Apprenticeships and Traineeships

Bookkeeping Traineeship Spotlight

Do you love working with numbers, solving problems, and helping people grow their businesses? You might like a career as a bookkeeper – and one of the best ways to get qualified is by completing a bookkeeping traineeship.

What is a career in bookkeeping?

As a bookkeeper, you’ll be working as part of a team of accountants and other financial professionals. You’ll be supporting customers and clients by doing tasks such as reconciling bank and pay accounts, monitoring cash flow, helping to prepare financial statements and invoices, and keeping thorough records of a client’s financial activities.

If you’ve been working as a bookkeeper for a while and enjoy it, your skills and knowledge are a great pathway to becoming an accountant or financial manager as well.

What skills do I need for a career in bookkeeping?

You’ll need to have good maths skills, as well as being a great communicator and problem solver. If you like indoors work, you’ll be suited to a career as a bookkeeper.

Why should I consider a bookkeeping traineeship?

Traineeships are a great way to get your foot in the door with an employer and start building valuable skills. There are often lots of opportunities to continue working with your employer after your traineeship is complete, and even advance your career down the track.

As part of a bookkeeping traineeship, you will be doing real work for an employer while completing study with a TAFE or RTO. A bookkeeping traineeship can take anywhere between 1-2 years to complete, depending on whether you work and study full- or part-time.

Here are some common qualifications you might want to look into:

• Certificate III in Accounts Administration
• Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping
• Diploma of Accounting

There are tons of benefits to an traineeship, rather than just work or study alone, including:

• Getting paid while you learn – unlike uni, you can work and study without having to take on an insane work load.
• The opportunity to get hands-on experience, not just endless reading.
• The potential to connect with an employer and continue working with them after your traineeship is finished.
• Your qualification will be nationally recognised, meaning you can go anywhere with it.

 Where can I find traineeship opportunities?

Just like searching for a job, there are lots of places you can go to find a traineeship. You can start your search on sites like SEEK and Indeed. Take a look on social media like Facebook or LinkedIn to see if any local businesses are hiring. Sign up with an Apprenticeship Network Provider or Group Training Organisation, or even go old fashioned and take a look in the local paper or give local businesses a call.