Bookkeeper
Bookkeepers record the day-to-day financial transactions of a business and keep the ledgers behind its accounts accurate and up to date.
- Median salary
- $72,800
4.1%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 91,800
0.7%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +5.9%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- High
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 41/wk
+1h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
Most bookkeepers work in a small accounting or bookkeeping practice, or in-house for one or two businesses, and plenty run their own practice with a handful of clients. The role is narrower than an accountant's: bookkeepers record and reconcile transactions, handle payroll entries and keep records ready for activity statements, while accountants prepare financial statements and tax returns and interpret what the numbers mean. Registered BAS agents can lodge activity statements on a client's behalf, which requires registration with the Tax Practitioners Board.
How much do bookkeepers earn?
The median full-time salary for a bookkeeper is $72,800 per annum, before tax, up $15,300 since 2018.
Pay depends heavily on whether you are employed or self-employed, because a bookkeeper running their own practice sets their own fees and carries the cost of software, insurance and hours that are never billed. Registration as a BAS agent widens the services you can charge for, and payroll-heavy work tends to pay more than basic data entry. Plenty of bookkeepers work part time, so annual earnings often reflect fewer hours rather than a lower rate.
What does a bookkeeper do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Coding transactions from bank feeds, supplier invoices and receipts into the ledger
- Reconciling bank, credit card and supplier statements, and tracking down the entries that don't line up
- Chasing clients for missing receipts and invoices as the activity statement deadline closes in
- Preparing activity statements and lodging them through the ATO where you are registered to do so
- Setting up accounts, payroll entries and reports in Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks and keeping them tidy
What skills do bookkeepers need?
Employers look for bookkeeping and ledgers, payroll processing, regulatory compliance, backed by Xero fluency and strong attention to detail.
Specialist skills
- Bookkeeping and ledgers
- Payroll processing
- Regulatory compliance
Software and tools
- Xero
- MYOB
- QuickBooks
- Excel
General skills
- Attention to detail
- Time and deadline management
- Client relationships and advisory
Is the job growing?
About 91,800 people work as bookkeepers in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 5.9% over the decade to 2035. That's modest growth: demand is steady rather than booming.
How do you become a bookkeeper?
Here's the path most bookkeepers take, step by step.
- 1Start with a Certificate IV in accounting and bookkeeping
This is the qualification most employers ask for and the one the Tax Practitioners Board requires for BAS agent registration. TAFE and private providers offer it, usually over six months to a year of full or part-time study, and some deliver it entirely online.
- 2Learn the software as you go
Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks are the tools of the trade, and the vendors run their own free certification courses. Being able to set up a chart of accounts and fix a mis-posted entry matters more to an employer than a long list of short courses.
- 3Register as a BAS agent if you want to lodge
Registration with the Tax Practitioners Board requires the Certificate IV, a period of relevant experience, a fee and ongoing continuing professional education. Without it you can prepare activity statements for a client but not lodge them.
- 4Build enough experience to work unsupervised
Two or three years with a bookkeeping or accounting firm, or as the accounts person in one business, is the usual way to see enough different sets of records to trust your own judgement. Some of that time can be part time, which suits the many people balancing the work with family or another job.
- 5Consider a diploma or your own client book
A diploma in accounting broadens the work you can take on, and once you have a few years behind you and BAS registration you can take on clients directly. That changes both your income and the amount of admin you carry.
Ready to apply as a bookkeeper?
Whether you're working toward becoming a bookkeeper or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a bookkeeper move to?
Moving into Accountant typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $31,400 a year more on average.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accountant Bookkeeping experience plus an accounting degree opens accountant roles, where ledger knowledge supports reporting and compliance.Known move | +$31,400 | 17% | requalify |
| Office Manager Someone in bookkeeping can move into office management, using financial and administrative oversight to run small business operations.Known move | +$17,200 | 24% | reskill |
| Payroll Officer Payroll work builds on bookkeeping's transaction accuracy and award knowledge, needing only familiarisation with payroll systems.Known move | +$10,700 | 85% | minimal |
| Accounts Officer Bookkeeping skills in ledgers, reconciliations and invoicing carry directly into accounts officer work with little extra training.Known move | +$2,200 | 62% | minimal |
| BAS Agent Registration as a bas agent lets bookkeepers provide business activity statement services, extending their compliance role. | +$0 | 42% | requalify |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a bookkeeper?
The typical bookkeeper is 52 years old; 89% are women, 40% work full-time, and full-timers average 41 hours a week.
- 52
- Median age
- 89%
- Female share
- 40%
- Full-time
- +1h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a bookkeeper?
