Become a Bookkeeper Who Specializes in Specializing

by Donna MacMillan

While your general bookkeeping education and experience can offer you the opportunity to reach into many types of business, specializing in one or more types of businesses or industries will allow you to work within areas that are of interest to you and perhaps are passionate about. Does the art world pique your interest? Would you like to feel like you are helping your favorite cause while also earning a living? Have you always had an interest in commercial or residential construction? And bookkeeping for a manufacturer, large or small, might be just right up your alley. Whatever industry, business, or service organization you can think of, there is a need for a bookkeeper. Each type of organization has unique reporting requirements, chart of accounts and bookkeeping functions. You as a specialist in whatever type of bookkeeping you choose is a rare and sought after asset.

So how do you get started in the bookkeeping specialist field? The first step is to discover your interest or passion. If money was not the goal, what would you choose to do with your life? In other words, what really tugs at your heart. It could be art, sports, building a dream home, inventing and taking to market a new product. Perhaps you would choose to help those less fortunate than you -- children, the elderly, the poor, the handicapped, the ill, animals -- the list is endless. Or perhaps your favorite cause is the environment. Maybe the politics is your calling. Choosing a bookkeeping career allows you entry into every type of organization in every part of the world. It is a wide open opportunity to follow your dreams. Very few careers offer such a vast choice of options.

Once you have identified the type of organization you would like to specialize in, then education and experience are the next steps. I am going to help you with the first step with a series of articles which will deal with the key issues for several types of organizations (see Bookkeeping for Non-Profits). As for experience, investigate every opportunity within your chosen specialty.

For example, if a non-profit is your choice, but the organization is not looking for an employee relationship at this time, perhaps you might decide to volunteer some of your services. This type of experience will not only bring you the good feelings of helping out your favorite charity but will also round out your resume. And don't overlook taking a non-bookkeeping position to get your foot in the door of a company or organization in which you would like to work.

I once knew a young woman who was interested in a particular company who took a job as their in-house airline reservationist while waiting for a position to open up in their bookkeeping department. It wasn't long before she was the assistant to the head of the bookkeeping department in this large company.

Temporary work allows you to try out many types of businesses while learning about their unique needs. And CPA's often contract out clients that need bookkeeping services. Find those in your area that specialize in the types of organizations that interest you. And finally read, read, read. At the library, online, in the financial pages of your newspapers, and wherever information published that pertains to your chosen specialty. The more informed you are the more valuable you become.

Donna MacMillan, certified QuickBooks consultant and president/founder of MacMillan Associates provides a unique set of services covering all aspects of successful business growth and financial health for all business types and sizes. Offering comprehensive, confidential, and professional services, MacMillan Associates can analyze, design or redesign your current systems to maximize productivity, cash flow and solidify your bottom line.