Like their name suggests, bookkeepers keep the books, that is, maintain the financial records, for both businesses and individuals. The job of a bookkeeper is to maintain the general ledger, which includes recording all financial transactions, and producing basic accounting statistics and reports as needed. While the line is more blurred today due to accounting software, accountants are in essence specialized bookkeepers who usually have at least an undergraduate degree in accounting, and are often more responsible for interpreting financial data than calculating it.
Bookkeepers have a variety of responsibilities depending on the needs of the business. In many smaller businesses bookkeepers are responsible for taxes, payroll, insurance, even paying the utility bills. A bookkeeper is also often the go-to person at a smaller business to pick up petty cash or to drop off receipts and so forth.
Bookkeepers are generally only found at small and medium-sized businesses. Large corporations require accounting and auditing departments to accomplish all of the bookkeeping, financial, compliance, and tax-related tasks for businesses of that size.
