This post provides some of the important skills and qualities an assistant bookkeeper needs to have to be effective in their job and career.
An assistant bookkeeper works in tandem with the bookkeeper of an organization in ensuring that all bookkeeping functions are done always without mistakes.
Who is an Assistant Bookkeeper?
An assistant bookkeeper, just as the name suggests is someone hired to assist the bookkeeper in handling all bookkeeping functions in the organization.
This includes maintaining the accounts payable and receivable records of the organization.
Top 15 Assistant Bookkeeper Skills
Here are 15 important assistant bookkeeper skills and qualities to have to be effective in your job as an assistant bookkeeper:
- Bookkeeping Knowledge
The knowledge of booking should be rightly placed as the number one thing an assistant bookkeeper should have to be successful on the job.
It is important that individuals seeking the assistant bookkeeper role should have excellent knowledge of bookkeeping to improve their chances of being considered for the position.
This is not just in theoretical terms but also in practical terms, which means that a competent assistant bookkeeper should be able to handle real life situations that demand knowledge of bookkeeping.
2. Mathematical Skills
Keeping track of financial activities of the organization, like recording of receipts involving both accounts receivable and accounts payable requires some mathematical skills.
It requires that you are competent enough to handle the mathematical side of the job.
The assistant bookkeeper of an organization should be able to keep accurate record of financial transactions, which involves dealing with figures.
A competent assistant bookkeeper can serve as an inverted accountant in the organization in any given instance or situation as the need may arise in the organization.
So, whichever role you are holding in the organization (assistant bookkeeper or makeshift account), you should have excellent mathematical skills.
3. Data Entry Skills
The ability to produce a good report as an assistant bookkeeper for your organization is you having excellent data entry skills, which helps you in entering data in its rightful columns for better understanding of a report.
Having good data entry skill is important to an assistant bookkeeper because it helps you to prove your competence in your work.
Data is the catalyst that determines the decisions that could be taken in an organization in a financial sense.
This is to say that, whatever financial decision that is taken in an organization is largely dependent on the nature of data available to the organization.
4. Communication Skills
Next up is excellent communication skills. Communication is a necessary tool that facilitates the flow of information and other ideas in an organization.
You will need to be good in communication for you to be able to look and sound convincing in your job as an assistant bookkeeper.
This job requires you to be in constant communication with other stakeholders in the organization.
Therefore, having a strong communication skill is necessary to be effective in your work as an assistant bookkeeper.
5. Multitasking
Apart from the major work detailed in your job description, you should be able to do something that may be required of you by your employer even if it is something you are not used to or something you never thought about.
Also, multitasking entails doing more than one job at the same time.
This is not to say that you should handle all tasks at the same time, but it deals more with your ability to divide your attention in performing different jobs without creating problems in the process.
The business world demands that you are able to handle different tasks simultaneously without making mistakes.
This is important as there are many jobs to be done without the number of staff to match those expectations.
6. Attention to Details
Paying attention to details is not really something you can master overnight or something that pops up out of instincts.
It is an art you learn and master overtime.
Attention to details entails carefulness in perusing through documents to ensure that the details are in order.
Your job as an assistant bookkeeper also involves keeping a track record of receipts and other financial records made available to you.
It is important that as you are given this documents you don’t just assume that everything you see there is in order.
Sometimes, you may need to rearrange the files and make sure that documents are positioned in chronological order and any mistake sighted is corrected instantly.
7. Analytical Mind
Having an analytical mind in this job entails your ability to think creatively and analytically about any document you are working with, especially when you are not convinced about the authenticity of the details in such documents, sighting discrepancies or irregularity.
You don’t have to turn a blind eye to details of receipts you suspect are not in order.
So, having an analytical mind at that moment could help you in knowing what to do to correct such errors.
Also, having an analytical mind is one thing you will need to have to be a good problem solver in the organization.
Hardly do you see someone who is good at solving problems that is not good at analyzing problems before proceeding to solving them.
8. Accounting Skills
This is an important skill to have as an assistant bookkeeper, especially when you are working as an inverted accountant in an organization.
You will need to be sound in the matters of accounting for you to be able to handle this position well, both in the short and long run.
Accounting skill is not only a basic necessity for those working in the accounting department; it is also a required skill for you to work seamlessly as an assistant bookkeeper.
