Bookkeeping has become an industry of its own after breaking away from traditional accounting. Qualified accountants like to work in the more profitable and complicated areas of business finance and strategy. Bookkeeping could be taken up either part time or full time. You must, however have a love for numbers and be comfortable handling them. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you to become a certified bookkeeper.
1. Qualification Requirements
The minimum educational requirement for a bookkeeper is a high school diploma. Mathematics, accounting, English and computers. You also have the option of enrolling in a certificate or associate’s degree program. These programs will train you to record and value inventories, costs, calculate depreciation, make profit and loss statements, balance sheets and so on. These are important documents which are required for audits and financial control.
Having computer skills and proficiency in QuickBooks, MicroSoft Excel and other software used for accounting is desirable and necessary to perform your tasks as a bookkeeper. Manual bookkeeping, however, has not yet been completely replaced by the electronic media; but it is close.
2. Employment
Once you are qualified to taken on a bookkeeper’s job, prepare your resume and post it on job portals and company websites. Ask around at local establishments for vacancies. Advertise your services in the local newspapers and bulletin boards at community centers.
Take up any job that is offered for starters. If you can get an internship, grab it. It is most important for you to start off to gain valuable experience and flesh out your resume.
After you are hired the employers generally have a training program to familiarise you with their business processes and accounting principles. Most likely, you will be asked to assist a senior bookkeeper in his duties before you are allowed to carry out independent bookkeeping. This is an excellent learning opportunity. Use it to hone up your bookkeeping abilities.
3. Certification
Once you have fully settled down as a bookkeeper and have the required experience, it is time to consider certification to go to the next level. The American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers conducts the certification course and you require a minimum of two years of experience to apply for it. You have to follow the Institute’s Code of Ethics and pass an exam to earn your Certified Bookkeeper’s (CB) accreditation. There are preparatory courses both online and at colleges which you may apply to help you to clear the AIPB exam.
Besides being a documented proof of your competence and skills the Certification demonstrates your ability to handle bookkeeping for a company of up to 100 employees.
Bookkeepers can find employment in almost all areas of economy including manufacturing, government and non-government agencies and non-profit organisations. The demand for bookkeepers is likely to go up by 14% till 2020 according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics.
This is good news indeed for you as an accredited Certified Bookkeeper. Cheers!
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