Bookkeeping vs something in banking

[nidena]

I'm looking to get out of clothing retail in a few months.  I'm great with accounting but not great with finance.  Like, don't ask me to compute the future value of a dollar 'cause...ouch!  But I can balance columns with great skill and patience.  The problem is: I've never filled any roles in either of those fields.  I spent 20 years fixing planes in the AF but also lead Booster Clubs and snack bars.  I've spent 14 years in clothing retail and have even helped out a friend who ran a bookstore.  She was running a "Bag sale" and after a few weeks, I ran her numbers and promptly told her: "You're losing money!  Quit running the bag sale!"

I plan on rewriting my resume so that it focuses on my money skills but I'd like some input into the two different arenas.  Not so much how to get the job but what's it like working as a bookkeeper or in a bank as, say, a teller?

TIA

[bookkeeper]

I have had both jobs.  I worked as a teller/new accounts rep for a credit union for 3 years.  I have worked various bookkeeping jobs for another 20 years.

The main difference, from my point of view, is your work environment.  Do you like to work with the public, or would you prefer to work by yourself?  A teller job is entry level in banking and you will be working with the public at every turn.  Let me tell you people get plenty emotional about their money, or lack of it.  In those 3 years, I saw decades worth of drama.

I finished my working career at an agricultural business.  I worked with the same people for 12 years, mostly alone at my desk.  The only people I saw in a day were the employees and maybe a customer a few times a week.

As far as the difference between accounting and finance, I became bored simply performing the accounting work.  That's when I discovered Your Money.  I wanted to learn more about finance and I have made the investment of time to do so.  The math component you discussed can be easily learned.  I didn't know anything about accounting or finance when I started, other than I needed a job.  I learned on that first set of columns and then built on that knowledge at the next job and the next.  

You should do well moving from retail to bookkeeping.  You have already proven your money handling skills at the previous job.  I would suggest that you try to get your hands on a copy of Quicken or Quickbooks and learn how it works.  Many small businesses rely on these two accounting programs.

[Iggy aka IG]

I studied bookkeeping in college and find it's helpful when tracking expenditures and balancing the checkbooks here at the office.

Working at a bank never interested me because of the possibility of getting held up.  BTDT when I worked at a gas station in my younger years.  Even in a small town such as ours, I'd say about 1/4 of the banks have gotten robbed over the past two decades.

[tskeeter]

Jun 24, 2020 20:57:55 GMT -5 nidena said:

I'm looking to get out of clothing retail in a few months.  I'm great with accounting but not great with finance.  Like, don't ask me to compute the future value of a dollar 'cause...ouch!  But I can balance columns with great skill and patience.  The problem is: I've never filled any roles in either of those fields.  I spent 20 years fixing planes in the AF but also lead Booster Clubs and snack bars.  I've spent 14 years in clothing retail and have even helped out a friend who ran a bookstore.  She was running a "Bag sale" and after a few weeks, I ran her numbers and promptly told her: "You're losing money!  Quit running the bag sale!"

I plan on rewriting my resume so that it focuses on my money skills but I'd like some input into the two different arenas.  Not so much how to get the job but what's it like working as a bookkeeper or in a bank as, say, a teller?

TIA

The key to the finance stuff is to know that certain formulas exist and when to use them.  Excel has functions for most of the key financial formulas, so remembering the formula and doing the calculation is kind of a non-issue.  I often use them to do quick calculations, such as when my brother asked me earlier this week whether taking a pension as an annuity was a better idea than taking the pension as a lump sum.


Tskeeter
CPA, retired
Manufacturing Controller
Financial/Operations Analyst

[tskeeter]

Opinion:

I think being a teller would be a sucky job.  When someone over draws their account, it’s your fault.  When the bank offsets funds in a checking account because the account holder hasn’t made their loan payment for three months, it’s your fault.  When someone can’t do basic math and over draws an account, it’s your fault.  When the bank imposes special service fees on an account, it’s your fault.

If you can deal with getting screamed at by irrational customers who don’t like the consequences of their own behavior, being a teller might be the job for you.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

My DIL works for Wells Fargo. She has moved from teller to banker. She enjoys working with customers. It's not actually much about math as far as her descriptions as it is being a sales person. 

[bookkeeper]

Our Wells Fargo teller shorted me $3 at the drive up window a few days ago.  I wish it was more about the math.

As a former drive up teller, I always count my cash in front of the teller in the window.  Once you drive away, all bets are off.  Some banks only require their tellers to balance their drawer once a month.  I sure don't want to sit and wait for my cash while the teller reconciles a month worth of transactions to figure out a mistake.

It is my observation that cash handling has gotten very careless.  Credit and debit cards have eliminated the need for many people to deal in cash.

[TheOtherMe]

The younger people who handle money have no idea of how to count change or count money.  

I hate when I'm given a wad of money thrown in to my hand.  My dad used to tell them to count the change back to him and they had no idea of how to do it.  He would stand there and count it before he left the cash register.

[dannylion]

If you are anywhere near a military base or other DoD facility, you might enjoy a job with the credit union associated with the base or facility.  You might be able to use your bookkeeping skills, but there are other jobs as well that might work out well for you, and the environment and culture will be familiar.  Several of the people with part-time and some with full-time jobs in the credit union associated with the DoD agency from which I retired are retired agency employees and seem to enjoy their jobs.  

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

School districts have business departments for accounts payable/reconciliation; payroll; business management (usually a financial degree is required for that one); grant management, etc. 
At least in my state, each school district is independently audited annually, so the books have to be consistently accurate. 
Have you looked into any of that?

[nidena]

Jul 4, 2020 16:51:19 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

School districts have business departments for accounts payable/reconciliation; payroll; business management (usually a financial degree is required for that one); grant management, etc. 
At least in my state, each school district is independently audited annually, so the books have to be consistently accurate. 
Have you looked into any of that?

I hadn't.  I will definitely keep it in mind.