeeping may require certifications or licenses, but is not necessarily a degreed position. However, the qualities of a great bookkeeper include a keen eye for detail, meticulous recording-keeping and organizational skills, and good interpersonal skills. For larger businesses, or businesses with high transaction volume, efficiency and math skills are also extremely important qualities.
What’s the Difference Between Bookkeeping & Accounting
Accounting is the language of business, as the reports it provides are needed by the concerned parties, such as creditors, employees, investors, shareholders, government agencies, tax authorities, etc. Accounting implies the system that identifies, records and maintains economic events and communicates the results thereof. It is related to summarizing the recorded transactions, interpreting them and then communicating their results. When deciding whether you should hire an accountant vs a bookkeeper, the answer will depend on what kind of help your business needs.
You might want to acquire additional funds for your business to feel more confident by securing extra cash for emergency purposes. Diligently processed financial statements over an extended period can be a kind of insurance for you to receive the needed investment. https://www.bookstime.com/ Young businesses often get away with doing their accounting and bookkeeping responsibilities themselves. In the long run, however, it wouldn’t be financially wise to continue doing that, as many errors might creep in, potentially costing you money and time.
Accounting qualifications
Accounting is the process of measuring and recording all the financial transactions that happened in a financial year. It helps in getting a clear picture of the financial difference between bookkeeping and accounting position of the business by seeing the value of a company’s assets and liabilities. Bookkeeping and Accounting are two different processes in Accountancy.
As a bookkeeper, your attention to detail must be almost preternatural. Careless mistakes that seem inconsequential at the time can lead to bigger, costlier, more time-consuming problems down the road. Rarely does a bookkeeper work on one big project for an eight-hour shift; instead, a typical workday involves juggling five or six smaller jobs. Nearly all bookkeeping is done using computerized accounting software and programs, so bookkeepers should be comfortable learning new technology if not proficient in it. Therefore, those who do not like math, get confused easily when making simple calculations, or are generally opposed to number crunching should not apply.
