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Accountant Job Description

Geeta Dhavale
If you have keen interest in numbers, you might become a good accountant. This story will help you know more about the job profile, salary and the skills required for this profession.
Every company does financial transactions and they are to be maintained everyday. Especially, a big organization has to maintain its daily profits and expenditures so that it becomes easier to calculate the net profit and loss.
That is why an accountant is always a must for every company. Some companies also appoint more than one accountant or a team of accountants for more precision and accuracy in the task.

Duties

General and primary responsibilities include, preparing general entries, maintaining balance sheets, ledgers, and petty cash accounts on everyday basis. Given below are some of the additional duties.
  • Maintaining daily accounts.
  • Preparing profit and loss statements annually or whenever required.
  • Maintaining the document of daily transactions on the computer as well as in hard copy format.
  • Preparing financial accounting reports and sending them to concerned authorities.
  • Paying attention to taxation issues and preparing its reports.
  • Dealing with accounting and financial irregularities.
  • Analyzing financial information and preparing financial transaction reports.
  • Finishing the given tasks within financial deadlines.
  • Establishing sound accounting procedures.
  • Coordinating implementation of financial rules and regulations.
  • Reviewing the budgets of the company allotted to different tasks.
  • Explaining staff members, clients, business partners, investors, and associats about the billing invoices and financial and accounting policies of the company.
  • Assigning tasks to junior accountants and supervising all the data documentation and complete accounting procedures.
Apart from the duties mentioned above, it also includes preparing audit reports and helping the CA with audit reports, developing budgets, financial program planning, salary recommendations, etc.

Qualification Required

Some companies may ask for accounting degree, diploma, or at least a commerce background. But some companies give priority to experienced personnel. However, if you have both, then you have better chances of getting hired by a good company. 
There are different types of accounting careers such as public accounting, management accounting, government accounting, and auditor accounting, etc. Each of the type requires different set of skills. Therefore, you must have the relevant qualifications.
Apart from this, accounting is also industry specific such as baking, investment, marketing, etc., so you must have the industry specific qualification, skills, and experience. Some of the common accounting job skills are given below:
  • An eye for detail
  • Accuracy and perfection
  • Planning, prioritizing, and organizing
  • Knowledge of economics and accounting process
  • Networking and communication skills
  • Knowledge of relevant financial policies, laws, rules, and regulations
  • Knowledge of relevant computer software
  • Problem solving skills
  • Ability to handle pressures
  • Neat and tidy work practices

Salary

The salary depends on the company, the industry, the tasks, experience, and qualification. Average salary of an accountant having an experience of 3 years is around $40,000 to $100,000. A fresher may get a package of around $31,000 approximately.
As you gain more experience in the field, your pay package will increase for sure. If you take part-time courses in accounting and business related issues, then your chances of attracting more bucks increase.