An accountant plays a really significant part in an organization, regardless of whether it could be a multinational company or a little, domestic one. The inflow and outflow of the company’s cash are closely checked by the accountant, who moreover makes sure that all financial transactions are legal, correct, which they went through the correct channels. They work closely with bookkeepers to ensure that the company’s financial statements are in order.
Accountant
Also, an accountant may also select to work for people and take charge of issues that are related to money, tax filing, and sorting tax returns. To learn more about Accounting careers, check out our career assets, which include common interview questions for accountants.
Accountant vs Auditor
It is common to find people who are not one or the other an bookkeeper nor an auditor to be able to differentiate between the two. Indeed, the two callings share a lot of similarities, but they both also come with several differences. Let us examine a few of these points within the following passages.
- In most cases, an bookkeeper may be a regular employee of a company or one who’s been contracted by a company and pursues long-term work. On the other hand, an auditor may have been hired by a company from a service provider on a short-term or project basis in order to approve or substantiate the work done by the bookkeeper. An auditor ideally shouldn’t have any connections with the company, to avoid biases.
- In relation to the previous point, the auditor doesn’t require a permanent space in the office building of the company who hired him, as he will need to move from department to department. The opposite goes for the bookkeeper who keeps his own office, with other bookkeepers on the team.
- It is the accountant’s obligation to check the company’s finances on a daily basis and create financial reports at the end of the year in order to report to the management the actual financial situation of the company and decide its strong and weak points. The auditor, on the other hand, is tasked to make sure that these figures are reasonably accurate.
- Hiring a company auditor is required for public companies or private companies with third-party interests (i.e., debt obligations) requiring them to experience an audit. It is optional for private companies. Their work is set against reviewing measures whereas that of bookkeepers is directed by universal bookkeeping guidelines.
Accountant vs Bookkeeper
Once more, the two terms are regularly confused but their differences are clear-cut.
A bookkeeper holds the key to a effective business because he or she does the following tasks:
Makes a record of each financial transaction entered into by a company each single day. It is his work to prepare receipts, invoices, as well as payments, and make sure that everything is recorded down.
Makes a record of all accounts receivable and accounts payable or, in simpler words, the money that goes into paying creditors and the money that comes in from debtors. For example, a client who owes the company a specific amount each month for six months can be put under accounts receivable.
Processes the payroll. It is the job of the bookkeeper to keep up the payroll and make sure that each employee receives the exact amount that’s due to them.
Keeps track of the company’s money, including all the costs it makes, as well as its profit, on a every day premise. The information is exceptionally important because, when compiled into reports, they describe the monetary health of the company, and errors can lead to destitute detailing and bad decisions.
Duties of an Bookkeeper
The duties of an accountant are various, and a few of them may cover with those of the bookkeeper. In a nutshell, the bookkeeper gets it and interprets a company’s financial health through the combination of his knowledge of numbers and accounting standards.
Accountants look at the company’s losses and profits and display the figures in a detailed way to allow the administration to know about how the organization is doing.
They deal and cooperate with auditors in making audits of the company by providing them with the necessary figures and data.
Bookkeepers review budgets, especially towards the end of the financial year, and make sure that the expenditures will not deplete the organization’s coffers. They make sure that the company’s investing is under control.
They manage the safekeeping and contributing of the company’s financial data into its frameworks. Any slight change from the original can jeopardize the entire company’s financial status.
They recommend and apply the use of efficient and secure accounting software that will support the gathering and safekeeping of financial information and the creation of financial reports.
A bookkeeper regularly occupies a position below the company’s accountant and reports to the accountant.
