List of Top 6 Careers in Bookkeeping
Below mentioned are some of the career opportunities in the Bookkeeping profile that a person can reach in his career.
- Accountant
- Payroll processing manager
- Financial managers
- Budget Analyst
- Chief Financial Officer
- Auditors
Overview of Careers in Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping refers to the recording of day to day financial transactions of the business in order to ascertain the financial position. There are various types of opportunities to make a career in bookkeeping since it is the core of the financial world which deals with numbers, thus providing a crucial service to the business as well as to enhance the professional opportunities for individuals to excel in the field.
#1 – Accountant
Who is an Accountant?
Is the one who has been employed by the companies to do the daily accounting of the transactions, which may include purchase, sale, receivable, payable, and bank reconciliations.
| Accountant - Job Description | |
|---|---|
| Responsibilities | His job is to make sure all the income and expenses are captured in the accounting system and keep track of the same. |
| Designation | Accountant |
| Actual Role | He will work with multiple junior accountants to perform the daily task by following the desired internal process for payments and receipts. |
| Job Statistics | As per the Bureau of Labour statistics of the US, the number of jobs in this category was 14,24,000 as of 2016 and is expected to grow at 6% from 2018 to 2028. |
| Top Companies | All types of corporates |
| Salary | The median annual salary for an accountant as of May 2018 was $ 70,500 as per the Bureau of Labour statistics of the US. |
| Demand & Supply | Demand for Accountants will continue to grow due to the increase in the number of companies getting registered on a yearly basis. |
| Education Requirement | A Bachelors Degree / Masters degree in accountancy |
| Recommended Courses | Graduation/MBA |
| Positives | As the economy grows, the number of workers required to do the job also increases. |
| Negatives | Long Working Hours and daily routine work can be boredom. |
#2 – Payroll Processing Manager
Who is the Payroll processing Manager?
Is the one who takes care of the entire payroll operations of the company.
| Payroll Processing Manager - Job Description | |
|---|---|
| Responsibilities | His job is to make sure all the employee's salaries are processed on time and also their safety in the organization. |
| Designation | Payroll manager |
| Actual Role | He will work closely with the HR department to process the salary payments on a monthly basis and takes care of the entire employee database in the organization. |
| Job Statistics | There are no specific statistics displayed on the bachelor of labor studies website.Top Companies: All types of corporates. |
| Top Companies | All types of corporates |
| Salary | The median Annual Salary for a payroll manager may range anywhere between $50,000 to $75,000 |
| Demand & Supply | Demand for payroll managers is on the rise with many companies expanding their operations and employing more people. |
| Education Requirement | A Bachelors Degree / Masters degree in accountancy |
| Recommended Courses | Graduation/MBA |
| Positives | As the economy grows, the number of workers required to do the job also increases. |
| Negatives | To keep the employee database up to date is not an easy job. |
#3 – Financial Managers
Who is Financial Manager?
Is the one who leads a team of junior-level accountants under him and directly reports to the chief financial officer of the company.
| Financial Manager - Job Description | |
|---|---|
| Responsibilities | His job is to make sure all the systems and processes are in place and all the transactions are getting accounted for on a daily basis within the desired tat. |
| Designation | Senior Accountant |
| Actual Role | This is to supervise the tasks of the junior accountants and manage the team on a daily basis so that there are no hiccups. |
| Job Statistics | As per the Bureau of Labour statistics of the US, the number of jobs in this category was 6,53,600 as of 2018 and is expected to grow at 16% from 2018 to 2028. |
| Top Companies | All types of corporates. |
| Salary | The median annual salary for a senior analyst as of May 2018 was $ 1,27,990 as per the Bureau of Labour statistics of the US. |
| Demand & Supply | Demand for financial managers will continue to grow seeing the demand of the position since a very less number of people actually take this profile as their careers. |
| Education Requirement | CPA/MBA |
| Recommended Courses | CPA/MBA |
| Positives | The job of financial managers including risk management continues to grow. |
| Negatives | Long Working Hours and daily monitoring of the people is required. |
#4 – Budget Analyst
Who is Budget Analyst?
