Bookkeeping, Accounting, or Auditing Clerk
What Do Bookkeeping, Accounting, or Auditing Clerks Do?
Compute, classify, and record numerical data to keep financial records complete. Perform any combination of routine calculating, posting, and verifying duties to obtain primary financial data for use in maintaining accounting records. May also check the accuracy of figures, calculations, and postings pertaining to business transactions recorded by other workers.
Responsibilities
- Compare computer printouts to manually maintained journals to determine if they match.
- Prepare trial balances of books.
- Reconcile records of bank transactions.
- Calculate costs of materials, overhead, and other expenses, based on estimates, quotations, and price lists.
- Perform financial calculations, such as amounts due, interest charges, balances, discounts, equity, and principal.
- Match order forms with invoices, and record the necessary information.
Skills Needed
These are the skills Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks say are the most useful in their careers:
- Mathematics: Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Job Opportunities
In the United States, there were 1,730,500 jobs for Bookkeeping, Accounting, or Auditing Clerks in 2016. There is little to no growth in job opportunities for this role. Due to new job openings and attrition, there will be an average of 186,400 job openings in this field each year.
Salary Information
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks make between $25,260 and $61,650 a year. Those who work in District of Columbia, Alaska, or Connecticut earn the highest salaries.
Tools & Technologies
Although they’re not necessarily needed for all jobs, the following technologies are used by many Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft Access
- Word processing software
- SAP
- Spreadsheet software
- Google Docs
How to Become a Bookkeeping, Accounting, or Auditing Clerk
What education or degrees do I need to become a Bookkeeping, Accounting, or Auditing Clerk?
Who Employs Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks?
The table below shows some of the most common industries where those employed in this career field work.