Bookkeeper and CPA: two roles, one set of books
Updated 16 October 2026
A bookkeeper records and reconciles the business's transactions every month. A CPA, or Certified Public Accountant, is licensed by a state board after passing the CPA exam and can perform audits and reviews of financial statements. The two roles work on the same records at different points in the year. Most growing businesses use both, and the bookkeeper keeps the books current every month. This page sets out what each one does, how they hand work to each other, and what the owner gives each of them.
What a bookkeeper does
A bookkeeper enters or imports every transaction, assigns it to an account, and reconciles each bank, card and loan account to its statement. The bookkeeper tracks what customers owe and what the business owes, records payroll from the payroll provider's reports, and closes the month by a set date. The output is a balance sheet and a profit and loss statement that tie to the bank. No state license is required to work as a bookkeeper. Averan Advisors provides this work, along with controller review and fractional CFO work on top of it.
A business has one operating account, one payroll account and one credit card, with about 420 transactions a month across them. The bookkeeper imports the feeds, codes each transaction, matches the three statement balances, and records payroll from the provider's report. By the 10th of the following month, the owner receives a balance sheet and profit and loss statement in which all three accounts agree with their statements. The figures are an illustration.
What a CPA does
A CPA works from the closed books. The CPA advises on entity structure and planning. Only a licensed CPA firm can audit or review financial statements and sign the report a lender or investor relies on. CPA fees are recorded in the books like any other professional service, usually in a professional fees account.
Mathnasium's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), the document a franchisor gives a buyer before a sale, includes a profit and loss table for 914 centers. The average Mathnasium center records $2,942 of professional fees, 0.8% of its $384,874 of sales, or about $245 a month. The median Mathnasium center records $1,297. A Mathnasium owner's accounting and legal bills would fall in a line like this one.
The two roles side by side
| Item | Bookkeeper | CPA |
|---|---|---|
| License | None required | State license after passing the CPA exam |
| Main work | Recording, reconciling and closing each month | Planning, audits and reviews |
| Frequency | Every week or month | At planning points in the year |
| Before the IRS | Supplies records | Represents the business |
| Signs a report on the statements | No | Yes, for audits and reviews |
The table shows two different jobs. The bookkeeper's work is the input, and the CPA's work is built on it. A CPA who receives unreconciled books spends billed hours fixing them.
In January the bookkeeper closes December and sends the CPA one package: the year's balance sheet and profit and loss statement, the 12 bank and card reconciliations, a fixed asset list with the year's purchases, a loan schedule, payroll totals, and a list of payments to contractors. The CPA works from the package. Questions go back to the bookkeeper, who answers from the ledger. The figures are an illustration.
How the work moves through a year
The bookkeeper closes each month and sends the owner the statements. During the year, the owner sends the CPA the year-to-date profit. Midyear, the owner and the CPA may meet about planning, such as an equipment purchase or a change of entity, using the books' year-to-date figures. After December closes, the bookkeeper sends the year-end package to the CPA. When the books are current all year, each of those steps uses a closed month.
In July an owner plans to buy a $60,000 vehicle. The bookkeeper's June close shows $180,000 of profit for the first half of the year. The owner sends the figure to the CPA, who advises on the timing and the tax treatment of the purchase. The bookkeeper records the vehicle as an asset when it is bought and adds it to the fixed asset list for the year-end package. The figures are an illustration.
What this means for an owner
The bookkeeper records, reconciles and closes the books each month. The CPA holds a state license and performs audits and reviews. The CPA's work starts from the bookkeeper's closed months. A year-end package of statements, reconciliations and schedules is the handoff between the two. Averan Advisors keeps the books, closes each month and prepares the year-end package.
Bookkeeping at Averan
Averan Advisors keeps the books, closes each month on a fixed date and prepares a year-end package of statements, reconciliations and schedules. The bookkeeping service page describes the monthly work. The article on bookkeeper, controller or CFO covers the roles above the bookkeeper.
The monthly close page explains what closing the books on a set date each month involves.
If you want this done for you
What happens next
Reading about it and having it done are different things. Here is exactly what happens if you want the second one.
- The call takes thirty minutesYou describe the business and where the numbers are letting you down. We give you an expert view of your situation, and what we would start with. There is no pitch deck.
- We look at the fileYou give us read access to the books as they are. We come back with what is wrong, what it will take to fix, and whether the answer is bookkeeping, controller work, or something else.
- We send a written scope and a priceIt lists what we do each month, what you get, the date it lands and the fee. We agree it before anything starts, and it does not change unless you agree.
- We take over the books and close the first monthWe set up access and systems and enter the opening balances. The first close lands on the date in the scope, and every one after it does too.