Job Responsibilities
Making sure all invoices are paid which takes about 2 hours per
day is very important. Entering all purchase orders correctly
and making sure the journal number is correct takes the majority
of my 7.5 hour per day job. Certain items qualify as a fixed
asset and making sure the journal number is correct is very
important. Checking off all items from the invoice to the
purchase order is important because items have to be received
before payment is made. This job takes approximately 3 hours.
Book orders must be marked off and checked correctly, which is
the most time consuming job I have taking about 4 hours. Making
sure all items do not have sales tax is very important as well,
because working for a non-profit organization like education,
you do not pay taxes. This just requires looking on each
invoice to see if taxes have been added.
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Job Requirements
It is very hard to get hired as a bookkeeper in the central
office of the county board of education, because most people
that get a job keep it until they retire, which is usually
within 25 years. The requirement for retiring is 20 years. One
must have at least two years experience in school bookkeeping to
get a job in my position. Having school bookkeeping knowledge
is the most important requiremnet of all. Also having some
college in accounting is important whem applying for this type
of position.
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Uppers
My work hours and time off are the best features of my job. I work from 8:00
a.m until 4:30 P.M I have 10 vacation days per year and five personal days per
year. I earn one sick leave day per month and can save up to 282 days which can
be cashed in when I retire. I get vested in my first ten years of work which
means my money I have put into retirement can be frozen if I should quit ane will
earn interest as well. I get a week off in the spring and a week off in the fall
paid. I also get two weeks off from approximately December 18 until January 5. I
also get off on all other important holidays. I get off from Wednesday until
Monday at Thanksgiving. So you see, the time off with pay and the retirement
benefits are the best.
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Downers
The worst part of my job is working with a lot of people who
seem to know everything about you. A lot of the people gossip
and this is very bad because you can get hurt very easily. The
gossip can get back to the bosses and normally will get you into
trouble. This type of organization has a tendency to spread
rumors greatly and mostly the wrong things are spread about a
person. A lot of people also tend to get away with things like
being late while others get called in for anything they do.
It's who you know and not what you know in this type of
business. It is very political.
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Lifestyle
The work hours are normally 7.5 hours per day and 37.5 hours per week. The
dress code is very simple. One must wear anything that is neat and nice, but no
jeans. Only on Friday when our college is having a game, can we wear jeans.
There is no travel required in this job. One must only drive to and from work.
We have no social events except at Christmas. Our administrators give us a
brunch and let us leave at 11:00 to start our two weeks off for Christmas.
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Compensation
The pay is not very good and we do not get any bonuses. We have
a step ladder that ranges from 0 years to 9 years. A person
will get a raise each year until they reach 9 years and then the
only raises one gets is if the state passes a raise for teachers
which we also get a raise as well. So most people work for the
board of education for the benefits and not the money. A person
starting out in bookkeeping with 0 years experience will make
about $22,000.00 per year and then with every step on the ladder
one will earn about $150.00 more per year until they reach the
last year on the step ladder.
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Advice to Jobseekers
Like I said before, it is very hard to get hired for this
position, because most people keep their jobs until they retire,
but it's mostly who you know more than what your know, but
having experience in school bookkeeping will be the most
helpful. I know this job will last as long as kids go to
school, because the bills have to be paid for the schools so
that they can keep operating. Knowing all you can know about
school bookkeeping will be very helpful, but just getting into
the system even as a secretary will help get a person hired as a
bookkeeper. This will give one experience in the workings of
the school system and help them get a job as a bookkeeper. The
best advise I ever received was to forget everything I knew
about bookkeeping and learn all you can about school
bookkeeping, because it is like no other bookkeeping you have
ever known.
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