Accountant Job Description

An accountant’s job involves working to ensure that business enterprises and individuals keep good records and pay taxes properly and on time. Although the accountant job description for some accounting positions may be simple, other accountant job descriptions are not as clear cut due to the number of functions that are required.

In general, an accountant performs vital functions for businesses, as well as individuals, of all kinds by offering a wide range of business and accounting services, including public, management, and government accounting, as well as internal auditing. These four main fields of accounting, and in addition to having a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, each have a separate accountant job description.

1. Public Accountant

The job description of a CPA can be summarized as what most people think of as the “typical” job of an accountant. It involves performing a wide range of accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting activities for its clients, which may be corporations, governments, non-profit organizations, and individuals. Public accounting specialties are often chosen. For example, a CPA may choose to focus on tax matters, such as advising businesses on the tax advantages and disadvantages of certain business decisions and preparing individual income tax returns. Other public accountants may choose areas such as employee compensation or health care benefits, or may design accounting and data processing systems. Still other public accountants may choose to specialize in auditing financial statements and inform investors and authorities that the statements have been properly prepared and reported. Public accountants are usually certified public accountants (CPAs) and typically own their own businesses or work for public accounting firms.

2.Management counter

Another accountant job description is that of a management accountant. Also called cost, managerial, industrial, corporate, or private accounting, managerial accountants record and analyze the financial information of the companies for which they work. The management accountant job description includes a detailed list of responsibilities, such as budgeting, performance evaluation, cost management, and asset management. Management accountants are often part of executive teams involved in strategic planning or new product development, where they analyze and interpret the financial information that corporate executives need to make sound business decisions. They also prepare financial reports for other groups, including shareholders, creditors, regulatory bodies, and tax authorities. Management accountants are typically part of an accounting department, employ a large business, and may work in many areas that may include financial analysis, planning, budgeting, and cost accounting.

3. Government Accountant

A government accountant works in the public sector, maintaining and examining the records of government agencies and auditing private companies and individuals whose activities are subject to government regulation and/or tax. This accountant job description, while detailed, is much more specialized. Government accountants are employees of federal, state, or local governments and work to ensure that revenue is received and expenditures are made in accordance with laws and regulations. Federal government employees may work as agents for the Internal Revenue Service or in financial management, inspection of financial institutions, or budget analysis and administration.

4. Accountant Internal Auditor

The accountant job description of an internal auditor can basically be summed up by the job title. Internal auditors verify the accuracy of your organization’s internal records and check for mismanagement, waste, or fraud. It is an increasingly important area of ​​accounting as internal auditors examine and evaluate their companies’ financial and information systems, management procedures, and internal controls to ensure that records are accurate and controls are adequate to protect against fraud and waste. They also review the company’s operations, assessing its efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance with corporate policies and procedures, laws, and government regulations. The job description of an internal auditor bookkeeper can vary among different companies and can include job tasks such as electronic data processing, environmental auditing, engineering, legal auditing, insurance reviews, banking, and health care auditing.

Accountants in all four areas may work for a company, or they may be employed by an accounting firm, which in turn would be hired by a consulting firm. An accountant may also be self-employed and provide bookkeeping services to individuals, businesses, or both.

Most accounting jobs include an accountant job description that requires a bachelor’s degree, at minimum, in accounting or a related field, and some accountant job descriptions may include a requirement for a master’s degree or Certified Public Accounting (CPA) certification. CPA), obtained through a four-part, Uniform Explanation of CPA prepared by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). While the two-day CPA exam is rigorous, with only about 25 percent of test takers passing all the parts they attempt, CPA certification can go a long way in helping the pay rate received, and in In most states, the test can be taken in two. parts, which can help you prepare for and pass the exam.

According to the US Department of Labor, employment of accountants and auditors is expected to grow at a faster-than-average rate, for all accounting occupations of all of the above accounting job descriptions, through the year 2014. This It is due to an increase in the number of businesses across the country, changes in financial laws and regulations, and increased scrutiny of business finances. In addition to these reasons for new accounting jobs opening, there will also be a need to replace accountants and auditors who will retire or transfer to other occupations.

The field is also becoming more specialized due to technology and precise new expertise in accounting and auditing software that is becoming a crucial addition to an accountant’s job description. An accountant’s job description may include, in addition to educational and technological requirements, strong interpersonal and communication skills, simply due to the fact that most accountants work in teams with others from different backgrounds, and will need the ability to Communicate accounting and financial information clearly. and concisely.

Regardless of one’s qualifications, competition in the accounting field will remain strong for the most prestigious jobs, as well as gaining clients for those accountants who are self-employed.