Bookkeeper 

(Female, Age 36) from West Seneca, NY

This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 36 who works as a Bookkeeper in West Seneca, NY. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.

At a Glance

Current Job

Basic data on your current job

Job Title Bookkeeper
Salary $36,000
Other Compensation None Set
Hours/Week 27
Company Size (not answered)
Location West Seneca, NY
Years Experience 4 years

Career Ratings

Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)

Years in Career 0
Education (not answered)
Income Rating 0 / 10
Interest Rating 0 / 10
Work-Life Rating 0 / 10
Fulfilment Rating 0 / 10

Current job Q&A

Describe the type of organization you work for.
I work on a Private Estate. Approximately 10-12 Employees.

Describe your job role and responsibilities.
Keeping the books and reords, paying bills, payroll, banking

Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
Simple IRA

Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
Well

Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
Yes, although very minimally. I mainly work alone in my office. I do interact with my boss and his assistant from time to time nad review expenses with the housekeepers and grounds crew.

Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes

Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes

Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
With the housekeeper and grounds crew to review weekly expenses from the cash drawers and credit cards.

Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 2
Benefits: 5
Hours: 1
Co-Workers: 4
Supervisors: 3
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 7
The Actual Work: 6

A day in the life of…

Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:

5am to 6am
6am to 7am
7am to 8am N/A
8am to 9am Print and distribute timesheets for the week. Review and organize mail received from the past day or few days off. Sort through various invoices and material needed to be filed.
9am to 10am Discuss payroll issues with new employee and gather required information. Continue sorting and reviewing invoices. Begin entering them into Quickbooks.
10am to 11am Break- 15 min. Enter remaining invoices to be paid into quickbooks. Count petty cash and get checks ready to be taken to the bank to replenish petty cash. Leave to pick up lunch for boss and houseguest.
11am to 12pm Pick up lunch for boss and houseguest. Drop it off at the house. Go to bank to cahs checks. Go to post office to pick up mail from PO box. Sort mail at post office discarding unnessary items. Drive back to office and distribute mail accordingly.
12pm to 1pm Lunch
1pm to 2pm Gather timesheets and make any necessary changes in the system. Cconvert time clock hours for the week. Discuss changes with 2 employees. Enter timecard information into payroll service website. Begin entering bills received in today’s mail.
2pm to 3pm Continue entering bills from today’s mail. Investigate bill that was received and paid in August. Made phone call to company and had to leave message. Investigated another bill received for an item that was returned 2 weeks ago. Called company and they are to issue a credit. Begin preparing monthly reports for October 2007.
3pm to 4pm Break- 15 minutes. Match credit card receipts with credit card to be paid (this takes quite a while as there are a ton of purchases each month) and enter them into Quickbooks.
4pm to 5pm Continue from above. Generate reports for the weeks bills to be paid. Gather them up. Left a few minutes early for an unepected trip to the bank to make a necessary deposit.
5pm to 6pm N/A
6pm to 7pm N/A
7pm to 8pm N/A
8pm to 9pm N/A
9pm to 10pm N/A
10pm to 11pm N/A
11pm to 12am N/A

Table of Contents

How you got your job

How did you get your current job?
Referral through a friend at another accounting firm (head hunter).

What was the application process?
Submitted resume to friend

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
Yes. One interview at the home where I was to work. Interviewed with my boss’ wife and personal assistant. No need to interview with the head hunter as it was a friend.

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
I really don’t remember. No a lengthy interview.

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
No- No need as I was already trained in the area of bookkeeping

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
No training

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes- took bookkeeping as an intro course for my degree

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
N/A

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
Its probably not likely as I work in a private home and I had to know someone to work here.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
You definately need technical skills (bookkeeping). I definately am overqualified for my job, as I am a CPA, but I am a mom who mainly wants to be at home with her kids. I waited almost two years for this job to come about while I waited tables to be at home with my daughter. So, I guess I should say,know what you want and be patient looking for it.

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
Yes

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Always try and anticipate what wll come next and plan accordingly. Develop tools such as self generated reports and spreadsheets to assist you.

Long-term career plans

Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
Not really. I started back to school to become a nurse and plan on completing it once my children are a little older.

What are your current career goals?
To become an RN in the Labor and Delivery unit of a hospital

Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
No

Prior work history

Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:

Title Length Salary Description
Prior Job 1 Server 1.5 years minimum + tips Waited Tables, bartender
Prior Job 2 Senior Accountant 4 yrs 43000 Senior accountant in the audit department. Performed audits, compilation and reviews as well as tax return for small to medium sized companies.

Educational background

Please list your educational background:

High School GPA:92

GPA School Degree
College (Undergraduate)
or Technical/Vocational
3.3 Canisius College BS Accounting
Graduate or Professional
(Masters or Doctorate)

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