Is the one who prepares the Company’s budget, keeping in mind the Current Performance, Expected Growth Opportunity, Regulatory Framework, and the Target Market to be approached in the long term?
| Budget Analyst - Job Description | |
|---|---|
| Responsibilities | Responsible for preparing periodic budgets to support the accounting function. |
| Designation | Budget Analyst |
| Actual Role | Data Crunching in Excel. |
| Job Statistics | As per the Bureau of Labour statistics of US, the number of jobs in this category was 58,400 as of 2016 and is expected to grow at 7% from 2018 to 2026. |
| Top Companies | All large corporates. |
| Salary | The median annual salary for a personal budget analyst as of 2018 was $ 76,220. |
| Demand & Supply | A very high demanded profile since the analyst works very closely with the CFO of the company and prepares the variance on a monthly basis in order to major the performance. |
| Education Requirement | CPA / MBA from Tier -1 Universities with at least 5-10 Yrs of Exp |
| Recommended Courses | CPA/ MBA |
| Positives | Analytical Skills become Sharp and chance to interact with the top management on a daily basis |
| Negatives | Extensive Data Crunching sitting on a desk can be boredom. |
#5 – Chief Financial Officer
Who is Chief Financial Officer?
It is the topmost position in the field of accountancy a person can reach in his career.
| Chief Financial Officer - Job Description | |
|---|---|
| Responsibilities | Responsible for managing the financial operations of the company and take strategic steps in order to make the company profitable. |
| Designation | CFO |
| Actual Role | Manages all the departments in the company including accounts, admin, HR, treasury, compliance, etc. |
| Job Statistics | No data has been shared on the Bureau of Labour statistics of US. |
| Top Companies | All large corporates |
| Salary | The median annual salary for a CF position can be anywhere between $2,00,000 to $5,00,000. |
| Demand & Supply | High demand since a tactful person is required to handle this position. |
| Education Requirement | CFA/CPA / MBA from Tier -1 Universities with at least 5-10 Yrs of Exp |
| Recommended Courses | CFA/CPA/ MBA |
| Positives | Extensive knowledge of finance. |
| Negatives | Responsible for any kind of wrongdoings or financial fraud in the company. |
#6 – Auditors
Who is Auditor?
They are the ones who will actually certify the financial statements prepared by the CFO of the company and is the most crucial position in the field of finance as, without audit, the financials are not acceptable in the market.
| Auditor - Job Description | |
|---|---|
| Responsibilities | Responsible for auditing the books of accounts of the company and certifying the financial statements whether they display a true and fair view of the business operations and performance of the company. |
| Designation | Auditor |
| Actual Role | To check the vouchers, bank accounts of the company in order to establish the genuineness of the transaction |
| Job Statistics | No data has been shared on the Bureau of Labour statistics of US |
| Top Companies | All large corporates and Big4 CA firms in the world. |
| Salary | The median Annual Salary for an auditor position can be anywhere between $1,00,000 to $3,00,000. |
| Demand & Supply | High demand due to the knowledge and analytical skills. |
| Education Requirement | CFA/CPA / MBA from Tier -1 Universities with at least 5-10 Yrs of Exp |
| Recommended Courses | CFA/CPA/ MBA |
| Positives | Extensive Knowledge |
| Negatives | Responsible for any kind of wrongdoings in the company. |
Bookkeeping Career Activities
An individual may pursue multiple kinds of careers in the bookkeeping profession. We can divide the list into the below-mentioned buckets :
- Daily recording of transactions: This is probably the beginner level for any person to start his career since he is required to record all the day to day financial transactions in the bank account of the company.
- Preparing financial statements: This is an intermediary stage wherein, after recording all the transactions, financial statements need to be prepared by one person on each reporting date.
- Analyzing the financials: This is the last stage in the bookkeeping profession wherein an individual is expected to provide a detailed analysis to the management about the business performance of the company as compared to its previous years and also to the peer companies.
- Budgeting: In this, the person is required to work very closely with the accounts, cash flow, product, and management in order to draft a suitable budget for the company and the road map to march ahead.
Recommended Articles
This has been a guide to Careers in Bookkeeping. Here we provide the list of top 6 bookkeeping career opportunities that a person can reach in his career, including Accountant, Payroll Accounting Processing Officer, Financial Manager, Auditors, etc. You may also have a look at the below articles –
