In Demand: Office Administration and Bookkeeping Jobs
How are Office Administration and Bookkeeping Jobs Vital to the Business World?
A well-administered business runs like clockwork. From small insurance offices to family-owned restaurants to international retail brands, each person in an organization plays their part, using a framework of software and support resources to contribute. Some do research, some work with customers, and some provide certified expertise. The business’s finances flow smoothly from revenue to vendors and payroll, then are reinvested for company growth. When audited, every storeroom is found safe, and every dollar is accounted for.
Who makes this clean and efficient performance possible in the hectic business world? It’s office administration professionals–they help businesses stay afloat. In every office and for every team, administrators and bookkeepers keep the wheels on the wagon. Without a skilled bookkeeper, a company’s funds can disappear, and audits can exact terrible penalties. Without an office administrator, the data management and logistics of any team can collapse.
The Shortage and Demand for Office Administration and Bookkeeping
As the Boomer generation retires, labor shortages have cut the supply of office administrators and bookkeepers available for hire. On top of this, these roles have gained an under-appreciated reputation for being lesser office positions. Workplaces without an admin and bookkeeper, however, suffer from logistical failures and constant disorganization. With no one at the helm to keep track of revenue and expenses, a business will lose money and eventually fail an audit or compliance inspection.
There are now more roles open for office administration and bookkeeping than there are professionals to go around. Building a career in which you are in high demand is always a smart move. If scheduling, organization, software manipulation, and financial balancing suit your talents, you could be part of the office admin shortage solution. Your abilities are imperative in the ever-expanding and under-coordinated business world.
Office Admins Hold Down the Fort
Office administrators are not secretaries; they are essential staff. An office administrator holds down the fort, making sure every logistical and technical detail is correct. They keep the schedule tight, build profiles in software for your team to work from, and ensure there’s a chair for the newest hire. While it’s stereotypically true that office admins are often in charge of stocking the coffee supplies, that’s only a small part of their responsibilities. The day-to-day of this profession includes inventory, stocking, reordering, and managing others to perform each task.
Office administrators are often the beating heart of each team, taking care of the details so everyone else can focus on their specialties. The smaller the business or team, the more roles they step up to fill. When your team contains three specialists and a founder, the office admin fills in all the gaps to turn a startup into a working business. When your team is a vast floor of associates, the office admin makes sure each person has the tools, information, and support they need to do their job.
Bookkeepers Make Profit Possible
Without bookkeepers, it would become impossible to make a reliable profit. Bookkeepers track every dollar of income via loans and revenue, and they record every dollar that goes out to vendors and services. If the records aren’t precise, the business will lose money. A monetary “leak” can develop through some mistake or fraud, which makes profit impossible. If the company is in surplus but the numbers don’t add up, they risk audit penalties and non-compliance.
In addition, bookkeepers prevent leaks in the revenue that flows through a business. They know everything a company (or their individual team) pays for and how that balances from the income received. They protect the company from being cheated and prevent internal and external instances of fraud. Moreover, bookkeepers stop money from slipping through the cracks due to software glitches or payroll oversights.
Defense from Auditors and Compliance Violation
Audits and inspections are among the biggest risks for small businesses. If a startup exercises imprecise bookkeeping and tax filing, it can be cracked by a failed audit. Failing an audit can result in crippling fines and restricted access that can damage a small business’s future.
Bookkeepers and even office administrators protect their teams from these risks by ensuring there are no mistakes to audit. They also play a role in ensuring a company remains compliant with legal, industry, and business association regulations. From logistics to food safety, office admins make sure every “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed in facility management.
Office Logistics Help Take Care of the Team
Who makes sure the new hire has a desk and ready workstation? Who sources the special keyboard for the ability-challenged professional? And who always orders a gluten-free or kosher meal for diet-restricted team members? The office admin does. They cover everything that makes the difference between productivity and misery. A gluten-free meal seems like a minor detail until it’s not there and someone gets sick or goes hungry. Managing the schedule sounds trivial until you have irritated clients with overlapping appointments and professionals unprepared for their meetings.
Through the guise of office logistics, admins take care of everyone under their purview – and sometimes beyond. They are the tendons and ligaments of the business body that hold everything together and make efficiency possible. Coordinating the efforts, managing data, and thinking of every detail are the hallmarks of an office administrator who becomes essential to the functioning of their team and business.
Remote Office Administration and Bookkeeping Opportunities
Lastly, there is a whole new perspective to today’s office admin and bookkeeping roles: remote work. Since the pandemic, businesses across the globe have had to embrace remote work, and that infrastructure is still in place. Many teams formed remotely or re-formed with a comfortable hybrid teamwork.
Bookkeeping has been fully performed on computer programs for decades. In fact, many freelance and seasonal bookkeepers were already providing remote services prior to COVID-19. If you desire to become a vital member of a team but prefer a remote and flexible approach, bookkeeping is a powerful career choice.
Even office administrators can do most of their work remotely through the recent boost in management and logistics software. With this technology, you can coordinate your team, keep schedules, manage data, and perform inventory and ordering tasks from the comfort of your home. While office admins are still likely to have on-site or hybrid schedules, the virtual assistant trend is blurring the lines between traditional office administration and the virtual realms of the job for primarily virtual businesses.
Become a Vital Office Professional with Career Technical Institute
Here at Career Technical Institute, our comprehensive programs focus on providing students with career-ready skills. With the office administration and bookkeeping shortage on the rise, office professionals are in high demand. Once you finish your education, you can quickly find yourself at the heart of a small business or team, managing schedules or keeping financial records.