What Do You Need to Study to Become a Bookkeeper?
Bookkeeping is a very good profession to consider if you are good with numbers. Bookkeepers are always in demand as small business owners rely on them for handling all of their accounts and balancing their books. You can earn a decent amount of money either by working as a full-time bookkeeper for a company or by offering your services as a freelance bookkeeper. However, before you can do that, you need to get the necessary certifications required for calling yourself a bookkeeper. So, what do you need to study in order to be considered eligible for a bookkeeping post? Let’s find out.
Certificate Course in Accounting
Bookkeepers in Australia need to at minimum hold a Diploma in Accounting or complete a course like the Certificate IV Accounting and Bookkeeping. The diploma, as well as the certificate course, needs to be completed from a TAFE (Technical and Further Education) institution. This is an essential requirement if you want to work as a bookkeeper. It is important to make sure that you include BAS and GST units in your Certificate IV course, particularly if you plan on helping businesses with tax processes. This is also going to help you a great deal when you are trying to get yourself registered as a BAS agent.
Relevant Work Experience
As in any other job, work experience is a crucial step in becoming employed as a bookkeeper. There are a lot of things that you can learn by actually working under a registered professional. This work experience is going to hold you in good stead when you begin applying for the post of a bookkeeper in the future. There are various ways of gaining work experience in the bookkeeping field. You can apply for an internship or become an assistant to a registered BAS agent. The experience you gain while working as an intern or assistant is going to be recognized when you apply for your registration as a BAS agent.
Applying to the Tax Practitioners Board
The Tax Practitioners Board is the body that oversees the registration of BAS agents in Australia. If you want to get yourself registered as a BAS agent, you need to apply to this body. The Tax Practitioners Board is going to review your application and if you meet all the necessary criteria, they will approve your application.
Shoebox Bookkeeping is an Australian online bookkeeping service provider. If you want to hire a bookkeeper to manage your business’s financials then feel free to contact us anytime.
