Bookkeeper

What a bookkeeper does

• Records sales invoices and the bills you pay.
• Matches bank payments to those records.
• Keeps track of who owes you money and who you owe.
• May run payroll, if they are trained to.
• May prepare and submit VAT returns, if they are trained to.
• Gets the records ready for your accountant at the year end.

What a bookkeeper can take on depends on their training. The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB), for example, says its full members can produce and submit VAT returns and control the sales and purchases ledgers, and that its associate members may do payroll depending on their qualification.¹ Ask what a bookkeeper is trained and insured to do before handing over payroll or VAT.

Who it may suit

• Owners who spend evenings or weekends catching up on paperwork.
• Businesses with a lot of invoices, receipts or bank payments each month.
• Businesses whose accountant charges extra to sort out the records before they can start the year-end work.
• Businesses that want monthly figures but don't keep their records up to date.

Bookkeeper, accountant or both?

The roles overlap. Some bookkeepers prepare simple year-end figures, and some accountancy firms offer bookkeeping. As a rough guide, the bookkeeper keeps the records and the accountant uses them to prepare accounts and tax returns and to advise you. Some businesses use one person or firm for both; others split the work. For a side-by-side table, see Accountant or bookkeeper?

Professional bodies

Some bookkeepers belong to a professional body. Three you may see are:

Professional bodies for bookkeepers, in their own words

Body	What it says about itself and its members
Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB)	Membership is by assessment or exemption. Members can apply for a Practice Licence to set up their own bookkeeping business, and ICB offers money laundering supervision to Practice Licence holders.1
Institute of Accountants and Bookkeepers (IAB)	Says it is "both a membership body and an Ofqual-regulated awarding organisation", with qualifications in bookkeeping, payroll, accounting and finance from Level 1 to Level 4, and that it provides anti-money laundering supervision.2
Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT)	Says "AAT licensed members offer accounting and bookkeeping services."3

Money laundering supervision

Under the money laundering regulations, professional bookkeeping services count as accountancy services. A business offering them may have to register with HMRC for money laundering supervision, unless a professional body already supervises it. ICB, IAB and AAT are all on HMRC's list of professional bodies that supervise.⁴ It is reasonable to ask a bookkeeper who supervises them.

What it costs

ICB says that, in its experience, its associate members charge between £12 and £20 an hour and its full members between £18 and £35 an hour.⁵ This is the institute's own guide, not a survey, and it gives no date or sample. Some bookkeepers charge a monthly fee instead of an hourly rate. Ask what is included and what costs extra.

Questions to ask before you hire one

1. Are you a member of a professional body, and at what level?
2. Who supervises you for money laundering purposes?
3. Can you run our payroll and prepare our VAT returns, or only keep the records?
4. Which bookkeeping software do you use, and can our accountant get access to it?
5. Do you charge by the hour or a monthly fee, and what is included?
6. How often will you update the records, and what do you need from us?

When a smaller step may be enough

If you have only a few transactions a month, bookkeeping software linked to your bank may let you keep up yourself. Your accountant may also offer bookkeeping as part of their fee. A bookkeeper may make sense when the records keep slipping and you'd rather pay someone than do it yourself.