Career Exploration Series: How to Become a Bookkeeping, Accounting, or Auditing Clerk

What Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks Do
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks produce financial records for organizations. They record financial transactions, update statements, and check financial records for accuracy.

Work Environment
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks work in offices, and may do site visits. About 1 in 4 worked part time in 2012.

How to Become a Bookkeeping, Accounting, or Auditing Clerk
Most bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks need a high school diploma, and they usually learn some of their skills on the job. They must have basic math and computer skills, including knowledge of spreadsheets and bookkeeping software.

Education
Most bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks need a high school diploma. However, some employers prefer candidates who have some postsecondary education, particularly coursework in accounting.

Training
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks usually get on-the-job training. Under the guidance of a supervisor or another experienced employee, new clerks learn how to do their tasks, including double-entry bookkeeping. (Double-entry bookkeeping means that each transaction is entered twice, once as a debit (cost) and once as a credit (income) to ensure that all accounts are balanced.)

Some formal classroom training also may be necessary, such as training in specialized computer software. This on-the-job training typically takes around 6 months.

Licenses, Certifications, and Registrations
Some bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks become certified. The Certified Bookkeeper (CB) designation, awarded by the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers, shows that people have the skills and knowledge needed to carry out all bookkeeping tasks, including overseeing payroll and balancing accounts, according to accepted accounting procedures.

For certification, candidates must have at least 2 years of full-time bookkeeping experience or equivalent part-time work, pass a four-part exam, and adhere to a code of ethics.

The National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers also offers certification. The Uniform Bookkeeper Certification Examination is an online test with 50 multiple-choice questions. Test takers must answer 80 percent of the questions correctly to pass the exam.

Advancement
With appropriate experience and education, some bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks may become accountants or auditors.

Important Qualities

Computer skills. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks need basic computer skills. They should be comfortable using spreadsheets and bookkeeping software.

Detail oriented. These clerks are responsible for producing accurate financial records. They must pay attention to detail to avoid making errors and to recognize errors that others have made.

Integrity. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks have control of an organization’s financial documentation, which they must use properly and keep confidential. It is vital that they keep records transparent and guard against misappropriating an organization’s funds.

Math skills. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks deal with numbers daily and should be comfortable with basic arithmetic.

Pay
The median annual wage for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks was $35,170 in May 2012.

Job Outlook
Employment of bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks is projected to grow 11 percent from 2012 to 2022, about as fast as the average for all occupations. As the number of organizations increases and financial regulations become stricter, there will be greater demand for these workers to maintain books and provide accounting services.