What is the difference between an accounts assistant and a bookkeeper?

The titles overlap significantly and definitions vary by business and region. Generally, an accounts assistant supports day-to-day transactional tasks like invoicing and reconciliations, while a bookkeeper often has broader responsibility for maintaining complete, accurate financial records and may work more independently. Job titles alone are not a reliable guide, so always focus on the specific tasks and level of independence the role requires.

Do I need to hire someone with formal accounting qualifications?

Not necessarily. Practical, hands-on bookkeeping experience is often more valuable for day-to-day tasks than formal qualifications, especially for entry to mid-level roles. Requirements can differ if the role involves signing off statutory filings or professional certification obligations, which vary by country, so check your local rules if this applies to you.

How much should I pay an accounts or finance assistant?

Salary levels for this role vary widely depending on your country, region, cost of living, and the seniority and scope of the position. Research local job boards, industry surveys, or recruitment agencies in your specific area to benchmark a realistic and competitive range before advertising.

Should I hire part-time or full-time for this role?

This depends on your transaction volume and complexity. Estimate the realistic weekly hours needed to cover invoicing, reconciliations, and reporting; if it is well under a full working week, part-time or outsourced bookkeeping support is often more cost-effective than a full-time hire.

What background checks should I run before hiring for this role?

Common steps include verifying employment history, confirming qualifications with issuing bodies, and checking right-to-work status, with background or credit checks sometimes used given the role's access to financial data. What is legally permitted and required varies by country and local privacy law, so confirm the rules in your jurisdiction before running any checks.

How to Hire an Accounts or Finance Assistant: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide

A clear, no-nonsense guide to defining the role, finding the right candidate, and onboarding an accounts or finance assistant who actually fits your business.

Most small and medium businesses hire an accounts or finance assistant at exactly the wrong moment: when invoices are already late, reconciliations are three months behind, and the owner is doing bookkeeping at 10pm. Hiring under pressure like this leads to rushed decisions and mismatched hires. Getting this role right from the start saves you months of cleanup and gives you someone who can genuinely lighten the financial load.

This guide walks through how to define what you actually need, write a job description that attracts the right people, screen and interview effectively, and onboard your new hire so they add value fast.

What Does an Accounts or Finance Assistant Actually Do?

The title "accounts or finance assistant" covers a wide range of responsibilities depending on the size of the business and how mature the finance function already is. Before you write a job ad, it helps to be honest about which of these tasks you actually need covered.

Processing supplier invoices and staff expense claims
Raising sales invoices and chasing overdue payments
Bank reconciliations and basic cash flow tracking
Payroll support (data entry, timesheets, liaising with a payroll provider)
Filing and record keeping for tax and audit purposes
Basic reporting for the owner or finance manager
Supporting month-end close alongside a bookkeeper or accountant

Notice what is missing from that list: strategic financial planning, tax filing decisions, and statutory reporting. Those usually sit with an accountant, controller, or external advisor. An accounts assistant supports the finance function, they typically do not run it. Getting this distinction clear in your own head prevents you from either underpaying someone for senior-level responsibility or hiring someone overqualified for data entry.

Decide Exactly What You Need Before You Write the Job Ad

The single biggest cause of a bad hire in this role is vagueness about scope. Work through these questions first.

Full-time, part-time, or outsourced?

Many small businesses do not have enough transactional volume to justify a full-time hire. Consider whether a part-time employee, a shared role across two departments, or an outsourced bookkeeping service would actually serve you better. If you are unsure, calculate roughly how many hours a week the tasks above would realistically take. If it is under 15 to 20 hours, part-time or outsourced may be the smarter route.

Junior assistant or experienced bookkeeper?

A junior assistant is cheaper and can be trained into your systems, but will need supervision and clear processes. A more experienced bookkeeper costs more but can often self-manage, spot errors, and take on light reporting. Decide which trade-off suits your current stage: if you do not have time to train and check work closely, lean toward more experience.

Which software will they need to use?

Accounting software varies enormously by region and business size. List the specific tools your business uses (accounting platform, expense software, payroll system, spreadsheets) and be explicit about which ones are must-haves versus nice-to-haves. Candidates with direct experience in your exact software will ramp up far faster.

Core Skills and Qualities to Look For

Technical accounting knowledge matters, but for this role, a handful of practical qualities matter just as much.

Accuracy and attention to detail: small errors in figures compound quickly and are expensive to unwind later.
Basic numeracy and comfort with spreadsheets: even if your software does the heavy lifting, they need to sanity-check numbers.
Trustworthiness and discretion: this person will see sensitive financial data, salaries, and possibly bank access.
Organisation and follow-through: chasing invoices, meeting deadlines, and keeping consistent filing systems requires discipline more than genius.
Communication: they will need to politely chase clients for payment and clarify queries with suppliers or colleagues.

Formal qualifications (bookkeeping certificates, accounting diplomas, or part-qualified professional designations) are useful signals but should not be your only filter. A candidate with two years of hands-on experience reconciling accounts in a similar-sized business is often a stronger hire than someone with paper qualifications and no practical exposure. Requirements around formal certification, professional body membership, and any licensing obligations vary by country and industry, so check your local regulations if the role involves signing off statutory documents or filings.

