Chief accountant: description and job functions

A chief accountant works in almost every institution of different levels, as well as in companies of individual entrepreneurs. A person occupying this profession often manages an entire structural unit - accounting. For to occupy this position, you need a higher education, as well as knowledge of the job description and the possession of a set of certain professional and personal qualities.

A clear definition of the profession is not fixed in any legislative act. But, based on generally accepted sources, we can say that the chief accountant is a specialist whose job responsibilities include maintaining accounting records in any organization. In the sphere of responsibility - material, economic, labor and financial resources. It should be noted that a specialist in this field must necessarily have a higher education in economics.

In most companies, the chief accountant is the second person after the head, who may well replace him. This specialist bears a great responsibility for the material and financial well-being of the company. A specialist of this level belongs to the category of employees at the managerial level.

Like any other profession, this one has its advantages and disadvantages. There are enough positive aspects in such work.

1. High profit payment. Of course, this indicator directly depends on the status and size of the organization in which the person works, as well as on the region. But all the same, in comparison with ordinary employees, the chief accountant earns an order of magnitude more. So, on average, the salary of a specialist of this level varies from 30 to 300 thousand rubles per month.

2. Office work.

3. Career prospect. So, any chief accountant can become the head of an organization, as well as open his own business. Accounting and auditing services are highly valued.

4. For people involved in this profession, experience is very important, but not age. So, a good accountant will still be in demand even after reaching the retirement age.

5. Even if you leave your previous job, getting a new job will not be difficult. The demand in the job market always remains at a high level.

6. Opportunity to retrain into a related profession. For example, if something does not suit you in the work of an accountant, or you want to try new areas: economist, auditor, financier and some others.

7. Possibility of additional earnings. So, an accountant can keep records of several firms at once (if free time allows).

Despite the large number of advantages, there are also disadvantages.

1. Any activity of a chief accountant primarily involves great responsibility. So, even for unintentional actions, not only administrative, but also criminal liability can arise. Quite impressive amounts of fines can be imposed on a person.

2. The monotony of the work performed. The professional duties of any accountant, including the chief accountant, can be safely called cyclical and monotonous. Drawing up the same reporting, postings, documents. The only changes occur only with the numbers.

3. Uneven load distribution. Thus, increased tension is observed at the end of each quarter and year as a whole, since it is during these periods that reporting is drawn up.

4. Working with small numbers on paper.

5. A lot of time at the computer, due to which vision is reduced.

6. Sedentary work: the musculoskeletal system suffers, excess weight can be gained, problems with veins.

To choose or not to choose this profession is everyone's personal business. But before you go to study or take up the position of chief accountant, you need to weigh and think over all the advantages and disadvantages several times.

A job description should be developed for the chief accountant in each enterprise and institution. When taking office, a person must familiarize himself with the content of this document. And he also puts his signature, which certifies the fact of familiarization and further adherence to this instruction.

The job description should be designed in such a way that it contains three main sections:

• responsibilities - what a person will do in the course of his professional activity;

• rights - this section contains provisions that are guaranteed to a person in the workplace;

• a responsibility - the responsibility of the chief accountant should be clearly spelled out here.

Each point of the job description must be strictly observed both by the chief accountant and by the head. That is, all participants in the production process must strictly adhere to everything written in the document. And one more important point - the job description should be developed taking into account the current legislation, which is, first of all, the professional standard. A typical instruction in this case will not be entirely appropriate.

Any job description drawn up for a chief accountant invariably begins with general provisions on the profession. After that, the first and very important section begins in the document, where all the duties of the chief accountant, which he must perform while at his workplace, are detailed and clearly spelled out.

So, depending on the specifics of the organization, job responsibilities may vary, but the essence remains the same. The duties of the chief accountant include clear, correct and timely management of the financial and economic activities of the institution. Actually, this is the essence of the profession.

Sometimes the head of an organization may not know all the intricacies of accounting. That is why the chief accountant must independently learn about the changes that arise and apply his knowledge in accounting. If this is not done, then the responsibility for non-compliance will first of all be assigned to this employee.

If the company is quite large, then the accounting department has several employees. So, all their work is completely subordinate to the chief accountant. The functional duties of this person include control over all areas. The powers of the chief accountant include raising the issue of hiring and dismissing an employee. In addition, in the temporary absence of the head, the chief accountant may well replace him.

