A window into accountancy and bookkeeping

In simple terms, accountants spend much of their day analysing, collecting, compiling and evaluating the financial data of a business. They use this information to prepare a variety of reports and financial statements, from daily cash flows for small businesses and profit and loss statements to annual financial reports for larger organisations.

For as long as humans have been able to add up, the world has run on accountancy. You might do things a little differently now, thanks to advances in technology, but the principle is still the same.

So, what does a bookkeeper do? What’s the difference?

Bookkeepers are responsible for providing accurate, up to date financial information about the business. Day to day, you could be performing a variety of tasks such as recording income and expenditure or payroll, completing bank reconciliations, balancing accounts and preparing invoices to complete VAT returns. Maintaining accurate records means that accountants have the necessary information they need to do their job.

The recording and analysing of financial information allow a business to know how well they are performing, for example, whether they make a profit or a loss. This is critical to enable them to make sound business decisions.

There are hundreds of jobs in finance, and an accounting or bookkeeping qualification can be your route into so many exciting choices. But if you’re looking to gain the broadest range of skills possible so you can access a wide range of career options, you may wish to consider an accounting qualification instead of a bookkeeping qualification.