What Makes a Good Bookkeeper

[Ann-marie]

Hi,

I'm planning to start my own Bookkeeping business and I just wondered what qualities you thought made a good Bookkeeper and why you would choose one business over another.

Any comments and suggestions would be warmly welcome.

Kind regards

[Maslins]

Check the balance sheet on a regular basis to ensure it is correct. I can't believe how many bookkeepers simply plug in invoices & payments and never do (or don't know how to do) a sanity check of the balance sheet.

Other than that, be nice and friendly, don't try to move in on the accountant's territory (eg suggesting to sole trader you do bookkeeping for that you can also do their tax return for X% less than the accountant charges), and don't charge for more hours than you actually do (consistently "rounding up" does get noticed!).

[Philip Hoyle]

Don't limit yourself. Train yourself in payroll, construction industry tax, VAT and credit control. Learn as many different accounting software packages as you can. There are a lot of book-keepers out there competing for work. The more services you can offer the more likely you are to stand out above the rest. A good book-keeper is worth their weight in gold.

[Zeno]

Try to understand your client, they way they do business and what this means for their book keeping requirements.

You should not attempt to approach every job in the same way.

[Phil B]

Echoing what Chris said – remember that the company’s accountant is not a competitor – I would really encourage you to make contact with them very early on and ask what issues/concerns/problems they encounter when it comes to the year end accounts. Ask them what they would like to see done .

As many smaller businesses get things like HP wrapped around their necks it is worth asking the accountant for their working paper in this respect so you can set it up properly.

Agree with checking the Balance sheet and also understanding the difference between a non incorporated and incorporated business and whose money it is can be a big help in managing expectations!

Phil B

[Bridget1968]

Would you expect a bookkeeper to issue journals for depreciation, accruals and prepayments and also issue a dividend statement to show what profits are available for dividend distribution. In a previous job the accountant did this and the bookkeeper just did upto trial balance. What is your views on this?

Even better is anyone ICB registered and what are there limitations on this???

Thanks

[Jenni384]

Would you expect a bookkeeper to issue journals for depreciation, accruals and prepayments and also issue a dividend statement to show what profits are available for dividend distribution. In a previous job the accountant did this and the bookkeeper just did upto trial balance. What is your views on this?

In an ideal world, a bookkeeper would post depn/ accruals/ ppmts correctly at the end of the year, giving a perfect trial balance. I'd rather have well-kept basic books than ones with errors where they have tried to do year end journals and failed. But any qualified bookkeeper or similar should know how to do these.

I can't say I'd 'expect' to get dividend statements - though a good bookkeeper should be able to produce management accounts that are accurate enough for dividend purposes.

I think it depends what the client is expecting and what the relationship is between the client, bookkeeper and accountant.

With regard the OP, I agree with what the other accountants have said.

[Phil B]

I’ll depart here from the previous comment – a good bookkeeper is not a Management Accountant and the roles ARE different – concentrate on getting the Trial Balance correct and accurate.

A good accounting package will handle Depreciation and certain recurring accruals and Prepayments for you – just needs setting up correctly. You could easily obtain an approximate monthly journal from the Accountants as an easy option.

Don’t play around with any sort of remuneration planning – get the figures right and let the accountants worry about dividend/salary calcs and associated paperwork. Seriously - a bookkeeper that can hand over an accurate, appropriate TB is most accountants and businesses dream!

Phil B

[DFL]

Echo what is said above as well as a few more factors:

- Reliability;
- Consistency;
- Efficiency;
- Good people skills; and
- Pro-active problem solving

Jason

[retinaganshi]

Try to understand your client, they way they do business and what this means for their book keeping requirements.

You should not attempt to approach every job in the same way.

i agree completely!