Role Guide: Bookkeeping Support Assistant

What this role is (and is not)

You prepare and organize financial data so the client's qualified bookkeeper, accountant or the owner can review it and make decisions. You make their work faster and cleaner.

You do	You do not
Collect and match receipts to transactions	Decide tax treatment of anything
Enter bills and invoices from source documents	Approve, schedule or release payments
Suggest categories using the client's written rules, marked for review	Finalize categories that the rules do not cover
Prepare reconciliation worksheets for review	Sign off a reconciliation
Send polite payment reminders using approved templates	Negotiate payment terms or write off debts
Keep a missing-documents list	Give opinions on the client's finances
Organize month-end folders	File anything with a tax authority

What you own

• Receipt capture and matching: every transaction has its receipt or is on the Missing list.
• Bills entry: supplier bills entered with date, supplier, amount, due date and reference, exactly as the source shows.
• Invoice prep: customer invoices drafted from approved rate sheets for the client to send or approve.
• Category suggestions: applied only from the client's written category rules, everything else marked "For review".
• Accounts receivable reminders: friendly reminders on the client's schedule using approved wording.
• Month-end pack: a folder and checklist ready for the bookkeeper by the agreed date.

Your rhythm

When	What
Daily	Capture new receipts and bills from the inbox and shared drive. Enter bills. Match yesterday's transactions.
Twice a week	Chase missing receipts with one batched message to the client or staff.
Weekly	Accounts receivable aging check; reminders sent per the approved schedule; summary to client.
Month-end	Month-end checklist completed; pack handed to the bookkeeper; open questions listed.

How you are measured

KPI	Target
Amount accuracy on entered bills and invoices	100%
Batches where your control total matches the source total	100%
Transactions with a matched receipt or a "Missing" status	100%
Month-end pack delivered by the agreed date	100%
Items categorized outside the written rules without a "For review" flag	Zero
QA score on sampled work	90% or more

The control total habit

Every batch of money data gets a control total. Add up the amounts on the source documents. Add up the amounts you entered. They must match to the cent before you submit.

Example: you enter 22 supplier bills. The source PDFs add up to 18,406.75. Your entries add up to 18,046.75. The difference is 360.00, which is a classic swap of digits (406 versus 046). You find bill 14, fix it, and both totals now read 18,406.75. Only then is the batch done.

Payment fraud protection

Bookkeeping support staff are a favorite target for fraudsters because they sit close to money. Learn these red flags by heart:

1. A supplier "changes" their bank details by email.
2. An urgent request "from the owner" to pay someone new today.
3. A request to buy gift cards for any reason.
4. An invoice from a supplier the client has never used.
5. A sender address that is almost right (one letter different).

Your response is always the same: do not act, do not reply to the email, and verify through a channel you already know, such as the client's team channel or a phone number already in the client's records. Report it to your Narqix lead as a possible security incident (see the Security Standard).

Tools (generic)

Accounting system (entry or limited access only), spreadsheet, shared drive with a restricted finance folder, receipt capture inbox, password manager, task tracker, team channel, your campaign's time tracker.

Handoffs

• You receive: receipts, bills, bank and card transaction lists, category rules, rate sheets, and answers to your questions.
• You pass on: entered and matched data, a For review list, a Missing list and the month-end pack to the client's bookkeeper or accountant.

Quality standards

1. Enter exactly what the source says. If it looks wrong, flag it, do not fix it.
2. Double entry or control totals on every money batch (see Data Entry Accuracy).
3. Never type full card or bank numbers into notes, chats or sheets. Use the last four digits only.
4. Finance files live only in the restricted finance folder shared with named people.
5. Mark uncertainty. "For review" is a respected status, not a failure.

Escalation rules

• P1 to your Narqix lead within 15 minutes: suspected fraud, a payment you think was made to the wrong account, or financial data sent to the wrong person.
• Same day to the client: a duplicate bill, a supplier overcharge, an overdue amount past the client's alert threshold.
• Weekly summary: missing receipts, aging receivables, category questions.

Common mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Choosing a category because it "seems right"	Use only the written rules; flag the rest
Entering the bill date as the due date	Read every date label on the bill
Mixing currencies	Note the currency on every line; never convert without instructions
Chasing staff one receipt at a time	One batched list, twice a week
Answering "is this deductible?"	Refer to the accountant, offer to prepare information

Check yourself

1. The owner's manager asks, "Can we expense my new laptop?" What do you reply?
2. Your entered total is 9,812.40 and the source total is 9,821.40. Where do you look first, and why?
3. An email from a supplier says their bank details changed. List your steps.
4. Name three things a Bookkeeping Support Assistant never does.

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