Bookkeepers & Accountants, same thing, right?
It’s not so surprising that people ask this. After all, there does appear to be some overlap there: both bookkeepers
and accountants deal with company books, finances, regulations, and so on. But we’re not the same! (Some would
argue that bookkeepers play the most important role in a business’s finances.)
There are some key differences, and if you’d like to understand them, read on. 👉
An accountant and a bookkeeper both:
- work with numbers
- help people and businesses manage their money
- maintain best practices in laws relating to finance and business
Both are vital to managing money and helping businesses and individuals make smart financial decisions.
But they have different roles and responsibilities — hence, different names.
A bookkeeper is like a money detective.
A bookkeeper:
- identifies, measures, records, and tracks all the money that comes in and goes out of a business day-to-day
- makes sure all financial information is organised, accurate, and up to date
- works with the business year-round to maintain healthy record keeping
- follows strict rules and regulations to maintain compliance with government regulations (VAT, payroll, etc)
- should be the first to notice, bank fraud, questionable transactions, and unnecessary expenses
An accountant is like a financial doctor.
An accountant:
- takes all the info that the bookkeeper collected, interpreting it to make sense of the numbers
- analyses the financial information and reports on the annual health of a business
- files annual tax returns and manages the client’s annual payments to tax authorities
- understands tax law and stays current on all financial legal requirements to advise clients on long-term decisions and ensure regulation compliance
Without a qualified bookkeeper, the accounts can become quite messy — and the accountant will have a lot more
work to do sorting them out. I’ve heard it compared to going to the dentist having not brushed for the last 6
months…
We love working in tandem with top accountants. We each serve our separate functions, but together we keep
businesses financially healthy and happy.
