In this article, you will learn:
A bookkeeper records financial transactions of your business systematically. Such transactions need to be identified, accepted, classified, and recorded in a way that allows them to be presented as financial statements and financial information.
Thus, a bookkeeper performs various activities, including:
Every business needs a bookkeeper as they need to manage their books of accounts effectively. Further, they need to meet the requirements of filing tax returns and financial statements with their local revenue authorities.
To undertake bookkeeping effectively, there are specific skills you need to master. In this article, we will discuss how to become a bookkeeper, how to become a bookkeeper from home and various online bookkeeping courses.
It is not mandatory to be a certified bookkeeper. However, an accredited bookkeeper has the necessary skills to effectively manage companies' books of accounts. Moreover, it also adds a credential to your list of professional accomplishments.
Some individuals learn bookkeeping skills on the job. However, seeking further education to become an experienced bookkeeper is always helpful.
As a bookkeeper, you are responsible for maintaining accurate financial records and handling all the accounting processes for a business.
Some employers may require you to have only a high school diploma or certificate level for an entry-level bookkeeping position. However, most employers expect you to have additional education and some work experience.
Hence, to advance your career as a bookkeeper, you can consider the following:
Many bookkeeping jobs only require a high school diploma, but some employers need candidates to have an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree.
There are a host of programs available in the field of business administration and accounting.
An associate degree in accounting is a two-year degree that helps candidates to begin their careers in accounting.
Community colleges, technical colleges, universities, and online programs offer this degree. The common types of associate degrees in accounting include an Associate of Science (AS) in Accounting and an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Accounting.
An associate degree provides foundational knowledge to prepare candidates for entry-level jobs in the industry.
An Associate Degree in Accounting is the foundational step toward attaining higher degrees, including a bachelor's or masters. However, this degree does not prepare students to take up an accounting license program like a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) examination.
Therefore, candidates having an associate degree in accounting may take up entry-level positions. These include:
A Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting can provide you with the fundamental knowledge for advising businesses, individuals, and organizations in financial and accounting matters. It is the minimum degree required for accounting license programs such as a CPA examination.
The following are the options for a bachelor’s degree in accounting:
Most employers prefer hiring bookkeepers who possess a proper degree. However, some employers hire candidates with just a high-school diploma and prefer training them on the job.
Training in bookkeeping involves:
Bookkeepers are the professionals who record the day-to-day transactions of a business in an organized manner. Identifying, accepting, classifying, and recording financial transactions requires attention to detail, multitasking, and a lot of number crunching.
If you are wondering whether bookkeeping is right for you, below is a list of recommended skills and attributes:
As mentioned above, a professional bookkeeper should be detail-oriented, enjoy working with data, be comfortable with routine procedures, and be comfortable with numbers.
The primary task of a bookkeeper is to keep track of the financial transactions of a business and generate relevant and accurate reports. These reports help the accountants, as well as the business owners, understand the financial position of the company.
The following duties are common day-to-day tasks that make up a bookkeeper's workday:
The following are examples of bookkeeping organizations that provide a host of bookkeeping programs. A region-specific alternative may be available in your country.
The ACCA is a global association of individuals who want to:
The members of the ACCA typically include bookkeeping employees of businesses and non-profit organizations. This association helps bookkeepers develop knowledge and skills via bookkeeping education and accreditation. Furthermore, the ACCA trains and certifies bookkeeping students and employees in bookkeeping, accounting and payroll.
This certification is recognized around the globe.
Free and low-cost online bookkeeping courses are an excellent way to learn bookkeeping. These courses focus on bookkeeping fundamentals to enhance knowledge and bookkeeping skills.
The following are bookkeeping courses that you can pursue to enhance your employment prospects and demonstrate proficiency to your clients:
Coursera is an online platform that offers courses by top instructors from world-class universities and companies.
A host of free courses give you access to on-demand video lectures, homework exercises, and community discussion forums.
The paid courses offer quizzes and projects and a course certificate upon completion.
Many of their courses have a cost. You can enrol for free when you enrol in a course or specialization, but you must purchase the course to earn a certificate.
When you start your first subscription to Coursera, it will begin with a seven-day free trial. This free trial allows you to try a complimentary specialization course. However, your free trial automatically becomes a paid subscription on the eighth day unless you cancel the free trial version.
The following are some of the bookkeeping courses you can take on Coursera:
With over 30,000 courses across 190 countries, the Knowledge Academy is one of the world’s largest providers of training courses globally. They provide business analysis, project management, business accounting, and bookkeeping courses.
The Corporate Finance Institute (CFI) is an online platform that provides online finance and accounting courses.
