A cultural attraction bookkeeper records the money a nonprofit museum, zoo or garden takes in from tickets, the shop, members, rentals, gifts and grants. They pay the bills with the right fund and grant codes and reconcile the accounts. They also prepare payroll and the schedules the CFO needs for each month's close and the yearly audit.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, museums, zoos and gardens · BLS, May 2025
Our Bookkeeper keeps the daily books for a nonprofit with many kinds of income: admissions, memberships, the gift shop, rentals, donations, and grants. You record and reconcile it all, pay the bills, support payroll, and prepare the schedules the CFO needs for the monthly close and the annual audit.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Record daily deposits from admissions, the gift shop, memberships, and events, and match them to sales reports.
Enter and pay vendor invoices with the right fund, program, and grant codes.
Reconcile bank, credit card, and payment processor accounts each month.
Match gifts in the general ledger to the donor database with development, and flag restricted gifts.
Prepare payroll for [your payroll provider] from approved timecards, and track seasonal hires and departures with HR.
Prepare schedules for the monthly close and answer the auditor's requests.
Collect tax forms from vendors and issue 1099 forms to contractors at year-end.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Log the day's deposits and check them against point-of-sale and ticketing reports.
Enter invoices, code expenses, and send payments for approval.
Answer vendor and staff questions about payments and reimbursements.
Post gift and grant receipts and send copies to development.
File backup documents so the auditor can find them.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Bank reconciliations on time: [your target].
Invoices paid by due date: [your target].
Gifts matched to the donor database: [your target].
Daily deposits reconciled: [your target].
Month-end entries ready on time: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[2+] years of bookkeeping or accounts payable experience.
Working knowledge of [QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, or your accounting system].
Experience with fund or grant coding, or able to learn it quickly.
Strong Excel skills and attention to detail.
Keeps payroll and donor information private.
6. Preferred Experience
Nonprofit accounting experience.
Associate's degree in accounting or a bookkeeping certification.
Experience reading point-of-sale and ticketing reports.
7. Physical Requirements
Seated computer work for long periods.
Carry deposit bags and files around the site.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Full-time, Monday through Friday, on site.
Heavier deposit volume after summer weekends and holidays, and longer hours during the audit.
Some remote days may be possible: [your policy].
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new bookkeeper gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
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What makes bookkeeping at a museum or zoo different
A nonprofit attraction runs a ticket office, a store, a café and a charity under one set of books. Each one brings its own reports, rules and deadlines.
Money comes in through many doors
One summer Saturday can bring gate tickets, online tickets, shop and café sales, member renewals and a wedding deposit, each in its own system. Card processors pay out on their own schedule, minus fees and refunds. The bookkeeper ties each sales report to what reached the bank, so a short deposit is caught that week, not at year-end.
Gifts live in two systems
Development records gifts in the donor database, and the bookkeeper records them in the ledger. Once a month, the two teams match them gift by gift. Any gift the donor tied to a purpose or a date gets flagged so the CFO can track it. A grant check posted to the general account instead of the grant's own code is an easy miss to catch here.
Grant-paid hours need time records
When part of an educator's or keeper's pay is charged to a federal grant, the rules say the charge must rest on records that show the work actually done. Budget estimates alone don't count. The bookkeeper sets up a timecard code for each grant and checks that the payroll split matches the hours staff logged. Source: 2 CFR 200.430, Compensation for personal services (Cornell LII).
Returning summer staff count as new hires
Federal law says employers must report new and rehired employees to the state within 20 days, and some states want it sooner. Someone who was off your payroll for at least 60 days in a row counts as newly hired. So last year's summer guide gets reported again. If your payroll provider files these reports, check that rehires are on the list. Source: Office of Child Support Enforcement: New hire reporting.
The 1099 line moved for 2026
Guest speakers, artists, animal transporters and event performers are often paid as contractors. The IRS says the Form 1099-NEC reporting line is now 2,000 dollars for payments made after December 31, 2025, up from 600 dollars. Collect a W-9 before the first check, and set your accounting system to the new amount for 2026 payments. Source: IRS: Form 1099-NEC and independent contractors.
