The role of today’s bookkeeper often extends well beyond simply managing a business’s books. In fact, as one practitioner of the art put it, the bookkeeper of the 21st century is more akin to a conductor.

“…we are really coordinating the information, and integrating systems, and discussing processes more than we’re actually doing what traditionally we’ve heard of with bookkeeping, which is a lot more of the data entry side of things” said Carla Caldwell, founder and CEO of Caldwell Consulting & Training.

Cash flow management & Profit are big things & are the basic things related to business. Going well beyond just ‘having data to enter & reports to publish’, Bookkeeping is an integral tool of the business model, and the business partnership.

It’s not just about telling clients the numbers. The one thing that computers & technology can’t do is communicate a story. Bookkeepers must genuinely understand their clients’ industries, their clients’ financials, and their clients goals in order to tell their clients a story. A story about themselves and about their business operations.