All financial transactions that a business engages in must be carefully and accurately recorded. This includes not only sales and purchases, but also income revenue and expense payments. The bookkeeper’s role is to maintain these records with complete accuracy. Bookkeeper’s are not the same as accountants. The bookkeeper’s records are what an accountant will use to create the necessary financial reports.

Bookkeepers often employ one of two methods for documenting financial data. The double entry method, while complex, helps ensure a set of books that are free of mistakes. It employs a balancing system of credits and debits separated by two distinct ledgers within the books. The single entry system is much less complicated and is often the method of choice for small businesses. Data is maintained in a revenue and expense journal and utilizes accounts solely of income and expense.

There are several different books that are used for recording financial transactions. The daybook is used to record the details of a transaction, but not all businesses maintain daybooks. Some companies choose to simply use journals. The information from the journals is then recorded in ledgers according to their corresponding category of purchases, sales, cash, credit, and so on.

Each section of your financial database will have different subsections that will have a place for all of your transactions. This helps you see what is coming in, or your sales with customer data, and what is going out, or your supplies with distributor information. Then there are sections specifically designated for taxes, your current inventory, your current debt, your daily income and your general expenses.

A bookkeeper will periodically, usually once a week, make sure that the books are balancing properly. What they can do is either print out the database or go through the ledger line by line to make sure that everything is balancing properly. This includes creating a credit and debit column starting with a day of the week, usually corresponding with when your sales week starts and when it ends. This is a good way of making sure that there are not any mistakes in your bookkeeping that could possibly create a ton of problems down the road.

Bookkeeping is not a simple job and the task is not one that is done quickly. Most companies require at least one full-time bookkeeper and it is common for large companies to have several bookkeepers. However, smaller businesses may outsource the bookkeeping work by hiring a service to handle this job for them. When a bookkeeping service is used, a bookkeeper will spend a few hours a week at the company working on the records and being sure that the books stay in balance.

More : Rouse Hill Bookkeeping