Bookkeeping runs on a calendar: activity statement deadlines every quarter, month-end reconciliations and payroll each pay cycle, with quieter stretches in between. Most of the work is solitary and screen-based, so it suits someone who enjoys turning a mess into order and can keep asking a client for the same missing receipt. The hours can often be arranged around school pick-up or another job, though the deadlines themselves don't move.
What people like
- Finding the entry that didn't line up. A reconciliation can look hopeless for an hour, and then one wrong figure explains everything. That moment is the quiet reward of the job.
- Seeing a business's numbers from the inside. Bookkeeping sits close enough to the transactions that you learn how a trade or a shop actually makes money, which is useful if you later run your own practice.
- Clients who hand you the mess. You often meet a business's records at their worst and give them back in a state the owner can use, which builds a relationship that goes well beyond data entry.
- Hours that fit around other commitments. A bookkeeper can often work a set two or three days a week, or from home, in a way that is harder to arrange in accounting roles at the same level.
What people find hard
- Quarterly deadlines bunch up. Activity statement due dates fall in the same weeks for most clients, so the days before a deadline are long while the rest of the quarter is much quieter.
- Chasing people for paperwork. Missing receipts and unanswered emails are a routine part of the job, and the delay is rarely something you control.
- Cleaning up years of bad records. New clients often arrive with a backlog, and unpicking it is slow, low-satisfaction work that has to be finished before anything else can move.
- Routine entry still takes time. Even with bank feeds and software rules doing much of the sorting, plenty of transactions still need a person to check and correct them.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ bookkeepers?
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services employs the largest share of bookkeepers, followed by Construction.
Top employing industries
- 1Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
- 2Construction
- 3Education and Training
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Year 12 or below | 31.4% | |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor degree | 19.9% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 18.8% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 17.3% | |
| Postgraduate | 7.1% |
Will AI replace bookkeepers?
Bookkeeping has high exposure to automation because the core of the job, entering and categorising transactions, is exactly what bank feed rules and machine learning handle well. Xero and MYOB now read a receipt or a bank line and suggest the account, and matching a statement is largely automatic. What still needs a person is judging unusual transactions, interpreting awards for payroll, and being answerable for what is lodged with the ATO.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Coding transactions from bank feedsSoftware suggests a category for most bank lines and learns from past corrections, so the work is increasingly reviewing and fixing rather than typing.35%high
- Reconciling bank and credit card accountsMatching tools clear the routine items and leave the stragglers, which need a phone call or a search through the client's records.25%moderate
- Running payrollPayroll software calculates the figures, but award conditions, allowances and a new starter's setup still need someone who knows what to check.20%moderate
- Preparing and lodging activity statementsWorking out the GST treatment of a mixed supply and signing off a lodgement that carries your BAS agent registration stays with the bookkeeper.20%low
Common questions about becoming a bookkeeper
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do bookkeepers earn?
$72,800 per annum, before tax, is the median for full-time bookkeepers. Treat it as a guide, because pay moves with whether you are employed or running your own client book, whether you are a registered BAS agent, and how much of the work is payroll rather than basic entry.
How do you become a bookkeeper?
Most people start with a Certificate IV in accounting and bookkeeping (FNS40222), then learn Xero or MYOB in an entry-level role. You can work as a bookkeeper without the certificate, but it is what employers ask for and what you need later if you want to register as a BAS agent.
Are bookkeepers in demand?
Bookkeepers are currently not in shortage. Employment is projected to grow 5.9% over the decade to 2035, which means the total number of roles is expected to be higher in 2035 than it is today. Small businesses will keep needing their records kept, but more of the work is reviewing what software produces rather than entering it.
Will AI replace bookkeepers?
It has already taken over much of the data entry. Bank feeds, receipt scanning and reconciliation matching are standard in Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks, so fewer hours go on coding and more on checking, payroll and explaining the numbers to a client. Work that carries a compliance obligation, such as lodging an activity statement as a registered BAS agent, still needs a person to sign it off.
What can a bookkeeper move into?
The nearest move is to payroll officer, where transaction accuracy and award knowledge carry across with little retraining and pay is around $10,700 more. Accounts officer uses the same reconciliation and invoicing skills, at $2,200 more. Registering as a BAS agent lets you lodge activity statements for clients, and many bookkeepers go on to build a client book of their own, which is often where earnings grow.
Do I need a degree to be a bookkeeper?
No. A degree is not required to work as a bookkeeper or to register as a BAS agent. Of the bookkeepers working today, 31% have Year 12 or below as their highest qualification, which shows how many people enter through vocational study or on the job rather than university.
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