Bookkeeping vs Accounting: Which Do You Need?

Does your organization need a bookkeeper or an accountant? Although these terms are used interchangeably, these professionals take on different roles and responsibilities in your organization. Bookkeepers focus on the day-to-day transactions in your company, while accountants look at the big picture. While both are vital, clearly defining accountant vs bookkeeper responsibilities is the first step to ensure your company's financial health.

Both professionals can play a pivotal role in your financial success; however, you might not need to onboard both right away. In this article, we’ll explore the fundamentals of bookkeeping and accounting, including the differences in tasks, credentials, and responsibilities. We’ll also touch on other important considerations when outsourcing, including the expected cost and what to look for.

Daily Tasks

One of the top differences in a bookkeeper vs. accountant comparison is the daily responsibilities each professional completes. While both accountants and bookkeepers prioritize accounting management, they focus on different aspects. Let’s break down where each professional spends their time.

Bookkeepers

Bookkeeping is the process of recording daily transactions in an accurate and timely fashion and is a key component to building a financially successful business. In general, bookkeeping is comprised of the following:

• Recording daily transactions

• Categorizing financial transactions

• Posting debits and credits

• Producing invoices

• Paying vendors

• Maintaining general ledgers

• Reconciling accounts

• Completing payroll

• Applying cash

The complexity of a bookkeeping system often depends on the size of the business and the number of transactions that are completed daily, weekly and monthly. All sales and purchases made by a business need to be recorded in the general ledger, and certain items require supporting documents to be retained and preferably stored as an attachment to the transaction and its history.

Accountants

On the contrary, accounting is a high-level process that uses financial information compiled by a bookkeeper or business owner and produces financial models using that information. The process of accounting is more subjective than bookkeeping, which is largely transactional. Accounting is comprised of:

• Completing income tax returns

• Preparing adjusting entries

• Preparing financial statements

• Analyzing costs of operations

• Completing tax filings

• Conducting financial research

• Analyzing financial data

• Performing month-end close

• Financial forecasting

The process of accounting provides reports that bring key financial indicators together. The result is a better understanding of actual profitability and an awareness of cash flow in the business. Accounting turns the information from the ledger into statements that reveal the bigger picture of the business, and the path the company is progressing on. Organizations often look to accountants for help with strategic tax planning and analysis, financial forecasting and budgeting, and tax filing.

Credentials

When evaluating bookkeeping vs accounting, you’ll notice that both sets of professionals will retain credentials. Bookkeeping and accounting are specialized fields that often require educational training and outside certifications. Here’s the credentials that bookkeepers and accountants often have:

Bookkeepers

Bookkeepers aren't technically required to have any postsecondary formal training to handle an organization's books. If you know a small business owner, for instance, you likely also know a bookkeeper; mom-and-pop shops often handle the books themselves until tax time comes around. The amount of training a bookkeeper needs really depends on what an employer (and overall labor market) determines they need. Typically, that looks like an associate degree in accounting or a related field, though it can be higher.

Bookkeepers can also pursue two industry-standard certifications to demonstrate competency. The Certified Bookkeeper credential is issued by the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB) and requires candidates to pass a national certification exam and have applicable work experience. The Certified Public Bookkeeper credential is issued by the National Association of Certified Bookkeepers (NACPB) and requires a certification exam.

Accountants

Accountants have expanded education, with a bachelor’s degree in accounting common. Many accountants will also pursue a master’s degree to streamline the process for certification and licensure, since the 150 hours of coursework required represent 30 hours more than a standard bachelor’s degree.

The most common credential that an accountant will pursue is a Certified Public Accountant license. To obtain this license, accountants will need to complete the necessary coursework, have professional accounting experience, pass a national exam, and complete continuing education.

Availability

Besides responsibilities, another important consideration when evaluating a bookkeeper vs. an accountant is availability. Let’s explore when each professional is generally available.

Bookkeepers

Since bookkeepers handle transaction management, they will likely be available more frequently compared to accountants. Many outsourced bookkeepers are available each day. However, if your business doesn’t have a high transaction volume, this frequency could drop to weekly or monthly.

Accountants

Accountants use the work bookkeepers complete, meaning they won’t be as active in your organization. For example, an accountant might wait until the end of each month to review the transactions and complete reconciliations.

