What is the difference between bookkeeper and accountant?

Answer 1

These are two different specialities.

A bookkeeper's role is to ensure that proper records are kept of the company's financial transactions.

An accountant will be responsible for the 'bigger picture' and may also be responsible for analysis of data and the conversion of data into information.

Both disciplines are important in a business, and often, in small businesses or organisations, one person will be responsible for both the bookkeeping and the 'accounting' needs of the company.

An experienced and/or trained bookkeeper will readily be able to set up multi-currency ledgers, and properly account for discounts and director's expenses, for example, and will be able to give timely advice to management on present and future cash positions. Some bookkeepers also produce monthly accounts, and annual accounts ready for audit by an accountant or auditor.

An accountant may be expected to calculate the exact unit cost of production of every item made in a company's factories, such as in a multinational company with fifty dis-similar product lines, or may need to calculate the production costs of the 'downstream' outputs of an oil company operating in different countries, with different economies, taking into account respective labour costs, costs of materials, overheads, asset costs, wastage etc etc. A bookkeeper would generally not be expected to undertake such responsibilities.

Even within accountancy there are different specialities e.g. management accounts, financial accounts, cost accounting, auditing, etc

Both bookkeeping and accountancy play a vital role in business, commerce, the professions, government, and not-for-profit organisations etc, and, in many cases, their respective roles often overlap.