What is the difference between bookkeeping and accounting?

Though bookkeepers and accountants are both responsible for numbers, they each have distinctly different tasks. Bookkeepers manage mostly the profit and loss, while an accountant manages the balance sheet.

Bookkeeping Responsibilities 

• Maintaining a record of financial transactions
• Generating financial statements
• Reviewing business numbers and checking for inaccuracies
• Categorizing expenses and spending 
• Balancing your books 
• Data entry 
• Weekly, monthly or quarterly financial repots 
• Various other number crunching/financial assistance 

Accounting Responsibilities

• Preparing tax returns and accounts and ensuring all paperwork is turned in on time 
• Analyzing financial data
• Tax planning advice 
• Ensuring that financial documents are compliant with laws and regulations
• Maximizing tax refunds

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