Cost

Outsourced bookkeepers and accountants can charge different rates, especially based on the services offered. There are a lot of factors that determine what it will cost an organization to hire either type of professional, such as geography, background and experience. Let’s take a look at some national averages to get a general idea:

Bookkeepers

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent statistics, the median pay for bookkeepers was $49,210 as of 2024. This amount does not include other benefits, like health insurance, and employer payroll taxes. One of the advantages of outsourcing is the ability to avoid these added costs.

Accountants

Accountants earn more than bookkeepers, with a median pay of $81,680 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Like bookkeepers, hiring an in-house accountant will also come with employer payroll taxes and other costs, like paid time off and insurance. The total cost will depend on the accountant's credentials and the type of accounting they do. For example, tax accountants might charge more than general accountants.

To get a much better idea of how much accountants cost and how much bookkeepers charge where you do business, I recommend using the accounting cost calculator we developed here at Personiv to help finance leaders get a clearer picture of employee costs in their geographic region. Check it out or look at our pricing page for more specific salary figures across the accounting function where you are.

Accountant vs Bookkeeper: Which Do You Need?

Which role does your organization need? Although it can be hard to pinpoint which professional will best help your organization, there are a few factors to consider. First, evaluate your business’s needs. Are you trying to avoid spending hours clearing transactions? If so, you need a bookkeeper. However, if you need assistance with overall planning and compliance, an accountant would be beneficial.

Next, consider when you need help. Do you find needing assistance throughout the month or at month end when owners or shareholders are looking for financial statements? Bookkeepers are available throughout the month to help with basic functions, such as general ledger management. On the contrary, accountants prefer to work off the reports that bookkeepers build. At the end of the day, you don’t have to choose between a bookkeeper or accountant. Countless organizations benefit from having both professionals.

Is a Bookkeeper an Accountant?

No, they're not the same thing. Here's what you need to know:

• The bookkeeper's role is primarily transactional and administrative. These resources are concerned with accurately recording financial transactions in a timely manner.

• The accountant's role is high level and more subjective, providing an organization with business insights based on the data gathered from the bookkeeper’s ledgers.

Bringing It All Together: Bookkeeping vs Accounting

As technology progresses and financial platforms become more advanced, some components of the accounting process have been absorbed into the bookkeeping process. For example, bookkeeping software is typically capable of building financial statements, blurring some of the traditional lines between the bookkeeping and accounting processes and making end-to-end finance and accounting possible.

Understanding the responsibilities of a bookkeeper vs. an accountant is important for organizations. Transactional processes are time-consuming and add little value to the business. These processes, if not managed properly can quickly bog down an organization and lead to high turnover, resulting in an F&A department that has little time to add value to the business.

Getting Started

Personiv can help alleviate your organization of its transactional processes and help support your knowledge-based accounting processes. We utilize hand-picked, college-educated resources with accounting degrees and relevant experience. Our Manila resources are all trained in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the same principles we use here in the U.S., and many have CPAs. Take a look at what makes our Manila team so special with our special report on outsourcing accounting to the Philippines, where you can get to know some of the actual accounting professionals working for organizations just like yours. Our Manila office was even named a "Best Place to Work" overseas, which helps us attract the best bookkeepers and amazing accountants the talent market has to offer. Whether you’re trying to outsource your entire accounts payable function, or provide support for your most strategic accounting processes, Personiv is here to help.

Your next steps:

1. See if any of your organization's accounting processes or bookkeeping tasks are good candidates for offshore delegation with our Definitive Finance and Accounting Decision Matrix

2. Crunch the numbers and see how much outsourced accounting or bookkeeping can save your organization in 2025 and beyond with our Outsourced Savings Calculator

3. Compare your options for virtual and offshore accounting providers with our Vendor Comparison Spreadsheet

4. See why Manila is an ideal destination for virtual accounting and review actual CV snapshots of the top-notch accounting professionals Personiv attracts with the Destination Manila culture sheet and report

5. Contact one of our bookkeeping and accounting experts by visiting our Contact Us page

About the Author

Megan manages the world-class Finance & Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) offering at Personiv. She combines over 20 years of finance and accounting experience with business processing outsourcing expertise to deliver exceptional value to her clients. Prior to joining Personiv, Megan was VP of Business Process Services at Everest Group, where she specialized in keeping abreast of the latest trends in FAO and consulting with large global outsourcing providers to create best-in-class FAO services. Megan holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Kent State University as well as an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

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