Bookkeeper
Job Description

What is a Bookkeeper?

Bookkeepers are responsible for providing up-to-date and accurate financial information about a business. 

Usually their reports go to business owners and managers to help them make financial decisions; however, some bookkeepers are actually involved in strategy development. 

Bookkeepers may also share some role responsibilities with accountants, such as the preparation of annual financial reports and tax returns.

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Bookkeeper Job Description

Our team has created a detailed and focused job description for the role of Bookkeeper:

Job Description

A Bookkeeper is a friendly, highly organised professional with strong verbal and written communication skills. 

Bookkeepers keep tabs on everything and anything to analyse the company's finances, making sure that everything is intact, including cash flow statements, loss statements and bank reconciliations. 

On a day-to-day basis, Bookkeepers complete data entry, track debits and maintain and monitor financial records. They also pay invoices, complete payroll, file tax returns and even maintain office supplies.

Company details and relevant information

Here you would add details about your company, your history and what you can offer.

Bookkeeper Responsibilities 

• There are several core duties of a Bookkeeper, these include:

• Monthly reports which summarise the business’s financial positions.
• Data entries to record financial transactions and the balance of books.
• Bank reconciliations to cross-reference the books against bank statements and other source documents to confirm accuracy.

• There are also several other daily duties, including: creating and sending invoices, making sure invoices from suppliers are accurate and paid on time and finally, calculating pay and deductions. 

Working hours

The working hours of a Bookkeeper are typically 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday, around 37 - 40 hours a week.

Bookkeeper Skills

Key to a business’s finance team, a Bookkeeper should have:

Bookkeeper Skills

• Competence and confidence working with numbers: Basic addition, multiplication and division skills will help to prepare you for a career in bookkeeping.
• Organisation and time management: These skills are essential, and there are dozens of workload tips and techniques available to help you manage workloads.
• Data entry and technology: These are key skills required for bookkeepers, due to mostly all accounting systems moving online.
• Attention to detail: Bookkeepers must process a high level of numerical information, so it’s important to be aware that they need to be accurate and error-free.

Bookkeeper Experience

Some people enter their first Bookkeeping role with a secondary school qualification, then learn everything else on the job. 

However, if there is a dream bookkeeping job that you’re after, it’s worth building up your experience at other companies so you can show off your experience on your CV.

Bookkeeper Qualifications

To ensure that your business hires the most suitable candidate for the role of Bookkeeper, the applicant may have to hold specific qualifications, including:

• ICB level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping: This course will help you learn the basics of double-entry bookkeeping practices.
   
• ICB level 3 Bookkeeping and Accounts: To understand reconciliations and account managers. 

Level 2 and Level 3 courses can come as a bundle, offering the best value for learners wanting to become an IBC associate Bookkeeper.


It’d also be beneficial for a Bookkeeper to have:
 

• Integrity and Transparency: Bookkeepers have to access confidential financial data, so it's important you act with the utmost transparency and integrity. 
• Big picture thinking: It’s beneficial to have a solid commercial awareness to help progress your bookkeeping career. 
• Good people skills: Part of your role includes liaising with clients and stakeholders, so it’s vital you know how to manage and maintain these relationships.

Bookkeeper Salary

Determined by experience, qualifications and company size, a Bookkeeper in the UK currently earns on average between £25,000 - £27,000 but this can all depend on different factors. 

Depending on how many hours you work and where you work, you could earn up to £50,000 per annum.

Download our salary guide now to benchmark your HR salary.

Where can I advertise a job for a Bookkeeper?

The finance industry is highly competitive when it comes to hiring suitably skilled and experienced candidates as Bookkeepers. At Four Recruitment, we work directly with businesses looking to recruit for this position and can advertise relevant job openings on our site.

How can I recruit for a Bookkeeper?

We can help you to recruit a highly qualified and professional Bookkeeper that will fit well within your team. Through outsourcing your hiring processes, you can be sure that only the most appropriate candidate joins your finance team.

If you’d like us to help support your recruitment efforts, contact us today to learn about how we can supplement your processes.

Let us do the hard work