CoursesWorkforce Training
Menu
    All Courses
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Workforce Training
  • Top Courses
  • Become a Partner
  • Affiliates
  • Education Providers
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Blog
  1. Home
  2. Accounting
  3. Bookkeeping
  4. How to Become a Bookkeeper


How to Become a Bookkeeper



Are you all about making sure everything adds up? A career as a bookkeeper could be for you! Helping large and small businesses alike keep a record of their financial transactions, bookkeepers provide a valuable service to business owners.

What Qualifications Do You Need to Be a Bookkeeper?

In order to become a professional bookkeeper, it is necessary to obtain qualifications from the two professional bookkeeping bodies in the UK. This includes the IAB, or the International Association of Bookkeepers, and the ICB, the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers. With these bookkeeping qualifications, you can ensure that you have the professional accreditation required for employers to trust your abilities when it comes to critical aspects of accountancy such as tax returns and financial reports.

While entry-level positions usually don’t demand previous experience, you should still develop an understanding of standard bookkeeping practices, as well as specific bookkeeping and accounting software like Xero, Excel and Quickbooks.

As a Beginner, Where Should I Start in Bookkeeping?

Bookkeeping jobs can be obtained by working towards the role, or applying directly. Bookkeeping can be studied as part of a full-time or part-time accounting degree, or bookkeeping courses that cover essential concepts and equip you with the skills to excel as an employed bookkeeper.

If you find it difficult to obtain full-time work from the get-go, you could always consider operating on a self-employed basis. In fact, bookkeeping is an industry that allows for a great deal of flexibility in terms of remote work and freelancing, providing you with the perfect platform to become an experienced bookkeeper.

Skill Set Required for a Bookkeeper

Bookkeepers fulfill a very important function and are essential to the smooth functioning of every business. Considering the level of responsibility that rests on bookkeepers, it is no wonder they must have a somewhat unique combination of skills in order to be able to do their job well. Those are:


  • Strong numeracy skills
  • Attention to detail
  • Excellent communication
  • Understanding of the bigger picture
  • Data entry
  • Discipline
Browse Bookkeeping Courses Now!

What Does a Bookkeeper Do?

A bookkeeper is hired by a business to keep an accurate record of all their financial transactions. This includes accounts receivable, accounts payable, debits, credits and bank reconciliations. Tasks can range from the everyday to the more complicated bookkeeping services around tax time.

£0,000
Average Salary for a Bookkeeper

Typical Duties for a Bookkeeper


  • Maintaining a record of all financial transactions
  • Preparing financial statements
  • Helping to prepare annual accounts
  • Analysing account information and trends
  • Preparing invoices for the Inland Revenue
  • Balancing accounts

Popular Career Pathways for Bookkeepers

The career path for bookkeepers is stable and enriching, as businesses will always need bookkeeping services.

As a bookkeeper, may also choose to go into more specialised accounting work, allowing you to become head of the financial department in your office. You could also choose to set up your own bookkeeping business, developing a niche clientele, or expand the scope of your business by offering training services.

Browse Bookkeeping Courses Now!

Related To Accountancy Courses


Becoming a Certified Xero Advisor: How to Begin

Keen to use Xero with confidence? Then you need to join the 70,000 people who have already become Xe...

0fa74e5e58c667c5c68643240b2e02a6?s=50&d=mm&r=g
By Anna Whitehouse
Jul 9, 2020
Read More

The Ultimate Guide to Studying Bookkeeping in 2020

Bookkeeping remains one of the steadiest and in-demand occupations, as businesses the world over sea...

014a3c97c04b103ea1a03caba026527e?s=50&d=mm&r=g
By Emma Macnab
Mar 2, 2020
Read More

Xerocon 2019: Who Said Accounting Couldn’t Be Fun?

A few days ago (13-14 November), Xero, the creator of the now world-renowned cloud-accounting platfo...

524842ebb0d2279aa88f3c9f7f6e727b?s=50&d=mm&r=g
By Izabela Grochowska
Nov 18, 2019
Read More

Popular Courses

  • Accounting Courses
  • Administration Courses
  • Bookkeeping Courses
  • Finance Courses
  • Business Management
  • Human Resources Courses 
  • Computer Courses
  • Cyber Security Courses
Copyright © 2020 Coursesonline.co.uk Contact About Privacy Terms Become a Partner Affiliates Blog Sitemap
VAT No: 301 5420 62 Company No: 11182409

Coursesonline.co.uk uses cookies. By continuing you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn more.

gdpr logo
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Additional Cookies

This website uses additional cookies to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!

Cookie Policy

More information about our Cookie Policy