What does a bookkeeper do?
A bookkeeper’s duties can be quite diverse depending on the business. Their primary role is keeping the books. They perform multiple tasks to support the organization’s accounting and financial system. Besides, their reports are passed on to the business owners and managers to help in decision-making.
The main duties include data entry which deals with recording financial transactions and balancing the books. There’s also bank reconciliation where the books are cross-referenced against bank statements and other source documents to verify their accuracy. The last core duty of a bookkeeper is to condense the business’ financial position and prepare a monthly report. Other additional responsibilities include calculating pay and deduction, credit control, and dealing with the accounts payable and accounts receivable.
The bookkeeping checklist your business needs
There is no room for mistakes and errors in bookkeeping. It is necessary to perform all the responsibilities without fail. Here we have a checklist of a bookkeeper’s typical duties – keeping in mind not all responsibilities are necessary for every business type or size. Let’s look at a bookkeeper’s job in detail.
Daily
- Record business transactions such as sales and purchase transactions
- Sort through daily emails and manage them
- File and archive essential files and folders digitally and physically
- Deposit checks and cash receivables, then at the end of the day, issue receipts to customers
- Check bank statements in real-time and reconcile bank statements
- Prepare revenue and expense account
- Check cash position
Weekly
- Reconcile bank account regularly and don’t leave it for a month or else there would be a huge task to deal with later on
- Prepare and send invoices
- Update payroll files and if there are new employees, make sure to add them and get their necessary information
- Record payments, customer invoices, and vendor bills
- Look into bills due for payment to avoid possible accumulation interest and late fees
- Review projected cash flow
- Manage the budget according to different department’s needs and distribute resources equally
Monthly
- Reconcile bank account with the bank statement and make sure that all transactions are accurate
- Verify aged receivables and follow-up when necessary
- Meet payroll obligations such as payroll tax
- Review the month-end balance sheet
- Check profits and losses, then compare to prior months
- Track and maintain inventory records
Quarterly
- Sum-up projected budgets and cash flows
- Evaluate aged receivables
- Submit and pay the Business Activity Statement (BAS) and super obligations (this could either be monthly or quarterly)
- Review sales tax and compute estimated income tax, then make payments
Annually
- Complete tax returns
- Asses annual accounts and compare with the business goals at the beginning of the fiscal year
- Review past-due receivables and inventory
- Assess and approve full-year financial reports and tax returns
This checklist includes highly important tasks that bookkeepers should perform without any room for error. It could vary depending on the nature of the business, but these are the essence of the tasks that a bookkeeper should take on for the company’s success.
Final thoughts
Bookkeeping is a big task to take on, given that it is the backbone of your business. It is crucial that you get your bookkeeping services from a trusted and reliable company. Ensure that they are more than just capable of doing the things listed above; they should be qualified and competent. You can contact G&R Bookkeeping Services today and check out our full-range services that can significantly help your business.
