Just a Bookkeeper? Why There’s Nothing “Just” About Bookkeeping

“I’m not an accountant, I’m just a bookkeeper.” I’ve said it myself. Usually, it’s when somebody has mistakenly referred to me as an accountant and I’m trying to explain that, actually, I’m not.

The more I’ve heard the phrase “just a bookkeeper” over the years, including coming out of my own mouth, the more I’ve realised how much that tiny word undermines the profession because I am not an accountant, I’m a bookkeeper!

Those two things are not interchangeable. Accountants quite rightly receive recognition for their years of study, technical knowledge and the compliance and advisory work they undertake but recognising that shouldn't mean diminishing the knowledge, qualifications, experience and responsibility involved in professional bookkeeping. Perhaps it's time we dropped the “just”.

What do people think a bookkeeper does?

There is still a perception that bookkeeping is essentially data entry.

• Invoices come in.

• Receipts get entered.

• Bank transactions get matched.

• Everything gets put into the correct little box.

• Job done.

Yes, those things form part of bookkeeping but reducing professional bookkeeping to data entry is a bit like saying a chef's job is putting ingredients on plates. Technically, some ingredients do end up on plates. There is rather a lot happening in between.

What does a bookkeeper actually need to know?

A professional bookkeeper needs a surprisingly broad range of technical knowledge. On any given day, we might be dealing with:

• VAT and the correct VAT treatment of transactions

• Payroll

• CIS

• Bank and control account reconciliations

• Accruals and prepayments

• Journals

• Fixed assets and depreciation

• Loans and finance agreements

• Directors' Loan Accounts

• Expenses and Benefits in Kind

• Understanding Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports

• Accounting software and digital record keeping

• Making Tax Digital

• Anti-Money Laundering requirements

That's before somebody buys something from another country, sells something unusual, finances a vehicle, receives a strange supplier credit or asks “Can I put this through the business?” A sentence capable of opening an astonishing number of cans of worms.

The job isn't simply knowing how to enter a transaction. It's understanding what that transaction actually is and how it should be treated.

Sometimes the most important skill is knowing something looks wrong

Good bookkeeping isn't just about processing the information you're given. It's about noticing things. When you work closely with a business month after month, you begin to recognise its patterns.

• You know which suppliers normally appear.

• You understand how money moves through the business.

• You know roughly what payroll looks like.

• You recognise the normal level of certain costs.

• You understand how the business operates.

So when something unusual appears, you notice.

• Why has this supplier invoice been paid twice?

• Why has that expense suddenly doubled?

• Why hasn't this customer paid?

• Why is there an unexpected payment from the bank?

• Why doesn't the VAT look right?

• Why is there £247.83 sitting somewhere that absolutely refuses to explain itself?

There is a surprisingly large amount of detective work involved in bookkeeping. Sometimes we're less bookkeeper and more financial Sherlock Holmes. Sadly, without the dramatic coat.

We're often very close to the everyday business

One of the things I love about bookkeeping is how closely we get to know the businesses we work with. We're dealing with the numbers regularly, often throughout the month. That means we're not simply looking at what happened a long time ago.

• We're seeing what's happening now.

• We can see when customers are taking longer to pay.

• We can see when costs are increasing.

• We can see when cash is becoming tighter.

• We can see when something doesn't match the usual pattern.

Because we understand the story behind the transactions, we can often ask the question that needs asking. Sometimes that question is technical. Sometimes it's simply “Have you noticed this?” That everyday visibility has enormous value.

Then there are the people skills

This is perhaps one of the most underestimated parts of bookkeeping. Numbers might be at the heart of what we do, but our job involves an awful lot of people.

• We need to ask questions.

• We need to explain things.

• We need to chase information.

• We occasionally need to explain why the photograph of a card machine receipt isn't quite the VAT invoice we'd been hoping for.

• We need to have conversations about money, and money can be an incredibly emotional subject.

  
  

Business owners can feel embarrassed when they don't understand something.

• They can feel worried when cash is tight..

• They can be frustrated by tax bills.

