Bookkeeping Salary, Certifications and Career Outlook

The entry-level salary range will vary by industry, geographic location, and other factors. You can obtain more detailed information concerning starting salaries from the career services or placement office of the college or university that you plan to attend. That is, the CPB license itself verifies one’s ability to settle the books for an individual or a small business. Furthermore, almost half of all independent bookkeepers who attain the certified public bookkeeper license are known to boost their earnings, partially because it allows them to raise their rates. The main takeaway concerning average bookkeeper salary is that it varies due to a number of factors and constantly changing economic situations. On the one hand, modern technology simplifies our lives, but on the other hand, it motivates us to develop, get new skills, be flexible and leave our comfort zones.

In addition, those with experience or who are nationally certified will be in extremely high demand, and will enjoy the highest salaries. Bookkeeping is the recording of financial events that take place in a company. Any process of recording financial data is considered bookkeeping and is the first step of data entry into the accounting system. Standard methods of bookkeeping are the double-entry bookkeeping system and the single-entry bookkeeping system. Good bookkeeping practices are essential for a business to succeed, especially when it comes to the tax-paying season. One way to think about it is that bookkeepers lay the groundwork for accountants to analyze and prepare financial statements. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks may apply for our examination with qualified experience or education.

Certified Bank Teller (CBT)

If you’re thinking of employing a bookkeeper for your business, we’ll break down everything bookkeepers can do and some factors that figure into the cost of hiring one. In September 2022, Payscale reported an average annual base salary of about $50,430 for full-charge bookkeepers. what is a bookkeeper In terms of pay, bookkeepers tend to earn the most by working in niche industries. Compared to other major employment sectors for bookkeepers, they host relatively few jobs. As such, candidates should expect a more competitive landscape if applying for available openings.

• These programs generally take a year to complete and include basic bookkeeper training that includes such topics as tax accounting, 10-key calculator techniques, business math, and computerized bookkeeping.
• They’ll utilize similar skills as an Accountant with the addition of finance jargon, financial modeling, and tracking business activities.
• It also allows you to include the “C.B.” designation after your name, signifying you have met the demanding requirements to earn this credential.
• Some will work for businesses or not-for-profit organizations, some become entrepreneurs, and others gain additional education and become accounting professors.
• To qualify for this certification, you must have one year of experience in the accounting or bookkeeping field, pass an examination and sign a code of conduct agreement.

Medical Office Assistants typically perform administrative duties for health care providers in office settings, although some may also perform basic clinical tasks . The CMA is the advanced professional certification specifically designed to measure the accounting and financial management skills that drive business performance. Getting back to the average bookkeeper salary, it’s necessary to state all the average numbers and then proceed to how these numbers can change, depending on some factors. Most bookkeepers work 40 hours per week, though some do work part time. As a professional bookkeeper you may need to work overtime during certain periods of the year such as closing out the fiscal quarter and/or year as well as during tax season.

Job Description for Bookkeeper

Bookkeepers may also seek out peers who may wish to study in groups. This may work well for individuals who work in a larger bookkeeping department or firm. Bookkeepers who are completing a degree can keep in touch with their classmates and then, once everyone has met the exam’s experience requirement, they can reunite and form a study group. The certification exam that will earn you your Certified Public Bookkeeper license is a series of four open-book tests with multiple choice questions that are conducted online from the test taker’s home or setting of choice. To pass, each of the four parts must be passed with a score of 75%, which works out to 37 correct answers out of 50.

A bookkeeper not only records the numbers but can also interpret them. Managers who are responsible for business strategy or development do not always have the kind of understanding of ledgers and bank statements that bookkeepers do. Bookkeeping is neither simple bill paying nor strategic financial planning. Effective bookkeeping includes being able to analyze the movement of funds to optimize benefits to the company, but does not reach so far as to include investment or debt management. Although they function as statisticians and data analysts in a sense, bookkeepers are not by training the professionals who make financial projections or assess financial risk for a company. Bookkeeping jobs encompass a wide range of roles, from entry-level positions to full-charge general ledger or financial statement bookkeepers with managerial responsibilities.

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The National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers offers several levels of certification and licensing. In addition to bookkeeper certification, the NCAPB also offers certification in the areas of payroll.