Accountants Job Description
Job Descriptions October 13, 2013Accountants are workers that deal, exclusively, with accounting information from confidential financial records, to tax returns, to official licenses and other paperwork.
The accountant is the one who will prepare, examine and analyze this paper work, whether in physical form or on the computer, and will assess the accuracy of all records. Furthermore, this worker’s job is to make sure all practices conform to reporting standards.
What Accountants Do
It will be your job to compile tax information for returns, make sure all systems are compliant with state and federal laws, and report any other information to the appropriate agencies. You will also be in charge of analyzing operations, business trends, rising costs and other financial liabilities.
The purpose of this is to project how much money a company is certain to make within a specified amount of time. It is not merely a numbers crunching job but also a communicative position. You are the one who reports to management ready to give a full report. The job may require you to know how to create tables, assign entries to different accounts, and to prepare customized reports.
The main focus is maintaining a budget and preparing statements beyond a bookkeeper’s capacities. As a CPA-qualified accountant, you will be developing and modifying record systems as you see fit, and at times instructing managers and bookkeepers on how to keep a more efficient system.
This may range from informal advice on a small business level, to preparing an entire manual for proper accounting procedures. You are not merely a recorder but a problem solver. You are the one who comes up with solutions to business dilemmas and discrepancies in recording.
Where the career takes you, is up to you, since you direct the future by your specialty. Some students set their sights on working in the Internal Revenue Service or another government branch. Much of your work will be in tax strategy, regardless of where you land a position.
You will also deal with internal and external auditing as well as analyzing health care benefits, data processing systems and estate planning. You may be requested to review bankruptcies or represent clients, if they are called to report on legal matters. Lastly, you may serve as an appraiser of property and inventory.
CPA Level Accounting Work
Simply put, the CPA-level accountant (Certified Public Accountant) is an expert on multiple issues of tax, evaluation and analysis. The CPA does not always deal with the problem hands on, but he/she is usually the first go-between for clients and government. This is a challenging career, whether you work independently or as part of a major organization.
One thing is for certain: it is a job that requires patience and a love of numbers, since that is where you will be burying your head, on the page and the computer screen.
This is a job that requires heavy education and not only speaking of a bachelor’s or master’s degree, but also training for the CPA title. Some accountants will actually go to school for a Master’s in Business Administration degree. This will qualify them for a number of higher ranking positions, within the organization.
This is a job that rewards both independent thinkers, as well as team players. The first step is making a choice to better yourself and seek a degree that separates you from the dreamers.