So, it is advisable that you work on your accounting skills as long as this job is concerned.
The work of an accountant and assistant bookkeeper are strikingly similar, in the sense that both jobs are concerned with keeping records of financial transactions though to a varying extent as may be described by different organizations.
9. Confidentiality
This is very critical in your assistant bookkeeper job.
The issue of confidentiality is something that has landed a lot of employees into some serious trouble due to their inability to keep secret what is meant to be secret.
Confidentiality entails handling the secrets of an organization with absolute care and seriousness.
The secrets of an organization are not meant to be discussed by all parties.
They could be in the form of classified documents, which contain the very financial details of the organization.
In this case, you are not expected to disclose the contents of classified information to anyone except as demanded by the hierarchy of the organization.
10. Thoroughness
Nothing looks good and beautiful to an employer other than having an employee that does their work without leaving problems behind.
It is a good thing that you don’t create a program when your intention is actually to solve them.
Don’t do your job and create a scenario where another problem can be traced through carelessness.
Be thorough in your job and aim towards perfection.
11. Reporting Skills
The essence of writing a report from time to time is to keep the organization updated with what is going on with you and the job you have been given to do.
It should not be seen as a threat or source of inconvenience to you.
Again, the way you write or present a report is as important as the report itself.
This is true because what makes a report acceptable to your boss is not the report itself but the way you arrange and present the report.
To write a report, it is important that you take into cognizance the format needed in writing such report.
Ensure that you know the format for the type of report needed from you and also ensure that the details of the report are not difficult to decode or understand.
12. Ability to Work Effectively in a Team
To work with a team is to have the opportunity to tap from the wisdom and expertise of other colleagues in the workplace.
You need to also understand that in the process of working in and with a team, you are able to do far better than you can individually.
So, teamwork is a basic skill which is geared towards improving everybody in the organization while pushing to achieve the set out goals of the organization.
In teamwork, you try your best to give the team your best output while expecting same in return.
You work with the interest of the team at heart and try to work with the positives you can find in the team rather than complaining about the negatives.
13. Organizational Skills
The first person that needs to be organized is you the assistant bookkeeper.
This is your job and you have to organize yourself first before you are able to take control of the situations around you in the organization.
Organizational skills ensure that you are in charge of situations and activities within your capacity and not just move with whatever you think that works at the moment.
By the time you come to your office in the morning, ensure that you have organized yourself.
14. Management Skills
Just like organizational skills, management skills are combined with organizational skills to exercise total control over situations and activities that go on in the organization.
Management skills are geared towards getting the best out of situations, people, and the tools you are working with.
As an assistant bookkeeper, it is important that you do not let the people working with you or the tools you are working with deteriorate under your watch.
You have to ensure that you do your best to get the best out of everything that is at your disposal.
The tools or equipment you work with should receive the best of management attention, meaning that at every point you should have maintenance skills to ensure that equipment in your care are well maintained.
15. Excellent Computer Skills
Last point in this article is computer skills.
In today’s world, no one can say that there is an aspect of their work that computer cannot be used to make things easy.
This is because experts in the digital or computer world are working tirelessly to ensure that computer is programmed to handle almost any task you can think about.
So, what you have to do as an assistant bookkeeper is to employ every necessary technology practice that you have access to.
When you do this, you are not only increasing your efficiency, you are also saving time and energy.
If you are applying for an assistant bookkeeper job, you need to have a good computer skill to be able to convince your prospective employer that you deserve the job.
Assistant Bookkeeper Skills for Resume
If you are making a new resume or CV for an assistant bookkeeper role, then you can make a captivating Skills/Competence section for the resume by applying the skills and qualities discussed above.
However, be sure that you have the skills before citing them in your resume or CV.
This will help convince the employer or hiring manager that you will be able to effective and efficiently perform the duties of an assistant bookkeeper if hired.
Conclusion
The work of an assistant bookkeeper in the organization involves the recording of receipts, both from the accounts receivable and accounts payable department, and producing a more comprehensive report on the receipts received within the period of time under consideration.
Working in the capacity of an assistant bookkeeper demands that you develop yourself on the above skills and qualities discussed in this article.
This will give you a good balance in your job and ensure that you succeed in your career.
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