Joining a professional association can open avenues for career growth.
Membership in a professional bookkeeping association communicates to clients, employers and potential employers that you're serious about your career. A bookkeeper often learns needed skills on the job, but without formal training, he may have knowledge gaps. Membership in a professional bookkeeping association provides advanced training and professional certifications. Preparing for a bookkeeping certification exam, a service offered by all the associations, has the added benefit of helping a bookkeeper add to his knowledge.
American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers
The American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers has 30,000 members and has been in business since 1987. The AIPB provides free assistance to members with accounting and payroll questions through the Member Answerline service, staffed by professionals. AIPB offers continuing education courses to members that cover subjects in accounting, payroll and finance. AIPB also offers discounts on services useful to a freelance bookkeeper, including FedEx shipping and professional liability insurance. Become a certified bookkeeper by taking a AIPB-designed national examination and meeting additional standards, including two years experience as a bookkeeper and signing a code of ethics.
National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers
The National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers exclusively supports the needs of bookkeepers who provide services to the public. The NACPB provides many standard bookkeeping-related forms and letters that you can customize for your own use. The NACPB has checklists for common bookkeeping tasks that you can use to increase your bookkeeping efficiency. Take the Uniform Certified Public Bookkeepers Examination online to become a NACPB Certified Public Bookkeeper (CPB). If you're a CPB, you can list yourself in the NACPB Directory. The NACPB markets this directory to the public using targeted marketing methods. The NACPB also offers licensing exams to become a certified payroll specialist and certified QuickBooks advisor.
National Bookkeepers Association
The National Bookkeepers Association represents, informs and supports bookkeepers throughout the U.S. The NBA offers training and practice for the Uniform Bookkeeper Certification Examination offered by the NACPB. This exam tests the bookkeeper's competency with 50 multiple-choice questions, according to NBA. The NBA also offers bookkeeper training at discounted rates. Guidebooks on subjects including bookkeeping, payroll and QuickBooks software are available at discounted rates. The NBA also offers payroll, Microsoft Excel and QuickBooks Certifications.
Tags: also offers, Certified Public, Certified Public Bookkeepers, Public Bookkeepers, accounting payroll