How much cultural attraction bookkeepers make
The closest BLS group for cultural attraction bookkeepers is bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $22.87 an hour ($47,570 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $50,670 median for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in all industries. About 1,770 of the 1,373,680 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in that survey work for museums, zoos and gardens.
Often hourly, with overtime during audit weeks and after big holiday weekends. To pay a salary instead, check the overtime exemption tests first, since the pay method alone doesn't settle it.
Museums, zoos and gardens
$47,570$47,570 median Middle half $40,790–$57,230 10th–90th $34,930–$66,370
All industries
$50,670$50,670 median Middle half $43,520–$61,470 10th–90th $36,000–$74,550
$20k$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Museums, zoos and gardens
$34,930
$40,790
$47,570
$57,230
$66,370
All industries
$36,000
$43,520
$50,670
$61,470
$74,550
BLS groups museums, zoos, botanical gardens and historic sites together. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Bookkeeping or accounts payable work with monthly reconciliations
Strong Excel: lookups, pivot tables and tidy schedules
Codes every entry to the right fund, program and grant
Keeps payroll and donor information private
Won't post a plug entry just to make a reconciliation balance
Teach these on the job
Your ticketing, register and donor database reports
Donor restriction codes and when a gift is released
Grant budgets and the time record rules that go with them
Your payroll provider's steps for seasonal hires and departures
The auditor's request list and where each backup file lives
Expect an accounting system with fund and grant tracking, such as QuickBooks with classes, Financial Edge NXT or Sage Intacct. Daily work also pulls reports from ticketing and point-of-sale systems like Tessitura or Altru and from the donor database (Raiser's Edge NXT, Bloomerang or similar), with Excel tying them together.
Cultural attraction bookkeeper interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Set each target with the CFO from your own close calendar and audit history, then check progress at every month-end.
Bank reconciliations on time
Record when each account's reconciliation is finished and when the CFO approves it. Include bank, credit card and payment processor accounts, not only main checking.
Invoices paid by due date
Count bills paid after their due date each month, split by vendor type. Flag late bills charged to a grant first, since the grant report needs proof of payment.
Gifts matched to the donor database
Share of gift and grant receipts in the ledger that tie to a donor record for the same amount and date. Clear the unmatched list with development before each close.
Daily deposits reconciled
Share of days when ticketing, register and online sales reports agree with the bank after fees and refunds. Log each difference with its cause.
Month-end entries ready on time
The date the bookkeeper hands the CFO the close schedules, measured against the close calendar. Note which schedule was late and why.
Career path
Payables clerk or admissions cash office clerkLearns deposits, invoices and the ticketing reports.
BookkeeperKeeps the daily books, payroll and reconciliations.
Staff accountant or grants accountantTakes over grant reports and the audit binder.
Chief financial officerThe finance lead, reached after running a full nonprofit close and audit.
Does a nonprofit bookkeeper need fund accounting experience?
The template lists nonprofit experience as preferred. Someone with a strong payables and reconciliation background can learn fund accounting, which means tagging each entry with where the money came from and what it may be spent on. A good sign in the interview: they ask how restricted gifts are coded before you explain it.
How much does a cultural attraction bookkeeper make?
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $22.87 an hour ($47,570 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $40,790 and $57,230 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Who handles payroll at a site with seasonal staff?
In this template, HR sends new hires and pay changes and checks timecards for errors, and the bookkeeper prepares payroll from the approved timecards. Keep those two steps with two people, so no one can both add a worker and pay them. Each spring, agree on a weekly cutoff for new seasonal hires so first paychecks come out right.
How should a bookkeeper handle cash from the gate and the gift shop?
Have two people count each drawer, sign the count sheet and seal the deposit bag. The next morning, the bookkeeper checks each sheet against the register or ticketing report and logs any overage or shortage by drawer. When the bank posts the deposit, they match it to the bags. Send the monthly log to the guest services manager, who coaches the cashiers.
What does the auditor need from the bookkeeper?
Expect a long request list a few weeks before the auditors come. It usually covers bank reconciliations, lists of unpaid bills and prepaid costs, deposits held for future events, and gifts tied to the donor database. They also pick bills to sample and ask for the backup. File backup by month and vendor as you go, so nothing has to be hunted down later.
