A security systems bookkeeper records money from monthly monitoring and install jobs, pays distributors and the monitoring center, and balances every account each month. Most days mix hundreds of small monthly charges with a few big project bills.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, security systems companies · BLS, May 2025
Responsible for maintaining accurate financial records, processing invoices, and reconciling accounts to ensure the financial integrity of our security and low voltage operations. Plays a key role in supporting sound financial decision-making and compliance through diligent bookkeeping and record management.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Maintains comprehensive financial records specific to security and low voltage home service operations.
Reconciles monthly accounts and prepares detailed financial reports.
Processes and audits invoices and expense vouchers in a timely manner.
Coordinates with vendors and service providers to resolve discrepancies.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Record and manage day-to-day financial transactions with precision.
Process invoices and expense reports accurately and efficiently.
Conduct daily reconciliations of accounts to ensure timely financial closing.
Communicate with team members and external vendors regarding billing issues and resolutions.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Invoice Processing Accuracy: >98%.
Reconciliation Timeliness: 100% monthly account close compliance.
Vendor Discrepancy Resolution Rate: >95%.
Financial Records Audit Score: >90%.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
2+ years of bookkeeping experience, preferably in a related industry.
Proficiency in accounting software and Microsoft Office applications.
Excellent organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience working in the security, low voltage, or home services industry.
Familiarity with industry-specific accounting standards and practices.
Prior exposure to a fast-paced, customer-focused environment.
Experience using QuickBooks or comparable accounting software.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to sit for extended periods while working on a computer.
Light lifting capacity up to 10 pounds for occasional file management.
Ergonomic workspace conducive to extended desk work.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: Monday to Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM.
Minimal travel requirements.
On-call support may be necessary during month-end or year-end financial closing periods.
Office-based environment that supports both independent and collaborative tasks.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary Range: $45,000 - $55,000 USD per annum.
Performance-based bonus opportunities.
Comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision insurance packages.
401k with company matching contributions.
Paid time off, holiday benefits, and additional fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
A collaborative and growth-oriented work environment that values transparency and innovation.
Commitment to continuous professional development and career advancement.
Emphasis on delivering exceptional customer satisfaction and operational excellence.
Example: A workplace culture that fosters mentorship, values diverse perspectives, and encourages employees to achieve both personal and professional growth.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
What makes bookkeeping at a security company different
Every bookkeeper records, pays and balances the books. At a security company, much of the money comes in small monthly charges. Each account also has costs that keep running until someone shuts them off.
Autopay drafts need signed permission
Many monitoring customers pay by automatic bank draft. Under Regulation E, a repeat draft from a consumer's account needs their signed or similar approval. Whoever gets it must give the customer a copy. When a draft will change from the last one, as after a rate increase, the customer gets written notice of the new amount and date at least 10 days ahead. File each signed form with the account. Source: eCFR: 12 CFR 1005.10, preauthorized transfers (Regulation E).
Every account has wholesale bills behind it
The monitoring center, the cellular communicator service and the video or app platform each bill the company per account. When a customer cancels and nobody turns those services off, the company keeps paying for a site it no longer bills. Match each vendor's account list against your billing list every month, and send the gaps to the office for shutoff or billing.
Take-home vans and taxable pay
Techs often drive company vans home. The IRS counts all use of a qualified nonpersonal use vehicle as a working condition benefit, which stays out of wages. Its van example carries permanent decals, special paint or other business markings and has seats for only the driver, or the driver and one other person. It also needs fixed shelves filling most of the cargo space, or an open cargo area that always carries work gear. Read the full test with your CPA. Source: IRS Publication 15-B: Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits.
Returns should end in a credit
Panels, cameras, recorders and readers go back to distributors as returns or warranty swaps. Each return should carry an authorization number and end in a credit memo. Write that number on the original bill and check the next statements until the credit shows. Price changes between the quote and the order turn up here too, so match bills to purchase orders line by line.
How much security systems bookkeepers make
The closest BLS group for security systems bookkeepers is bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for security systems companies earned a median of $24.47 an hour ($50,890 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $50,670 median for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in all industries. About 2,670 of the 1,373,680 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in that survey work for security systems companies.
Usually hourly or a modest salary, sometimes with a year-end bonus. The template's salary band sits around the BLS median for bookkeeping clerks at security systems companies.
