Finance
Bookkeeper job description template
Name the software and the volume. Those two facts decide whether a candidate can do this job, and most adverts omit both.
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Bookkeeper job description
About the role
We are looking for a Bookkeeper to keep our financial records accurate and current. You will manage the day-to-day transactions, reconcile accounts, run [payroll if applicable], and prepare the numbers our accountant works from. We use [software], and the business processes roughly [volume] transactions a month.
What you will do
- Record income and expenditure accurately and on schedule
- Reconcile bank accounts, credit cards and supplier statements
- Manage accounts payable and receivable, including chasing what is overdue
- Prepare and submit [VAT or sales tax] returns
- Run payroll for [number] staff, if applicable
- Produce monthly management reports for [role]
- Work with our external accountant at year end
What we need
- Proven bookkeeping experience in a comparable business
- Confident with [your software], or with a comparable package
- Accurate under routine, since most errors here are attention errors
- Understands the basics of [your tax regime] filing obligations
Nice to have
- A bookkeeping or accounting qualification
- Payroll experience
- Experience in [your sector], which has its own quirks
Before you publish the pay
Rates vary widely between part-time contract bookkeeping and an employed role with payroll and reporting. Say which this is, how many hours, and whether it is employed or contract, then give a range on that basis.
To appear in Google job results
Fill in title, location or remote, employment type, date posted, a valid-through date and the salary range. Bookkeeping is frequently part time or remote, so set employment type accurately or the role will surface to the wrong people.
Adapt it rather than pasting it. The parts worth rewriting are the opening paragraph and the must-haves, because those are what decide whether the right person applies. Our guide to writing a job description covers why.
When it is ready, publishing it on your own site keeps the listing, the applications and the candidate data with you, and generates the structured data that makes the role eligible for Google job results.
Common questions
Bookkeeper or Accountant?
A Bookkeeper records and reconciles. An Accountant interprets, advises and signs things off. Many small businesses need the first plus an external version of the second. Advertising for an Accountant when you need a Bookkeeper attracts overqualified applicants and a higher salary expectation than the work justifies.
Should I require a qualification?
For most small business bookkeeping, no. Demonstrated experience with your volume and your software predicts performance better than a certificate. Put the qualification under nice-to-have unless a client or a regulator requires it.
Should I say which software we use?
Always, in the advert and ideally in the title area. It is the single most useful filter in this role: a candidate fluent in your package is productive in a week, and one who is not will spend a month getting there, however experienced.
Publish it on your own site.
WP Career Board turns the fields you fill in into the markup Google reads, and applications land in a dashboard instead of an inbox. Free.