• They can feel completely overwhelmed by their finances.

A good bookkeeper needs to be able to listen, understand and explain without judgement. Technical knowledge matters enormously. So does being able to turn that knowledge into something another person can actually understand and use.

Qualifications and professional knowledge matter

Bookkeeping is a profession. There are qualifications to study for, examinations to pass and professional standards to maintain. I am a Member of the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers with a Payroll Management Diploma (MICB PM Dip) but qualifications aren't the end of learning.

• Tax rules change.

• VAT rules change.

• Payroll legislation changes.

• Technology changes.

• Accounting software changes.

• HMRC changes things just when everybody has finally worked out how the previous version worked.

Professional bookkeepers have to keep learning. Experience matters too. The more businesses, sectors and unusual situations you encounter, the bigger your bank of knowledge becomes. Quite often, something new lands on the desk and you think “I've seen this before…” That experience is incredibly valuable.

Professional bookkeeping also comes with responsibility

There's another side of bookkeeping that isn't always visible. Compliance! As an ICB-licensed practice, we operate within professional standards and undertake ongoing compliance responsibilities, including Anti-Money Laundering supervision. That means things such as:

• Client due diligence

• Identity verification

• Risk assessments

• Record keeping

• AML procedures

• Ongoing monitoring

• Continuing professional development

• Professional and ethical standards

It's not the glamorous side of bookkeeping. Admittedly, nobody has ever walked into a party and announced “Excellent news! I've completed my AML risk assessment!” but it matters. These requirements help protect our clients, our practice and the wider financial system. They are part of being a professional.

Knowing what we don't do matters too

Expertise isn't about pretending to know everything. In fact, one of the most important things a good bookkeeper can know is where their professional boundaries are. There are occasions when we'll tell a client:

• “You need to speak to your accountant about this.”

• Or a tax specialist.

• Or an independent financial adviser.

• Or another appropriately qualified professional.

That isn't us saying “I don't know, sorry.” It's recognising that the question has moved into an area requiring a different type of expertise. We talk about this with our clients because it's important. A good professional doesn't simply give an answer because somebody has asked a question. They understand the limits of their knowledge and authority and know when to bring somebody else into the conversation. That's not a weakness it's professionalism.

What does a good bookkeeper actually give a business?

Yes, we give you accurate records but good bookkeeping provides much more than tidy accounts. It gives a business owner information. It gives you confidence that your numbers reflect what's actually happening. It helps you understand:

• What you're earning

• What you're spending

• Who owes you money

• What you owe

• How your cashflow looks

• Whether costs are changing

• Whether something unusual is happening

• What liabilities are coming

It helps turn a bank balance into a much wider picture of the financial health of the business and perhaps most importantly, it can mean fewer nasty surprises. Nobody enjoys nasty financial surprises. Particularly when they arrive wearing an HMRC logo.

Different doesn't mean less

Bookkeeping and accountancy aren't the same job and they don't need to be. There are areas where the roles overlap and many occasions where bookkeepers and accountants work together. One profession doesn't need to be diminished to recognise the expertise of another. The value of bookkeeping lies in what bookkeeping brings to a business.

• The regular contact.

• The detailed knowledge.

• The accurate records.

• The technical understanding.

• The problem solving.

• The compliance.

• The conversations.

• The ability to notice when something isn't quite right.

• The relationship with the person behind the business.

I'm trying to lose the word “just”

I'll probably still occasionally correct someone who calls me an accountant because I'm not one. I am trying to change how I do it though. Instead of “I'm just a bookkeeper.” It's “I'm a bookkeeper.” No apology. No qualification. No suggestion that it's somehow the lesser version of something else.

I'm proud of the qualifications I've achieved, the knowledge I've built throughout my career and the business and team we've created around professional bookkeeping. I'm proud to be part of a profession that plays such an important role in the everyday running of businesses.

So perhaps it's time all of us, clients, other professionals and bookkeepers ourselves, stopped using that little word. Not an accountant. A bookkeeper. There's no “just” required.