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(Accounts Clerk, Accounting Technician, Accounts Assistant, Book-keeping Clerk)
Business & Finance
Salary
€28,000 - €48,000/yr
Level
Operational
Outlook
Stable
Sector
Business & Finance
As a Bookkeeper you record and maintain the day-to-day financial transactions of a business, including sales, purchases, payments and receipts. You keep accurate entries in ledgers and accounting software, reconcile accounts and prepare trial balances so that accountants can produce final financial statements. You may also process payroll, handle VAT returns and ensure the business meets its statutory obligations to Revenue. Bookkeepers work closely with accountants, business owners and office managers, typically within SMEs, accountancy practices or voluntary organisations.
Listen: a day as a Bookkeeper
You arrive at the offices of a small accountancy practice in Mullingar at half eight on a Tuesday morning. You make a coffee, open Sage 50 Accounts and check the email inbox shared with two colleagues. Three clients have forwarded scanned receipts and bank statements overnight, so you download them and begin entering the transactions before the phones get busy. By nine o'clock you are posting purchase invoices for one of your retail clients — a hardware shop in the midlands. You match each invoice against the delivery dockets the client photographed on their phone, coding each line to the correct expense category such as cost of goods or utilities. It is methodical work, and a single digit entered incorrectly can throw the accounts off, so you go slowly and check as you go.
A Leaving Certificate with subjects such as Accounting, Business and Maths provides a strong foundation for this career. The most common route into bookkeeping in Ireland is a QQI Level 5 Certificate in Accounting and Bookkeeping or a QQI Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Accounting, available through PLC courses at Colleges of Further Education and ETBs nationwide. Accounting Technicians Ireland (ATI) also offers its own Accounting Technician qualification, which is widely recognised by employers and sits at NFQ Level 6. Some bookkeepers enter the field through on-the-job training in an office or SME and then complete professional qualifications part-time. No statutory registration body is required for bookkeeping, though membership of Accounting Technicians Ireland or the Irish Bookkeepers Association enhances professional credibility.
Most bookkeepers begin in an accounts assistant or accounts clerk role within an SME or accountancy practice, often after completing a QQI Level 5 or Level 6 qualification. With experience and further study, such as the Accounting Technicians Ireland qualification or a part-time Level 7 or Level 8 degree in accounting, you can progress to senior bookkeeper or accounts supervisor. Some bookkeepers go on to establish their own self-employed bookkeeping practice, working with multiple SME clients. Further progression typically leads into management accounting or qualifying as a Chartered Accountant through bodies such as Chartered Accountants Ireland or CPA Ireland.
AI-powered accounting software is automating routine data entry, bank reconciliation and invoice matching, which were traditionally core bookkeeping tasks. This means bookkeepers are expected to shift towards reviewing, interpreting and quality-checking AI-generated outputs rather than entering every transaction manually. Skills in using and troubleshooting cloud accounting platforms are becoming more valuable than pure data-entry speed. Bookkeepers who develop advisory skills — helping clients understand their financial position — are likely to remain highly relevant as automation handles more of the transactional workload.
→ Bookkeeper (Current role)
2 year • Business & Economics
Bachelor4 year • Business & Economics
FET1 year • Business & Economics
Bachelor4 year • Business & Economics
FET1 year • Business & Economics
FET1 year • Business & Economics
Organisations in Ireland that employ people in this occupation.
Dublin City Centre
Places bookkeepers with Irish SMEs and multinational clients nationwide
Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway
Recruits bookkeepers for finance roles across Irish businesses
Dublin, Cork, Limerick
Bookkeepers maintain ledgers and VAT records for SME clients
Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway
Bookkeeping staff support outsourced finance functions for business clients
Dublin, Limerick, Nationwide
Bookkeeping and financial record roles within public sector finance teams
Belfast and Dublin
In-house bookkeepers handle accounts payable, receivable and reconciliations
Cork, Dublin, Nationwide
Bookkeepers record daily financial transactions across retail and wholesale divisions
Nationwide
Bookkeepers maintain financial records across hospitals and health offices
Tallaght, Dublin; Nationwide
Bookkeepers process purchases, payments and reconcile accounts centrally
Dublin, Cork, Galway, Nationwide
Finance operations teams include bookkeeping and transactional accounting roles
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