Accounting



What is the difference in salaries between a bookkeeper and an accountant?

I  estimate that a bookkeeper’s salary will be less than half of an accountant’s salary. For example, an accountant with a year or two of experience might earn $60,000 per year while a bookkeeper will earn less than $30,000 per year. More experienced accountants will be able to earn higher salaries but bookkeepers will not see significant salary increases. Some explanations for the salary differences are listed below.

Generally, a bookkeeper’s formal education will be less than a four-year college degree. Accountants generally have a 120 or 150 credit college degree including at least 30 credits of accounting courses plus 30 credits of other business courses.

A bookkeeper is likely to be employed at a smaller company or organization and will process a large volume of routine transactions. An accountant is likely to be employed at a larger company and will be able to delegate the processing of the high-volume routine transactions to accounting clerks. In turn, the accountant will deal with more complicated transactions, will review the financial statements, and will assist management in the planning and control of the organization.

Learn more about bookkeepers, accountants, and accounting clerks on our Accounting Career Center.

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About the Author: Harold Averkamp (CPA) has worked as an accountant, consultant, and university accounting instructor for more than 25 years.

He is the author of the 2010 Master Accounting Download Package which has been praised for it's ability to simplify accounting in a way that anybody can understand.




Comments

14 Responses to “What is the difference in salaries between a bookkeeper and an accountant?”

  1. john Asamoah on July 24th, 2009 3:15 am

    please i like to do the accounting course but a’m not all that good in maths ,please can i do it ?and how?
    thank you
    john

  2. ana on July 25th, 2009 2:22 am

    i think as an accounting student…it doesn’t need for you to be good in math in order for you to enroll in an accounting course.
    all you have to do is to think if you are capable in analyzing business transactions.
    if so, then there is no problem.

  3. jack on July 27th, 2009 1:15 am

    im a student of dyci in bocaue bulacan im a accounting its hard for me to understand the accounting process

  4. Tshewang Penjor on July 30th, 2009 11:08 pm

    I have no proper educational background but presently my profession is accountant. I have no training certificates and am interested to study cost accountancy and other advance accountancy courses and earn certificates. What course should I take and from where?
    Please let me know soon.

  5. mahamud mahamed on August 5th, 2009 12:10 am

    please work aut one problem about bank reconcilaion as examle

  6. kate on August 7th, 2009 4:52 am

    Am an Accounting student but am having problems to understand the transactions and posting general altough i know the principles of for EVERY DEBIT ENTRY THERE MUST BE A CORRESPONDING CREDIT ENTRY and vise versa……..but i still donot get it up till now and am in my year two in the university.please help on what to do and am looking forward for Cost Accounting to Study properly to become a real Chartered Acountant.reply the message.thanks

  7. kate on August 7th, 2009 4:55 am

    please how can i get Accounting Software.

  8. ACoach on August 7th, 2009 6:04 am

    On AccountingCoach.com will have a listing of free accounting software:
    http://www.accountingcoach.com/software/

  9. ACoach on August 7th, 2009 6:07 am

    To master the debits and credits see the free Explanations and Drills on AccountingCoach.com. There is one topic Debits and Credits, and another topic Accounting Equation.

  10. Diane on August 7th, 2009 10:11 am

    I am a Bookkeeper in the Baltimore, MD metro area. My annual salary is $42,000. According to Salary.com this is average pay. Salary.com also lists an accountant’s pay at $70,000. Your figures are WAY off.

  11. Romanita on August 7th, 2009 3:43 pm

    Thinking about going to school for accounting, I’m wonding is anyway that
    i can get job, in at least bookkeeping with out degree.

  12. lneeka on December 15th, 2009 7:18 pm

    An someone please explain to me How do you record the transaction of a LLC proprietor/business owner whe he withdraws money several times in a month from his checking account? I also do understand that his business toal profit will be taxed in the form Schedule C.
    Thanks

  13. Janet on December 30th, 2009 7:14 pm

    What degree do you need in order to be a Director so SOX?

  14. Frank on September 8th, 2010 6:19 am

    Accountant Salary: $40,000 (average salary)
    http://www.whatsalary.com/us/salary/ACCOUNTANT-T32.htm
    20,000 Salaries registered for this job.

    Accountant Jobs:
    http://www.whatsalary.com/us/jobs/ACCOUNTANT-T32.htm

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