Accountant or Bookkeeper…what is the difference?
Thinking about hiring a bookkeeper or an accountant? In this blog I will go over what the difference is and how they work together to solve your business’s needs.
Bookkeeping has been around for decades. When you are bookkeeping, you are recording all money in and out of a business. This means recording all the daily transactions a business makes.
Here are some typical bookkeeping tasks:
· Recording Transactions
· Processing Payroll
· Account Reconciliation
· Accounts Payable and Receivables
Bookkeepers handle all day-to-day tasks of a business’s finances. Its very important for a business to keep accurate and clean financial records so they can make the financial decisions they need to grow the business.
Accountants and bookkeepers work hand in hand. Bookkeepers will keep the data up to date and an accountant can analyze that data and provide information and advice to a business owner that is needing to make a financial decision. Most business owners are NOT accountants and have a hard time understanding accounting reports. Your bookkeeper can generate a report for you, but the accountant is the one that will analyze and provide the advice you need. Unlike bookkeepers, accountants are required to have at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or college. This gives them a “leg up” on bookkeepers, who are not required to have any formal schooling.
Now with this information, you might be wondering how much it will cost you to have either an accountant or a bookkeeper and what would be best for your company. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for an accountant in 2020 is $73,560 which comes out to be around $35 an hour. A bookkeeper can cost significantly less. (Not sure if this is the correct way to cite my source, saw it done this way on an article I read) The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the average national salary of a bookkeeper is $42,410 a year, equating to be a little over 20 an hour. This wage is before any benefits you might extend to that employee. On average, an employee costs 1.5 times their hourly wage. To hire a decent accountant, you could easily be looking at over $100k a year. This enormous cost has many businesses outsourcing their accounting needs. The cost to outsource could be only a QUARTER of that!
At PennyRoyal Accounting, LLC you not only get bookkeeping services, but you get the advice of accountants with a combined 55+ years of experience. We have services packages for almost every budget. If you are already paying an accountant or bookkeeper, that is okay! We offer free consultations! We can make sure you are paying for what you get! Many of our current clients realized they were paying way too much for subpar service!
Interested in what all should be done on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis? I have created this free guide to help stay on top of the basic bookkeeping. Download your free guide here.
Would you like a free consultation or to inquire about our services? Pick a time here to talk or fill out the form and I will reach out over email!
We will make every penny count, we promise!