Has your business grown to the point where it’s too much for you to handle your own finances? If this is the case, you must be wondering if it would be better to hire a bookkeeper or an accountant. Gaining a better understanding of both professions will help paint a better picture of who you should hire. Both positions will be responsible with managing your finances, but each one will contribute differently to the company’s accounting objectives.

Bookkeeping is more of the administrative role of the company’s accounting process but is still a key component. Daily tasks include collecting and sorting, through the receipts and invoices then inputting the required data into the general journal. The bookkeeper would have to maintain the general ledger on a constant basis and monitor the ongoing finances of the business. Additional responsibilities for the bookkeeper are but not limited to;

Recording Transactions
Processing Invoices, Receipts, Payments
Processing and Maintaining Payroll System
Reconciling Accounts and Preparing Reconciliation Reports
Managing Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable
Calculating HST
Preparing and Lodging BAS
Tax Preparation

Bookkeeping is only half of the accounting process. An accountant helps business owners make better financial decisions. The accountant has a more of an analytical position and will create reports based on past financials performances. These reports are generated from the financial reports that the bookkeeper has created during a specific time. Their accounting certification (CPA, CGA, CMA, CA) and strong financial background makes them best suited to provide feedback and advice for the company’s future objectives. Other responsibilities of the accountant are but not limited to;

Financial Projections
Future Financial Elements
Preparing Adjusting Entries
Preparing Company Financial Statements
Analyzing Costs of Operations
Auditing
Business Establishment Assistance
Financial Management Advice
Taxation Advice and Planning

Last month I wrote about how now is the time to perform some Spring Cleaning on your Dynamics GP system.  With that in mind, I want to highlight the Accounts Receivable Paid Transaction Removal feature, which helps speed up Dynamics GP performance.

This feature is often overlooked as firms do not want to lose historical data.  However, the utility only removes receivables transactions for companies that do not maintain receivables history.  By performing this function, transactions that are fully applied are moved to history, greatly reducing the number of transactions that are reviewed when aging documents or performing other routines.  This greatly improves the performance of Dynamics GP.

Once this process is run for a document, it can no longer have transactions performed against it.  For example, one cannot NSF a removed cheque.  Therefore, it is recommended that companies run this utility for a date at least 90 days prior to the current date.

To access the Paid Transaction Removal, select Sales > Routines > Paid Transaction Removal.

Adam MacIntosh is a Senior Project Manager at WebSan Solutions Inc, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner offering implementation & support services for large & small firms in a variety of industries.