What Do Bookkeepers Do?
On the popular gameshow “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” (probably most people do), contestants must answer 14 multiple-choice questions in order to grab the coveted prize. At any point along the way, players may stop and use a “lifeline” to help them answer a question correctly. One of the most memorable lifelines, “Phone a Friend” allowed for a player to call one of three pre-selected friends to solicit advice on what is the correct response. Having someone standing by in case they were needed was often the difference between winning and losing.
Why do I need a bookkeeper?
For many entrepreneurs and long-time business owners, phoning a friend or colleague for moral support, voice of reason, or an additional brain to pick makes answering tough business questions a little bit easier, but knowing whether your business in profitable may require a call to an expert. If you are busy running the day-to-day operations, having piece of mind that your money is where you want it is the lifeline you receive from your professional bookkeeper.
So, what do bookkeepers do? Simply, bookkeepers are experts at managing and recording all of the businesses’ financial transactions. Primarily, bookkeepers process and record all sales, purchases, payroll, collections of accounts receivable and bills paid by the business as part of its day-to-day operations. Through keeping track of this information, bookkeepers help to ensure that financial records are concise, complete, and accurate.
What’s the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant?
Obviously, bookkeepers are crucial to maintaining the accounting records and tracking the business’ finances, but how does that differ from what accountants do? For starters, bookkeepers are more transactional through their consistent collecting, recording, and storing of the daily financial transactions. Meanwhile, accountants usually take the bookkeeper’s information and interpret it into financial models, predictions, and forecasts. While each role is unique, bookkeepers and accountants rely on each to support and interpret the business’ total financial picture.
A day in the life of a bookkeeper may include reconciling bank and credit cards, logging and maintaining the accounts receivable and payable, or preparing monthly financial statements. With today’s technology, bookkeeping can easily be done remotely or onsite where needed and is commonly performed within an accounting software package allowing for electronic record keeping and flexibility.
No matter what your business sells or delivers to its customers, the two things guaranteed are you earn money and you spend money, and your bookkeeper helps you keep track of it. As an integral part of any business, the bookkeeper is a dedicated lifeline for knowing exactly where your money is, where it goes, and how you get it back, while allowing business owners more time to focus on what they do best…running the business.
Ready to Learn More?
We would love to chat with you about your bookkeeping to see if we might be a good fit to help you. Please call us at 615-202-5829 or click here to schedule a free assessment.
By Susan Amsler
August 15, 2020
Randolph Business Resources, LLC.
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