Security systems companies
$50,890$50,890 median Middle half $42,840–$62,110 10th–90th $35,890–$72,820
All industries
$50,670$50,670 median Middle half $43,520–$61,470 10th–90th $36,000–$74,550
$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
Security systems companies
$35,890
$42,840
$50,890
$62,110
$72,820
All industries
$36,000
$43,520
$50,670
$61,470
$74,550
BLS doesn’t publish pay for low-voltage contractors on their own. These figures cover security systems services, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Steady, accurate entry across hundreds of small recurring charges
Monthly bank and card reconciliations that leave nothing open
Polite, persistent collection calls and emails
QuickBooks or a similar accounting system
Care with customers' bank and card data
Teach these on the job
Your monitoring billing platform and how it posts to the ledger
Which vendors bill per account and how to read their statements
Job codes for install, service and inspection work
The distributor return and credit process
How the field closes a work order
Many security companies run QuickBooks or a similar ledger next to alarm billing software such as SedonaOffice, or a field service tool that bills monthly charges. Tell applicants what you use and how charges get into the books.
Security systems bookkeeper interview questions
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Reconciling recurring revenue
The recurring revenue report shows [1,200] monitored accounts, but billing shows [1,150] active. What do you do?
A strong answer: Matches the two lists, finds accounts monitored but not billed and billed but canceled, fixes them with operations and reports the revenue impact.
Behavioral · Accuracy at high volume
Tell me about a time you handled a big jump in transactions without letting errors in. How did you do it?
A strong answer: Used batching, checklists or automation and spot checks, and can show error rates held.
Those template goals are a sample, not a rule. Base yours on how recent month-end closes went, and agree on them with the CFO.
Invoice Processing Accuracy
Sample vendor bills and customer invoices each month and check the amount, job, account code and tax against the paperwork behind them. Tally each correction.
Reconciliation Timeliness
Note when each bank, card and merchant account gets reconciled and signed off. Compare it with the close calendar the CFO sets.
Vendor Discrepancy Resolution Rate
Log every disputed bill, short shipment or missing credit with the date it opened. Count how many closed with a credit or corrected bill before the next statement arrived.
Financial Records Audit Score
Have the CFO or outside CPA review a sample of entries, receipts and signed autopay forms each quarter, and score how many were complete and filed where they belong.
Career path
Billing clerkPosts monthly monitoring charges and works the past-due list.
BookkeeperKeeps the books, pays vendors and reconciles every account.
Accounting managerRuns month-end close and supervises billing and payables staff.
Who handles a customer who disputes a monitoring charge?
Pull the signed agreement and the billing history first. Many disputes trace back to a rate change, a move or a cancellation that never got keyed in. The bookkeeper confirms what was billed and when; the office manager decides on any credit under the policy the CFO sets. Note the outcome on the account so the next call starts from the facts.
How much does a security systems bookkeeper make?
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for security systems companies earned a median of $24.47 an hour ($50,890 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $42,840 and $62,110 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
What should happen when a monitoring customer stops paying?
Follow a written policy the CFO approves, so every account gets the same treatment. A common order is a reminder, a request to update the card or bank account, a final notice and then cancellation under the contract's terms. When an account closes, the bookkeeper tells the office to shut off the monitoring and communicator services, so the company stops paying for them too.
Is bookkeeping experience at an electrical contractor enough for an alarm company?
It covers job costing, distributor bills and payroll for field crews. What it may not cover is recurring billing: hundreds of small monthly charges, card and bank drafts that fail, and rate changes that need notice. Ask candidates how they've handled a large batch of automatic payments, and test them on matching a merchant deposit to the charges behind it.
Why does a security bookkeeper's template mention lifting 10 pounds?
The template's line about light lifting up to 10 pounds covers file work. In practice that means carrying a box of signed contracts or job folders to storage, moving a carton of check stock or paper, or pulling old records for the CPA. Spell out those tasks in your ad. If a candidate asks to do them a different way, use your accommodation process.
How should a bookkeeper protect customers' bank and card numbers?
Keep them inside the billing or payment system, never in spreadsheets, email or paper notes. Limit who can see full numbers, and turn off a person's access the day they leave. When a customer gives a new card by phone, enter it straight into the system during the call. Ask your payment processor what its security rules require of your company.
