The Accountant is responsible for the bookkeeping aspect of the business. You might be working in the accounts receivables or you could be working in the accounts payable department depending on what aspects of the business you have been hired to take control.
Primary Responsibilities Accounts Receivables:
- The Accountant is responsible for receiving payments
- The Accountant is responsible for invoicing the debtors.
- The Accountant is responsible to inform the person who does the collecting when a client is behind in their account.
- The Accountant is responsible for posting them to the appropriate account
- The Accountant in Accounts Receivables must make financial reports
- The Accountant in Accounts Receivables is in charge of monthly analysis for the department heads.
Primary Responsibilities Accounts Payables:
- The Accountant in Accounts Payables receives invoices from the vendors.
- The Accountant in Accounts Payables keeps financial records concerning the vendors that the company owes.
- The Accountant in Accounts Payables makes monthly reports to appropriate executives in order to keep the departments within budgets.
- The Accountant must make sure that the projects are not going over budget.
In most corporations there are two different accounting departments one is for the Accounts Receivables while the other department is for the Accounts Payable. When you work as an Accountant you will be in one of those departments doing bookkeeping. The bookkeeping process you are doing will depend on the department that you are working in. There are some basic things that you must do no matter which department that you are working in only it is based on the departmental functions.
You as an Accountant will normally make financial statements by compiling and analyzing the information that you have including monthly and annual accounts. The Accountant ensures that financial records are maintained in compliance with accepted policies and procedures. The Accountant ensures all financial reporting deadlines are met. The Accountant is in charge of preparing financial management reports. The Accountant ensures accurate and timely monthly, quarterly and year end close in accordance with the department that they are working. The Accountant must resolve accounting discrepancies and irregularities.
The Accountant monitors and supports taxation issues within the boundaries of their department. The Accountant is the one who develops and maintains financial data bases. Your data base must be easily accessible to the appropriate department heads but not easily accessed from any outside source. Depending on the department that you are working you must make sure that you keep accurate and appropriate recording and analysis of revenues and expenses. As the Accountant you are often ask to give an anayize and advise on business operations including revenue and expenditure trends, financial commitments and future revenues. You might only be working one aspect of the bookkeeping for the business but you are still required to be informed about the opposite accounting reports from your department. Normally you will have a head Accountant that ties these figures together for the departments but you are required to know what is happening on both sides of the reporting.
In order to work as an Accountant you are expected to have a degree or equivalent from an accredited college. You need to have knowledge of accepted accounting practices and principles in the profession as an Accountant. The Accountant needs to have knowledge of economic principles. The Accountant needs knowledge of auditing practices and principles. The Accountant must have full knowledge of applicable laws, codes and regulations. The Accountant must have knowledge and experience of related computer applications. Many major corporations require that their Accountants have at least three years experience in the management of financial systems and budgets, financial reporting, financial data analysis, auditing, taxation and providing financial advice before you can be promoted as the department head. They will hire you as an intern or just after graduation to work on certain aspects in the department working as an Accountant.
Many Accountants get their first position by becoming an intern while still in college. The corporation will hire interns at a lower scale of pay but giving you the experience and credit that you need to becomes a licensed CPA. After graduation most companies will normally keep you on in your position letting you work your way up to a more favorable spot as an Accountant earning a much higher salary. Some Accountants use their intern experience to apply for a position in a different company getting a much higher salary.