Bookkeeping is the process of recording every financial transaction a business makes — every sale, purchase, payment, and receipt. It is the foundation that all accounting and financial reporting is built upon.
A bookkeeper tracks debits and credits, maintains ledgers, reconciles bank statements, and ensures records are accurate and up-to-date. Modern bookkeeping is mostly done using software like QuickBooks, Xero, or FreshBooks.
While bookkeeping and accounting are often confused, bookkeeping is about recording transactions, while accounting involves interpreting, classifying, analyzing, and reporting that data.