There are times when a bookkeeper and an accountant do the same work, which can lead to some confusion around the difference between the two professions.    A bookkeeper makes sure they document every purchase and transaction made by their clients or their business, while an accountant would supply clients with data-based financial insights, and is in charge of completing tax returns, preparing financial statements, as well as tax strategy and planning. An accountant may also be a bookkeeper at the same time, but not the other way around. Accountants require a degree or proper certification. Because of this extra qualification, we find many of our members have previously been massively overpaying for an accountant to do their bookkeeping when they would only require an outsourced bookkeeping service instead.