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Staff Accountant Job Description

The Staff Accountant’s main job is to help ensure that the firm that they are working for runs efficiently, and the public records are kept accurately.

Primary Responsibilities:

  • The Staff Accountant is expected to keep the records of the firm accurately and that the taxes are paid properly and on time.
  • The Staff Accountant must analyze and communicate financial information entities such as companies, individual clients and government.
  • The Staff Accountant must also carry out the fundamental tasks of the occupation.

The Staff Accountant fundamental tasks are preparing, analyzing and verifying financial documents in order to provide information to clients. Many Staff Accountants offer budget analysis, financial and investment planning, information technology consulting and limited legal services.

There are four major fields of accounting that a Staff Accountant maybe select to work from: public, management, government accounting and internal auditing. The Staff Accountant who works as a Public Accountant performs a broad range of accounting, auditing, tax and consulting activities for their clients. Staff Accountants normally work for corporations, nonprofit organization or individuals. The Management Accountants are also called Cost Accountants record and analyze the financial information of the companies for which they work. The Staff Accountant who works with the Management Accountant also helps in the performance of budgeting, performance evaluation, cost management and asset management. The executive team of Management Accountants is made up with many Staff Accountants.

Government Accountants work in the public sector, maintaining and examining records of the government agencies and of course the need for many Staff Accountants is necessary to help with this work. The Staff Accountant must work closely with their supervisor reporting the results on a daily basis. It is highly necessary to make sure that revenues are received and expenditures are made in accordance with laws and regulations. The Staff Accountant is working with local governments, State governments, and Federal Government agencies. Those who work with the Federal Government may become Internal Revenue Service Agents still working as part of a team as a Staff Accountant.

The Internal Auditors verify the effectiveness of their organization’s internal controls and check for mismanagement, waste, or fraud. The Staff Accountant assists in accordance with the instructions of the Internal Auditors. The Staff Accountant is essential in helping the departmental head accountants because the work load is too heavy for just one person. Since there are different types of accounting to maintain business it is essential that there are many Staff Accountants.

Modern Technology has changed the nature of the work of most accountants causing many to keep going back to college to learn new software package. The Staff Accountant is normally the one who must learn the new software packages and then teach it to the rest of the staff especially the department heads. The new software packages aid Staff Accountants in summarizing transactions in the standard formats of financial records and organize data for analysis by the head accountant. These software packages reduce the tedious work that a Staff Accountant must do on a day to day basis helping them to keep up with data management and recordkeeping. Computers enable the Staff Accountant to perform much of the needed accounting duties keeping up with the heavy work load.

The job market is competitive for an accountant so certification helps a Staff Accountant secure a good paying position. The Staff Accountant must go to an accredited college and take courses in Accounting along with taking state testing to become a certified public accountant. Then they may select to be farther certified by different organizations that give them even better credentials. The Institute of Management Accountants for instance will certify the Management Accountant and give them a (CMA) certification. While the Institute of Internal Auditors certifies the accountant as a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) for example this helps the Staff Accountant to improve their position with the company. The reason a Staff Accountant works towards these types of certification is because it helps them to work toward a higher position in the corporation and it also gives them the opportunity to find higher paying position in other organizations if they like.

The duties of the Staff Accountant vary in accordance with the department that they are working in and the type of accounting system that they are working on. Many Staff Accountants prefer working in the public sector while many enjoy working for government. The choice is that of the Staff Accountant but most all will strive to become a Certified Public Accountant with a certification in one of the four fields designated for all Accountants.

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