Writing a Job Description That Attracts the Right People

A generic "finance assistant needed, must know accounting" ad attracts generic applicants. Be specific about day-to-day tasks, the software you use, and what success looks like in the first three to six months.

We are looking for an Accounts Assistant to join our small operations team. In this role you will process supplier invoices, reconcile our bank accounts weekly, chase overdue customer payments, and support our external accountant during month-end close. You will work directly with our accounting software [name your platform] and report to the Office Manager. This is a great fit for someone with 1 to 3 years of bookkeeping experience who is highly organised, comfortable with numbers, and confident communicating with suppliers and clients by phone and email.

Include a clear list of must-have skills separate from nice-to-haves, state the working pattern (full-time, part-time, hybrid, or on-site), and give a realistic salary range or band. Being upfront about pay saves everyone time and filters out mismatched expectations early, since exact salary norms for this role vary widely by country, region, and business size.

Where to Find Good Candidates

Accounts and finance assistant roles typically attract a high volume of applicants, which is both a benefit and a challenge. You will likely get plenty of interest, but sorting through unqualified applications manually can eat up hours you do not have.

General job boards and local classifieds for entry to mid-level candidates
Bookkeeping and accounting associations or forums in your region
Referrals from your accountant, bank, or other business owners
Local colleges or training providers offering bookkeeping certifications, if you are open to junior hires

If you are getting overwhelmed by volume, a tool built for this exact problem can help. Platforms like Hyrewell let you post the role with a simple apply link, automatically screen incoming applicants against your criteria into a ranked shortlist, let strong candidates self-book interview slots, and even handle e-signed offers once you have made a decision. This is particularly useful for a role like accounts assistant where you often get a large number of applications and need a fast, consistent way to separate strong candidates from the rest.

Screening and Testing Before the Interview

Resumes alone will not tell you whether someone can actually reconcile a bank statement or spot a duplicate invoice. Build a short, practical screening step before you invest interview time.

A basic numeracy or attention-to-detail test, such as spotting errors in a short mock ledger
A brief written task, like drafting a polite payment-chasing email to a client
Questions confirming hands-on experience with your specific software, not just "accounting software" generally

Keep this stage short (15 to 30 minutes of the candidate's time) so you do not lose good people to a slow process, but do not skip it entirely. It is far cheaper to filter out a mismatch here than three months into employment.

Interview Questions That Actually Reveal Skill

Avoid purely theoretical questions like "what is a debit and credit." Focus on how candidates have handled real situations, since that predicts actual on-the-job behaviour far better.

"Walk me through how you reconciled a bank account in your last role, start to finish."
"Tell me about a time you found an error in the books. How did you spot it and what did you do?"
"How do you handle chasing a client for an overdue invoice without damaging the relationship?"
"What accounting software have you used day to day, and what did you like or find frustrating about it?"
"Describe a time you had to keep sensitive financial information confidential."

Pay attention to how candidates describe their process, not just the outcome. Someone who can clearly explain their reconciliation steps, even if their software differs from yours, is showing you they understand the underlying logic, which transfers easily to a new system.

Checks to Run Before You Confirm the Hire

Because this role often involves access to bank details, payroll data, and sometimes payment authority, due diligence matters more here than for many other roles.

Verify employment history and reasons for leaving previous roles with at least two references
Confirm any claimed qualifications or certifications directly with the issuing body where possible
Check right-to-work or right-to-be-employed status according to your local requirements
Consider a background or credit check where relevant and where permitted, particularly if the role includes payment authority

Requirements and permissible checks for background screening, credit checks, and reference checks vary significantly by country and by local privacy law, so confirm what is legally allowed and required in your jurisdiction before running any checks.

Making the Offer and Onboarding Well

Once you have a candidate you trust, move quickly. Good finance candidates often have multiple offers on the table, and a slow, uncertain process can lose you the best person.

Hi [Name], we would love to offer you the Accounts Assistant role starting [date]. The role is [full-time/part-time], based [on-site/hybrid/remote], with a salary of [amount] paid [frequency]. I have attached the full offer letter for you to review and sign. Please let us know if you have any questions, we are excited to have you on the team.

Set your new hire up for success in the first few weeks with a short structured plan: access to systems and accounts on day one, a walkthrough of your chart of accounts and filing structure, a clear point of contact for questions, and a check-in at two weeks and again at six weeks to catch any early confusion before it becomes a habit.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Hiring only on qualifications, ignoring practical experience: a certificate does not guarantee someone can actually reconcile your specific accounts cleanly.
Being vague about software requirements: assuming "accounting experience" is enough, then discovering they have never used your platform.
Skipping a practical test: relying entirely on interview charm without checking real numeracy or attention to detail.
Underestimating trust requirements: not doing basic reference or background checks for a role with access to money and sensitive data.
No onboarding plan: handing over the books on day one with no walkthrough, then being surprised when things go wrong.
Hiring too senior or too junior for the actual workload: mismatching the role level to the real volume and complexity of your finance tasks.

Hiring an accounts or finance assistant well is less about finding a finance genius and more about matching the right level of experience to your actual workload, testing practical skill before you commit, and setting clear expectations from the job ad through to onboarding. Get those fundamentals right and this hire can genuinely free up hours of your time every week.