These skills support overall business planning and can enhance an organization’s reputation by ensuring accuracy. Time intangible assets management greatly benefits from automating manual processes such as invoicing, payroll, inventory, and accounting with bookkeeping software. Bookkeepers handle sensitive financial data, often involving access to confidential business information. Bookkeepers manage an array of financial data that requires absolute accuracy.

As a bookkeeper, your clients rely on you to keep their business financial transactions safe and fraud-free. Bookkeepers handle a lot of confidential information, so you need to have a high sense of integrity and transparency. You don’t want to lose clients or ruin your reputation just because of an integrity issue. In addition, since you employer payroll taxes will manage crucial tasks, such as managing your clients’ taxes, you need to ensure that you comply with the necessary rules and regulations. There are high stakes when managing a business’s financial statements, which can lead to stress.

How to test bookkeepers’ data-entry skills

Learning how to become a bookkeeper is also a great career choice if you like the idea of working remotely. Chris Kolmar is a co-founder the top financial challenges faced by small business and how to overcome them of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. Ensure your resume is easy to read by using a clean and professional font, adequate white space, and bullet points for listing information. Be concise and use action verbs to describe your accomplishments and responsibilities in each job role. Track all the critical calculations that contribute to your recruitment process and find out how to optimize them with this cheat sheet.

Bookkeeping vs. accounting

1. You will learn how to record costs, value inventory, calculate depreciation, analyze financial statements, and use software programs.
2. Most of a bookkeeper’s work may be with numbers, but they must also communicate effectively and translate financial data into clear, understandable information for non-financial individuals.
3. The BLS expects the field to have a 5 percent decline in growth from 2021 to 2031.
4. The median salary for these roles is also higher than for bookkeepers at $77,250 per year 4.
5. This makes bookkeeping a popular choice for those without degrees or those ready for a career change.
6. Every business step requires capital, from transforming an idea into a model to investing in its expansion.

The landscape is changing for this profession by way of AI, machine learning, and automation so it’s beneficial if you gain knowledge of multiple software systems to adapt to these changes. Some employers prefer double-entry bookkeeping, while others prefer single-entry. A study from Sage found that 45% of accounting professionals expressed an intention to automate data entry, so the data-entry skills required by bookkeepers are likely to change in the near future. Although you certainly can do formal bookkeeping training (e.g., online bookkeeping courses, relevant degree), many bookkeepers simply learn the ropes through on-the-job training. Bookkeepers are administrators first and foremost and are responsible for updating and maintaining financial transactions and reports.

Create financial reports.

TestGorilla’s Numerical Reasoning test measures a candidate’s ability to interpret and work with numbers. If your company uses Apple computers for bookkeepers, you can test their proficiency with the Computer Literacy (MAC) test. When anomalies or issues occur, bookkeepers can identify them and determine the reasons behind them using relevant information and asking the right questions. Bookkeepers often need critical-thinking skills to help interpret the story behind the numbers. For example, they need to have a strong understanding of numbers and math, but they also have to be good problem-solvers with strong ethics to ensure the company doesn’t run afoul of regulations. As the financial backbone of a business, bookkeeping is a vital aspect of successful operations.

What are essential Bookkeeper Skills to include on a resume?

However, more knowledge is always an asset, and a bookkeeping certificate can make your resume look more attractive, potentially helping you to gain clients. If you’re interested in an analytical, business-minded career, becoming a bookkeeper (especially a virtual bookkeeper) might be the right choice. And with no requirements for special certification and education, there are almost no downsides to seeing if it’s a good fit. These will help prove your expertise in specific bookkeeping and accounting software to clients. These exams test your knowledge of analyzing business transactions, payroll taxes, financial statements, and more. This is a great way to gain real-world experience as you become a bookkeeper and, potentially, a bookkeeping business owner.

Being dedicated to fulfilling your bookkeeper role will surely help you gain the trust and respect of your clients. However, aside from showing your commitment to your job, it is also crucial that you show your clients that you have their business interests at heart. Regardless of whether you work full-time or part-time, your clients need to feel that you are passionate about working with them. Make sure that you give all of your clients the same level of commitment and never treat them poorly just because they gave you a low paycheck.