A BOOK-KEEPER

• Records all the information regarding the transactions and financial activities of the business
• Controls the sales and purchase ledgers
• Prepares VAT returns
• Manages credit control
• Prepares bank reconciliations
• Files all source documents
• Corrects errors
• Prepares accounts to trial balance - a complete list of accounts with up-to-date balances for the accountant to produce the end-of-year financial reports
• Closes the year-end accounts making any adjustments necessary
• Revises updates and improves; forms, administration procedures and accounting methods
• Installs and sets-up accounting applications

AN ACCOUNTANT

• Decides how the book-keeping is managed
• Makes the decisions before and after the book-keeping process
• Prepares financial accounts and reports based on the book- keeping information, for example; profit and loss statement, balance sheet, tax returns, etc
• Measures the profitability of the business
• Advises on how to maximise profit based on the sales and revenue expense of the company
• Establishes what accounts are needed to accurately record the performance of the business