Do you have a computer, an internet, and an undying love for numbers?
Then being a bookkeeper might just be the right career for you!
Below is a step by step guide on how to become a bookkeeper even if you don’t have experience.
Difference Between Bookkeeper And Accountant
Okay before everything else let’s first answer a question you might have about bookkeeping.
What’s the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant?
The simple answer to that is to look at the scope of their duties.
Bookkeeping is the recording of the day-to-day financial transactions like sales, receipts, purchases, payments, etc.
While Accounting is summarizing, analyzing, and reporting financial transactions.
Financial statements are prepared by accountants but accounting softwares nowadays are capable of generating those statements from the transactions recorded by the bookkeeper.
If you’re still confused I’ll share with you a simple diagram used by my teacher back when I was in High School to differentiate bookkeeping and accounting.
What that diagram basically says is that bookkeeping is a part of accounting.
So accountants can be a bookkeeper but bookkeepers can’t become an accountant without an accounting related degree or certifications.
Learn The Skills Needed
Okay, a degree may not be a requirement to be a bookkeeper, but obviously you still have to have the skills and technical knowledge to become one.
So step one, learn learn learn.
There are a lot of articles, videos, ebooks, audio books, you can get for free.
Just search for it on google or whatever search engine you’re using and you’ll definitely find free or paid learning resources.
Learn An Accounting Software
As a bookkeeper, you’ll not only have to learn technical skills but also your preferred accounting software or those used by your clients.
Why is this important?
Softwares are becoming more and more popular and as a responsible and professional bookkeeper, you should keep up with the trends.
And softwares makes bookkeeping life easier so definitely use it.
Get Some Experience
I believe that the best learning comes from experiences.
Because you didn’t have previous experience in bookkeeping (I’m assuming), to get your first client, you’ll have to be proactive.
You can create a resume or an impressive online CV, you can also create a website and start a blog like this to gain viewers that may become clients.
Consider Getting Certified
Certifications add credibility even more so if you are not an accounting graduate.
It also gives you advantage over other bookkeepers who are not certified.
Choose A Specialization
Have you heard about niches? Experts often advise us to pick a niche and master it but you might wonder,
“Why would I limit myself like that?”
“Wouldn’t I get more clients if I accepted everyone?”
The truth is, with the number of businesses right now, even if you “limit” yourself into a specific industry, you’ll still have a lot of potential customers you can target.
And, a laser focus will generally enable you to master something as opposed to sprinkling your attention to everything.
Conclusion
So now that we’ve come to the end, now what?
You should now start learning bookkeeping.
I’ll recommend AccountingCoach.com , you can learn bookkeeping basics there for free.
If you want to learn Quickbooks for free, you can check Veronica Wasek’s website, 5 Minute Bookkeeping
You can also watch Veronica Wasek and Hector Garcia’s youtube channel for more information.
Enjoy learning Bye!