The CFI courses offer practical skills, templates, and tools to enhance your accounting knowledge.
These courses are taught by professional Wallstreet trainers who have been teaching for over twenty years.
The below courses are some of those offered in the area of accounting and finance by the CFI:
You can enroll for all these courses for free. However, if you want certification, you must purchase the CFI self-study bundle and FMVA certification.
Taking physical classes for bookkeeping offers many benefits, provided you have a flexible working schedule that gives you enough free time.
One of the benefits of attending in-person bookkeeping classes is you can clarify your doubts by speaking to the instructor in person, unlike online courses, where you have to send an email or message to the instructor on a messenger app and wait for a response.
There are a lot of institutes that offer small business workshops, giving valuable insights into bookkeeping and accounting. These workshops also allow you to meet like-minded professionals who can share accounting and bookkeeping tips.
Quickbooks offers training classes from the comfort of your home. The QuickBooks comprehensive training program gets users comfortable using QuickBooks software in just two days.
QuickBooks Online Accountant is equipped with features to help accountants manage work, clients and their accounting practice, all with one login. Accountants can sign up to use QuickBooks Online Accountant for their practice for free.
The Quickbooks training program helps you to:
The topics covered in Quickbooks online classes are as follows:
The foundational topics in QuickBooks Online Accounting Software helps you:
The following section discusses everyday transactions, including:
Learn about special transactions, including how to:
Get to know expert tips and tricks on how to:
Get to know QuickBook's powerful tools to:
Customize Quickbooks in order to:
Know how to:
Know how to:
Quickbooks offers two types of training: self-paced courses and a Quickbooks certification course.
The self-paced Quickbooks training is designed in such a way that it fits your working schedule.
All you need to do is start and stop the training at your own convenience. Once you subscribe to the training course, it never expires. Therefore, you can watch the videos as and when you like.
The following are the various self-paced courses offered by QuickBooks:
It’s important to note here that if you become a diamond VIP member, you will get access to every self-paced course offered by Quickbooks. This means more than 100 hours of QuickBooks training, live weekly webinars, live Q & A sessions, and live support from Quickbooks instructors.
Quickbooks certification course gives you concrete skills and knowledge about Quickbooks Online Accounting Software.
To become a Quickbooks certified user, you must follow the steps below:
Quickbooks offers a two-day mastering Quickbooks class. This training class is the stepping stone towards Quickbooks certification. This class teaches you how to set up Quickbooks, handle money, bank, and much more.
If you cannot find a class near your location, you can attend a webinar from the comfort of your home or office.
The next step in becoming a Quickbooks certified user is to prepare for the Quickbooks certification exam. To prepare for this exam, you must attend Quickbooks training classes as these classes offer you a good foundation of Quickbooks knowledge.
Once you attend a Quickbooks training class, you will receive a Quickbooks certification study guide. This guide consists of real-life examples and tips and tricks to help you to prepare for the exam.
Furthermore, it also gives you a practice test which is a great way to prepare for the exam.
The final step in becoming a certified Quickbooks is to take the Quickbooks certification exam.
Once you have attended the QuickBooks training class, worked through the study guide, and taken the practice exam, you will be ready for the exam.
Quickbooks also provides a webinar held by expert QBO accountant Hector Garcia. In this webinar, the QBO accountant covers how to set up Quickbooks online and provides guidelines on some of the useful features of the product.
This includes creating invoices, categorizing expenses, setting up charts of accounts, and much more.
The following topics are covered in this 1 hr 30 minutes webinar:
To find more learning information about QuickBooks and all the functionalities, feel free to visit our video tutorials section and subscribe to our youtube playlist.
The QuickBooks User Guide PDF is a document that acts as a training guide for those who are progressing through QuickBooks Online Training.
This guide walks you through various aspects of QuickBooks Online, from choosing the type of QuickBooks online version, navigating QuickBooks online, Setting Up your company with QuickBooks to Online banking, running reports, managing transactions, and GST/VAT.
Thus, this document is a step-by-step guide to getting well-versed in using QuickBooks Online Accounting Software.
Get an overview of:
Global Quickbooks community is an online hub that allows you to connect with other Quickbooks users around the world. This platform answers your queries pertaining to your Quickbooks account as experts share their knowledge with those who need help.
Whether you are a small business owner, bookkeeper, or adviser trying to help clients grow, the Quickbooks community is an excellent platform to get your queries answered.
Individuals who are community members answer the questions posted by Quickbooks account holders worldwide. Such queries are answered from their own experience of using Quickbooks.
Furthermore, every member contributes to the community to build a collective knowledge base.
If you face any issues using Quickbooks, you need to insert the keyword in the search bar and click ‘search”.
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