Everyone knows about and has
dealt with the infamous job search Catch-22: You need experience to get
the job, but you need the job to get experience. This paradox is always a
challenge that must be overcome when considering switching careers or
deciding on an entry level career. One great way to accomplish this is
to take on responsibilities related to the field at your current job.
This is a particularly good strategy for getting experience with bookkeeping and accounting because every business has work that needs to get done in those areas. Furthermore, a lot of this work is fairly tedious and doesn’t require much prior knowledge to be done properly.
When it comes to bookkeeping and accounting for the company where you are currently employed, there’s a good chance that there’s work you can take on, especially if you work for a smaller sized business. In this article we’ll discuss what kind of work that is, and how to go about seizing the opportunity to do it so that you can get valuable experience with bookkeeping and accounting — even if you have no prior related experience.
Most bookkeeping software is set up such that two or more people can work on the books at the same time. If you are able to record the more tedious and repetitive transactions, for example daily sales receipts, not only will you get direct experience, but there’s also a good chance that the head bookkeeper/accountant will greatly appreciate being able to delegate some of his or her work in order to spend more time focusing on higher level tasks.
This is a particularly good strategy for getting experience with bookkeeping and accounting because every business has work that needs to get done in those areas. Furthermore, a lot of this work is fairly tedious and doesn’t require much prior knowledge to be done properly.
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How to Get Bookkeeping Experience at your Current Job |
When it comes to bookkeeping and accounting for the company where you are currently employed, there’s a good chance that there’s work you can take on, especially if you work for a smaller sized business. In this article we’ll discuss what kind of work that is, and how to go about seizing the opportunity to do it so that you can get valuable experience with bookkeeping and accounting — even if you have no prior related experience.
Here are three bookkeeping and accounting related tasks you can take on with little to no prior experience
1. Basic Transaction Recording
The heart of any bookkeeping job is recording financial transactions. It’s incredibly important that every single one of them be recorded accurately, but in reality the process of doing so can be fairly tedious and repetitive. You can offer to spend part of your day doing these entries so that the company accountant can spend more time on higher level tasks. There might be an initial learning curve to become familiar with the types of entries and how to do them, but once you get that down it will likely become a fairly repetitive daily chore. Recording some of the daily entries yourself will give you direct exposure to the company books and you’ll also get a feel for what it’s like to use bookkeeping software.Most bookkeeping software is set up such that two or more people can work on the books at the same time. If you are able to record the more tedious and repetitive transactions, for example daily sales receipts, not only will you get direct experience, but there’s also a good chance that the head bookkeeper/accountant will greatly appreciate being able to delegate some of his or her work in order to spend more time focusing on higher level tasks.
2. Clerical Work
Another important aspect of bookkeeping and accounting is maintaining financial records. All books must be substantiated with physical proof for each transaction, eg, receipts for business expenses. Filing and organizing physical financial records is another important, yet tedious task that must be regularly done within every business. Offering to help with bookkeeping clerical work is another way to get experience, because it isn’t particularly difficult to file pieces of paper. Doing clerical work will expose you to how your company organizes it’s finances and you’ll get a feel for what the big financial picture looks like.3. Assist with Work Flow Organization
Excellent organization is crucial for accurate and timely bookkeeping. Part of bookkeeping, for example, is entering bills to be paid and invoices to be sent to clients to get paid. A bookkeeper must be proactively organized so that he or she doesn’t fall behind or miss any payables and receivables that need to be recorded and sent out. You can offer to assist with this organization in many ways, for example:- organizing bills to get paid and invoices to clients that need to be generated
- organizing any daily sales into an excel spreadsheet for the bookkeeper to enter
- making sure all projects have the correct purchase orders signed with accurate billing information
- organizing information on financial transactions which might be unclear to the bookkeeper, someone who isn’t always directly involved in said transaction