The Accounting Technician

Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping is the "bread and butter" part of the accounting process and is often undertaken by the Accounting Technician. Before accounts can be created there must be clear records that the information can be drawn from. This is achieved by businesses through keeping a structured set of "books" including a Cash Book, a Sales Book, a Purchases Book, a Debtors Ledger and a Creditors Ledger. In addition to keeping them for the accountant, tax law and company law both require the proper keeping of the financial records of the business. They can be subject to inspection and/or audit by (for example) the Revenue Commissioners, so it is always good business practice to keep your books up to date.

Other Roles of the Accounting Technician

The Accounting Technician is one of the key support roles in the financial and accounting sectors. They undertake a range of roles usually, though not always, while working for accounting firms or inside businesses. They are often found in accountants offices, where they play a direct support role to the accountant who will ultimately approve the accountants. They will undertake a lot of the financial preparation work, including bookkeeping. When employed in business the Accounting Technician may find themselves involved in an even wider range of functions. Certainly they will find themselves involved in bookkeeping, but there is also work in the areas of issuing and paying invoices, credit control, preparing ledger balances and preparing draft financial statements.

Incorporated Public Accounting Technicians can progress to becoming qualified Incorporated Public Accountants in a relatively short space of time (as little as two years). This combined with the very high level of demand for finance staff in Ireland at present, make it a great career choice.