A day in the life of a Bookkeeper

What’s clear from running Purple Bookkeeping for the last five years is that no two days are ever the same.

To give you an insight into what it is I do for my clients, I’ve selected just one day of a random week so that you can see. I’m kept busy with a variety of clients from Caterers to Amazon Sellers and Therapists.   Client’s all use either Quick Books, Xeroor Free Agent accounting packages allowing me to develop a deep understanding of all.

Purple Bookkeeping is run from my home so it’s important to me that I’m up, dressed and have had a cuppa before I start the day.  Once the laptop is fired up and my dogs are settled, I always start by checking my emails and answering anything urgent that has come in overnight.

 

 

I have a client that sends me their receipts and invoices via email every day and these are auto-filed into a specific folder within my inbox so that they don’t cause a distraction popping up intermittently throughout the day.

 

Once the emails have all been dealt with, I spend the morning allocating bank transactions for Client A.  This involves logging into their online accounts package (Xero or Quickbooks) and going through each transaction to match to the correct category (nominal).  There will be a receipt or invoice to be attached to the transaction and the VAT checked.

Around lunchtime, the phone rings with an enquiry from a potential new client so we discuss their requirements.  I arrange a Zoom call with them for later in the week so that we can explore options and see if they require a full set up, training, catch up work or ongoing bookkeeping.

 

There have been some Agent Updates from HMRC in the last couple of days so I get up-to-date with these. It’s important that I spend time reading these and so that I can guide my clients on anything new that’s coming up.  For example, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax- MTDitsa is on it's way in April 2024 and there will be regular updates from now until the launch date.  It's important I am on top of these so I can advice my sole traders who will be the first to be involved.  

 

Whilst I’ve been reading, some more emails from clients have come in with various bits of information and queries so I go through and respond to those.  One of the common questions I get is about allowable expenses (see my Blog Post on this)   

Client B has some queries on their VAT Return which is due soon and as they purchase from all over the world, it takes me a while to double check everything and make sure I’m giving the correct answers.

I would estimate that I spend 75% of my time doing bookkeeping and then the other 25% is spent doing research, social media and keeping my CPD up to date.

Many people set up businesses but are often confused about the bookkeeping aspect of it so it’s great to know that the work I’m doing is helping ease the pressure.