Jacquie Johnston, a professional bookkeeper with more than 30 years of experience in the field shares her insights on the bookkeeping profession for those considering starting out in the industry. Jacquie is a vice-president of the Canadian Bookkeepers Association, a Simply Accounting Partner, QuickBooks Pro-Advisor and a member of the Program Advisory Committee for the Bookkeeping department at Ashton College.

Although in a similar line of work, bookkeepers and accountants aren’t quite the same profession. And while both can work in the private and public sectors (or be self employed) bookkeepers and accountants are different in the eyes of the Canadian government both in terms of their responsibilities and in how they are regulated.

Here are the main 5 differences between bookkeepers and accountants:

1. Education: Accountants go through a much longer and more extensive mandatory education: they need to have a university degree, as well as a few years of training and practice. Of course, bookkeepers also need to have achieved a certain level of education; however, it is less demanding in comparison. For bookkeepers, a college program or a combination of bookkeeping courses and work experience is sufficient
2. Relationship to business owners: Bookkeepers often work with small to medium-size businesses where they monitor accounts and prepare financial, statistical and accounting reports. Bookkeepers are also more likely to work closely with business owners, advising them and keeping them up-to-date with their day-to-day operation. Accountants, on the other hand, generally do not monitor the organization they are attached to as closely. They usually don’t get into the details of running the business, and are more likely to provide larger-scale analysis and take care of taxes. (Unless of course, we’re talking about an investment firm, in which case you’d have accountants on staff, and they will likely be the ones going over monthly financial statements).
3. Designation: Bookkeepers in Canada are not required to be certified through a regulatory body, and there is currently no unified legislation for bookkeepers. Although it is advisable for bookkeepers to be part of a regulatory body such as the CBA, it is not mandatory under Canadian law. This is different in accounting: it is a regulated industry and all accountants are required to be members of a professional body. Previously there were 3 different accounting regulatory bodies in Canada, but these are now consolidated under one umbrella; the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation in all Canadian jurisdictions with the exception of Ontario and the territories.
4. Legal ramifications: Since accountants have official legislation that governs what they do, they have to conform to certain performance standards, and can be severely reprimanded if they make mistakes. When it comes to bookkeeping, there are less legal ramifications for their work (unless you can prove that a bookkeeper’s actions caused you to lose a significant amount of money). That also means, however, that accountants have more legal protection than bookkeepers who are often left to their own devices.
5. Taxes: Personally,I do not believe that bookkeepers should not be doing taxes. Of course, bookkeepers can prepare the documents and forms for the tax returns, and they can certainly take their time to learn about filing taxes properly. However to be doing taxes, one should be continuously updating their knowledge – at least on a yearly basis. Bookkeepers typically do not do this.

As a bookkeeper with three decades of experience, I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for business owners to hire bookkeepers. Bookkeepers form the financial foundation of a business and as service providers, are an incredible aid to any Canadian business, be it an individual entrepreneur or a larger organization.