Accountant Job Description & Profile

Job Description for Accountants

Accountants are responsible for managing the books of accounts of a company. These books of accounts include ledgers that are necessary from a tax or regulatory perspective and various periodic reports needed for internal management. Some examples of such reports include the profit and loss statement, the balance sheet, the cash flow statement, the purchase ledger, the fixed asset register, etc.

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The following list provides a general breakdown of Accountants’ tasks.

Management and Preparation of Financial Statements

According to the relevant laws, accountants assist in drafting statutory audits for the organisation. The main activity for accountants is the preparation and management of various financial statements, ledgers, and books of account for the company. Accountants are responsible for the preparation of periodic accounting reporting packages. In addition to the various financial statements, accountants also handle the general ledger, including payments, receivables, bills, etc.

The accounting team leads the effort to make sure that periodic accounting statements are generated promptly and disseminated to management and other departments as per their requirements. They must take ownership of these reports, which means seeking input from all the different departments, correcting errors, performing reconciliations, and formatting and distributing them to the end users.

Assisting in Company Operations

The extent to which an accountant is involved in the business’s general operation depends on the company’s business structure. For example, an accountant might be responsible for maintaining a small company’s daily purchase ledger, refunds, and ad hoc payments. The company could only operate daily with someone being accountable for these activities.

Audit Assistance

 They design and provide relevant data for both internal and external auditors. Ensuring accuracy in this data is paramount, and any lapses can lead to significant penalties. Accountants, therefore, need to be aware of all regulatory ramifications of the various line items in the reports. Misclassifying line items or miscategorising certain expenses can be a frequent problem, and accountants must guard against that.

Accountants are responsible for collating and submitting statutory and regulatory information. They are also responsible for responding to any ad hoc queries regarding such matters.

Leadership Related Tasks

Senior executives in the accounting department are responsible for coordinating and managing the deliverables of their departments. 

Accounting executives are also responsible for training and motivating their departments and coordinating management-level activities and decisions with other departments.

Supporting the Finance Department

Accountants also assist finance managers and the finance department in fulfilling their duties. Providing them with recurring data and statements or attending to their ad hoc inquiries are two examples of how to do this. The finance and accounting departments work closely since most of their activities overlap or depend on each other.

Tasks Based on Specialisation

Accountants generally focus on one or more of the specialisations available within the accounting division, especially in larger businesses where there is enough work for several accounting specialists. For example, the company might have an accountant who is only responsible for managing the accounts receivables of the company. In that case, the accountant would focus specifically on that task, coordinate with others to execute it and report as needed.

Such specialisations include accounts payable, tax-related activities, pension-related accounting, valuations, reconciliations, consolidating group statements, etc.     

Learn more about a career as an Accountant. The following articles cover the job description, salaries, CV-building tips and more.

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