The ADL Valentines Day Bookkeeping Special
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day today ADL is offering fantastic deals on ICB Bookkeeping courses. For a limited time only this sweetheart deal offers courses from only £245 with practically all component courses and modules reduced. There’s rarely been a better time to take up this fascinating and perpetually in demand career path.
Visit our courses here.
What is a Bookkeeper?
A Bookkeeper is someone who performs the everyday accounting tasks essential to every business, making records of all transactions taken in and out. They record the money earned and cash paid out, and all the other day to day tasks that a business requires, as relates to its financial health. Typically this is done using financial and spreadsheet software but many smaller and older businesses still rely on the old fashioned methods done by hand.
Given their position overseeing the finances in many businesses, Bookkeepers are often responsible for managing the payroll, writing the cheques, sending out the invoices and many other activities. In larger firms, they may be specialized into a single role, such as processing accounts received while in smaller ones it will be typical for a single bookkeeper to be responsible for all day to day financial tasks and reporting.
Keeping track of financial data is an essential part of any healthy business and when any company grows to a reasonable size keeping on top of the accounts quickly becomes a significant burden for the business owner. As such there is always a vibrant market for Bookkeepers, whether in-house or as outsourced assistance. After all, as long as someone is making money, somebody will have to count it all.
What Qualifications Does a Bookkeeper need?
Bookkeeping is not a restricted profession in any way. There are no formal requirements necessary for working or setting up business as a bookkeeper. However, as with most jobs, it requires training and experience before a newcomer can expect to perform well at it and many certifications exist that can help assure prospective clients and employers that you are capable of performing the Bookkeepers role.
ADL, for example, has partnered with the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers – one of the largest organizations of its kind in the world with over 100,000 members. The organization has assessed the courses and teaching provided by ADL and deemed that the courses we provide meet the high standards required of the members of the ICB. Graduates of our courses are indeed entitled to membership of this world recognized body and gain the right to use certain lettering after their names to indicate their status as recognized members of organization.
The Difference Between Bookkeeping and Accountancy?
To many not in the know, the terms Bookkeeper and Accountant are used synonymously, generally to mean the person dealing with money in the business. However there are important distinctions between them that render them not at all the same.
The primary difference between them is that the Accountant's role is to analyse and interpret the data provided to the benefit of the company. Bookkeepers record and manage many of the financial affairs of the business. Accountants are required to be more experienced, in general, than bookkeepers, with a greater depth of financial knowledge and a specific education and qualification to work in their position. But they are not the ones that handle the day to day money affairs of a business.
Nevertheless, an Accountant needs to understand and effectively be able to perform the role of a Bookkeeper. Thus for anyone looking to eventually move into accountancy, starting out as a Bookkeeper represents an affordable, faster route to a career in financial services.