Since the functions of the chief accountant include the maintenance of electronic accounting, he has the right to demand from the head the presence of certain devices and devices at the workplace:

• personal computer;

• required installed licensed programs;

• calculator and other office supplies.

And also the chief accountant has the right to demand from the head reliable information about any activities of the organization. This is very important because it is on the basis of this that he carries out his work.

The chief accountant also has the right to demand from the employees of each link under his control, the execution of all requests and orders that do not violate the current legislation.

The profile of any chief accountant carries a lot of responsibility. So, the employee is fully responsible for the following actions:

• the correctness of the preparation of all reporting and accounting;

• each signature in a document can entail a lot of consequences, including negative ones;

• The chief accountant is responsible not only for his own activities, but also for the work performed by other accountants of the institution.

It should be noted that the work of the chief accountant is periodically checked by field audits. It is at these moments that a large number of errors made in the process of accounting are revealed.

As mentioned above, in order to hold the position of chief accountant, a person must first study a lot. Initially, at least one higher education is required.

If you turn to the qualification reference book, it becomes clear that each chief accountant must have a higher specialized education (economics, accounting, auditing). At the same time, there is no particular difference between the levels of higher education. That is, an applicant for a position may have a specialist, bachelor's or master's degree. But it is important that education is specialized.

It is better if the chief accountant has worked for at least 5 years as an ordinary accountant before taking office. It is believed that during this time a person will receive the bulk of professional knowledge and skills. In addition, during this time a person will have experience in solving various non-standard situations. But this is only in theory. In practice, if the head of the company agrees to hire a person without experience, then he has every right to do so.

But even if a person gets a good higher education, this will not be enough. The system is designed in such a way that the legislation is constantly changing. In order to work according to the new established rules and laws, the chief accountant is obliged to regularly take refresher courses.

A person who is applying for the position of chief accountant must have a specific temperament. For most managers, the main personal qualities of an accountant are decency and honesty. This is, of course, very important, but they are definitely not enough to keep all the accounting records in the institution. So, the chief accountant must have the following personal qualities:

• scrupulousness;

• devotion;

• discipline;

• high stress resistance;

• patience.

These are the main key characteristics. If a person's nervous system is weak, and his character is soft, then no matter how good his education he may have, it will be extremely difficult for him to work as a chief accountant. And also very important is high performance.

A feature of all accounting and economic reporting is its urgency. This means that a particular report must be submitted to a specific date. If in the reporting period (it does not matter, month, quarter or year) there were any inaccuracies, then difficulties may arise in the process of drawing up reports. Because of this, the chief accountant very often has to stay late at work. Not every person is ready for this.

Based on the definition of the position, as already mentioned, the chief accountant is supposed to have a higher specialized education. Specialists of this level are trained at the economics departments of many Russian and foreign universities.

Most accountants keep records in a specialized program called 1C. There are many software configurations, but the essence remains the same.

Education, received several years ago, is not enough. Mandatory periodic retraining is required. You need to improve your qualification level at least once a year. For convenience, educational institutions of different levels organize special training courses for accountants in different areas. After completing such courses, the accountant is issued a supporting document: a diploma or certificate.

After receiving education, a person is recommended to work for several years (from 3 to 5) as an ordinary accountant. After gaining the necessary professional experience and if you wish, you can safely take up the position of chief accountant.

The modern job market offers many different options. So, a person can work in government institutions of different levels, or get a job with an individual entrepreneur.

As budgetary institutions can be considered: kindergartens, schools, hospitals, social service centers, employment centers. As a rule, the chief accountant takes up his post precisely in the centralized accounting department.

From a commercial environment, the construction sector, insurance, and trading companies are good options. There are a lot of options.

As mentioned above, the salary of a good chief accountant can only be envied. Of course, the level of income depends on the region. So, the highest salaries are observed in the Moscow region, the Leningrad region, in the northern regions and in the Far East.

The average salary is from 30 to 300 thousand rubles, but this is not the limit. A person can earn much more if he picks up a large amount of work. Of course, quality should not suffer from this, since the consequences can be very unpleasant and problematic.

To get high earnings, you can keep records in foreign companies. But for this you need to know the legislation of a particular country. The most important thing in the work of a chief accountant is to do the job efficiently and meet deadlines, then the income will be high, and fines will not reduce it.