Many people are confused by these terms. Business owners may wonder if they need one or the other or both. To put it simply, a bookkeeper does the day-to-day tasks and the accountant does yearly (sometimes more often) tasks- the overall picture.
What are day-to-day tasks? Categorizing transactions, creating invoices, making deposits, creating and paying bills, processing payroll, and reconciling bank or credit card statements are common things a bookkeeper could help with. They can also create financial statements to give to the owner or the accountant for review. The bookkeeper will keep everything up-to-date and accurate.
At tax time or whenever they are needed throughout the year, the accountant takes over- prepares and files the tax returns and can advise the client on things like tax savings or financial planning. Now some bookkeepers are also trained to advise or do taxes (like becoming an enrolled agent with the IRS) and some accountants will do bookkeeping. So, the two can overlap depending on the series that each person offers.
Want to know if you need a bookkeeper? Check out this blog we posted previously:
Https://jlmoneymatters.com/when-should-you-hire-a-bookkeeper/