How to Become Certified Bookkeeper in Australia
There are plenty of reasons to become a certified bookkeeper in Australia right now with flexible work-from-home hours and great pay. You don’t need to complete a long and expensive course to gain professional bookkeeping qualifications and since very few business owners have the time or capacity to manage essential financial records, there is plenty of work available both full and part-time. This article will explain what steps you need to take to become a certified bookkeeper and start earning your money through managing business accounts.
Qualifications Needed to Become a Bookkeeper
Working in bookkeeping can be done without any qualifications, however, gaining certification holds a lot of value as you learn how to complete bookkeeping tasks with absolute accuracy and professionalism that will bode well with your clients. Holding certification in bookkeeping also looks more attractive on your resume and allows you to charge higher rates.
Certification and training courses are widely available through TAFEs as well as accredited online providers. If you are planning to run your booking business with a registered business activity statement (BAS) agent you will need to meet at least the minimum qualification which is a certificate in bookkeeping and accounting.
Bookkeeping Technology and Software
Technology and software have a rewarding impact on bookkeeping accuracy and management. The software needs to be managed by someone with bookkeeping abilities and computing experience as the systems are typically complex and need to be set up correctly in order to capture the right information for the business going forward.
Any quality training and certification should come with technology training including the most widely used platforms in bookkeeping such as XERO, MYOB, and Quickbooks. If you have a particular area you want to work in, do some research to find what software platforms are used in these industries and find a course that can include these in your training.
Skills Needed to Become a Bookkeeper
As well as training there are some essential skills that help make the job easier and enjoyable.
Some people will be more naturally suited to bookkeeping tasks than others, particularly those with:
- Numerical accuracy
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Preference for repetitive tasks
- An analytical mind
- Good communication skills
While a strong technical ability isn’t essential, computing will be a big part of the process as well as ongoing training in updated and new software releases.
Starting a Bookkeeping Business
As part of your certification you will need to show experience, so getting as much hands-on practice as you can will get you qualified and ready to start a bookkeeping business faster. You can work from home with little outlay and build your client base to gain references and increase your workload piece by piece.
Once you have a solid understanding of how bookkeeping elements and best practices work, you can create templates suitable for each client and work consistently on their ledgers to record their incoming and outgoing financials. To cut down your workload and have the right systems installed for your business you can contact a fully certified bookkeeper for advice and assistance.
