Well, traditionally, a bookkeeper has been trained how to enter various day to day transactions - keep the records straight - and although a bookkeeper may possess a related degree (usually a certificate or an assocaites), the bookkeeper does not necessarily have training to be an "accountant" - per se. Moreover, the bookkeeper can maintain most basic transactions such as Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Basic Inventory, Basic Payroll.A well-informed bookkeeper may maintain the books of a relatively simple entity quite effectively. But quite often this is not the case. More importantly, bookkeepers usually do not have the knowledge to deal with such things as Loans, Sophisticated Payroll, Inventory Valuations, Cost or Managerial Accounting, Taxes, Owners Equity and Capital Investments. And for small businesses, this sophistication may not be necessary, and we can provide this at competative prices with unbeatable quality. But if you intend to grow or as you grow, these things usually need to be addressed. We can help either way.

Practically, bookkeeping is done using such programs as Quickbooks, Peachtree, or MAS 90 or MAS 200 usually administered at one location.

An accountant, on the other hand, is considered a professional. This usually means under California Business & Professions Code someone with a minimum of a Bachelors in the related subject matter. Specifically, an accountant will have had univeristy training in the Generally Accepted Accounting Prinicples as applied in the United States and increasing now additional training in the International Financial Reporting Standards that are increasingly used around the world. Additionally, an accountant will usually have had extensive exposure to critical thinking, problem solving, computer systems applications, and general business knowledge such as economics, law, marketing, operations & mangement, human resources, and finance. All this usually was part of a curriculum to prepare the accountant for at a minimum accounting for a private entity if not to become an accountant at a Public Accounting Firm or eventually a CPA.

Practically, an accountant may use Quickbooks but more common is the use of such advanced systems like MAS 90 or MAS 200 or SAP or Oracle or a proprietary platform all linked to possibly multiple locations.