Bookkeeper vs. Accountant?

Posted on March 28th, 2008, by Meggin McIntosh

Question:

What is the difference between a book keeper and an accountant? I know that Heather (of Champion Assistants) is going to help me set up Quickbooks properly and begin the process of entering the financial information, teaching me things along the way. So, besides the tax form filing for the yearly taxes, what am I asking of the accountant?

Posted by Kelly J. Eveleth | 3/28/08

Answer:

An accountant has a degree in accounting (4 year) and may or may not be a CPA. My regular accountant who does our taxes is a CPA. The woman who does my bookkeeping is an accountant, but not a CPA…Heather will be able to do all your QuickBooks Pro but isn’t an accountant…and lots of people have folks without any kind of accounting degree do their taxes…so it depends on what you want in your “corner.” If I were ever audited, which I hope I’m not….I would be glad I had a CPA who had done my taxes….

Great question, because it’s not always clear…hope this answer is useful. Others can comment about what they are doing, too.

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