Accountant V/S Bookkeeper : Know the Difference Between Them

Both accountants and bookkeepers play essential roles in managing a company’s finances. They are responsible for maintaining accurate records and providing strategic oversights to the company they work for. Both professions require skills for working with numbers and often collaborate with each other to make sure that the financial reporting and preparation of financial statements are done in a precise manner. But, what sets them apart? In this blog post, we’ll explore the key difference between accountant and bookkeeper.

Accounting and Bookkeeping Definition

Let’s start by understanding the accounting and bookkeeping definition before exploring their differences. Accounting can be defined as a process of measuring, processing and sharing financial and other information about economic entities, such as corporations and businesses. It allows the companies to make informed decisions about how to best use their resources.

Bookkeeping can be defined as a process of recording a corporation’s financial data into organized accounts on a daily basis. It allows companies to track all information on its books, allowing it to make crucial operating, investing, and financing decisions. However, accounting data is more crucial than bookkeeping data for decision-making.

Note: If a company’s income, gross turnover, or receipts exceeds a specific threshold, then the Section 44AA of the Income Tax Act mandates that they keep books of accounts.

Now that we have understood the definitions of accounting and bookkeeping, it’s time to learn the differences between them. 

Difference between Accountant and Bookkeeper

The table below explains all the major differences between accountant and bookkeeper. By going through it, you will be able to understand how accounting and bookkeeping differ from each other:

Best Accounting and Bookkeeping Software

If you want to ensure smooth accounting and bookkeeping for your business, you can download accounting and bookkeeping software. Some of the best accounting and bookkeeping softwares that can help businesses in bookkeeping and accounting are listed below:

• Zoho Books
• Tally
• Vyapar
• Wave
• Neat
• Xero
• FreshBooks
• MarginEdge
• Sage Business Cloud Accounting
• Kashoo
• QuickBooks
• NetSuite

To learn more about them, you can visit their official websites. You can compare them, and see which one works best for you!

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed what accounting and bookkeeping mean. Additionally, we discussed key differences between accountants and bookkeepers. Both of them are required to prepare and compile financial data crucial for the company and play important roles for any company. However, accountants are generally more qualified and have a higher-level of education than bookkeepers. The financial data prepared by bookkeepers can be utilized by the accountants to analyze and prepare the financial statements.