Accountant for primary documentation: responsibilities, requirements, career growth

An accountant is a well-known, popular, and most importantly, a demanded profession. No company can do without such a specialist. At the same time, large organizations with a large number of departments hire not one specialist, but an entire accounting department. In such a department, there is always a professional who works with primary documentation. Today, in our material, we will analyze the features of an accountant for primary documentation, as well as the duties of a specialist, requirements, career growth.

In fact, an accountant for primary documentation - This is the specialist who handles the processing of documents such as delivery notes, sales receipts and shipping documents. Such professionals are employed in enterprises that specialize in various fields (for example, they are engaged in trade, construction, transportation, and so on). Employees who hold this position must have detailed knowledge of document flow, have a diploma of education, as well as be responsible, attentive, punctual, and have an analytical mindset. The profession is popular among young people and brings good income.

Before finally choosing this career path, it is important to evaluate all the features of the profession. First of all, we will consider the main advantages of this profession.

• Comfortable working conditions. The primary accountant usually works in an office space. Accordingly, he has his own workplace. In addition, the work schedule itself is quite convenient: the specialist has weekends and holidays, as well as a full social package.
• Career. A person who holds the position of an accountant for primary documentation does not stay in this place throughout his career. He gets promoted and over time can become a chief accountant, head of department, or even director of an enterprise.
• Decent earnings. A highly qualified, experienced and interested specialist receives a decent material reward for his work. It's no secret that each of us is looking not only for an interesting and exciting, but also for a profession that will bring us a decent income.
• Demand. If you have a degree in accountancy, then you will never be left without a job. As mentioned above, no enterprise can do without such a specialist.

However, in addition to the merits, there are a number of negative characteristics of the profession.

1. High workload. Any enterprise has a large amount of primary documentation, with which this professional deals in the course of his work. Accordingly, during the working day, the specialist performs a large number of functions and is constantly loaded.
2. Scrupulousness. In order for an accountant to efficiently and competently perform his work duties, he must be as attentive as possible, even in relation to seemingly insignificant details. Accordingly, this kind of work is not suitable for everyone.
3. Routine. The work of a specialist who deals with the processing of primary documentation is associated with the performance of the same tasks every day. Thus, to be a successful professional, you must be inclined towards this type of activity. Creativity and creativity at work will not work.

However, before getting an appropriate education and applying for this position, you need to carefully evaluate all the characteristics of the profession, and also attribute them to your abilities, desires and personality traits. Only with their complete coincidence will you be able to perform your functional duties as efficiently and competently as possible, respectively - to be respected among colleagues and be in demand among employers.

The functional responsibilities that a specialist in the processing of primary documentation deals with on a daily basis are included in a special document - it is called a "job description". It is on its basis that the accountant does his job and carries out all his professional functions. Thus, the job description is a kind of regulation.

The main responsibilities of an accountant for primary documentation include the following:

• filling in primary papers for accounting;
• extract of the necessary documents;
• accounting of documents governing and regulating the economic activities of the enterprise;
• control over the implementation of the document flow process;
• checking the correctness of the preparation of primary documentation by other employees;
• formation of summary reports;
• preparation of complete sets of documentation and so on.

At the same time, it should be borne in mind that, although the job description itself is a standardized document, many employers modify or supplement the list of employee job responsibilities.

When writing a vacancy on the search for an employee for the position of an accountant for primary documentation, employers strictly prescribe what a specialist should know and what should be able to do.

The specialist should know the following:

• all regulatory documents of the Russian Federation that regulate the document flow process, and are also related to archival affairs;
• tax and financial laws;
• internal documentation of the enterprise, namely - the charter, orders, and so on;
• rules for filling out and drawing up primary documentation;
• labor legislation of the Russian Federation;
• rules for working with a computer and specialized accounting programs and databases.

The specialist should be able to:

• prepare primary documents in paper and electronic (on a computer) formats;
• be able to carry out a comprehensive and detailed check of the primary documentation received by the enterprise;
• be able to work in the 1C program;
• store documents correctly.

It should be noted that these requirements are basic, but not final.

To take the position of an accountant for primary documentation, you need to go through the appropriate training. This can be done both in a secondary vocational and in a higher educational institution. Many specialists first graduate from technical school, and then, simultaneously with their work activities, study at the correspondence department of the university.

When choosing an educational institution give preference to the most status and prestigious educational organizations. Today there are several areas of training, after graduating from which you can get the position of an accountant for primary documentation. For example, one of the most popular specialties is “Accounting, Analysis and Auditing”. After you have decided on a specific educational institution, you need to visit its admissions office and clarify which exams you need to take.

The training process lasts at least 3 years. Moreover, if you decide to receive higher educational degrees, then this period may increase by 2 or even 3 times. In addition, to move up the career ladder, you need to regularly take refresher courses, attend specialized seminars and conferences. Only in this way will you remain a relevant and in-demand employee in the personnel market.

Young specialists after graduation and without work experience can apply for the position of an accountant for primary documentation. However, be prepared for the fact that the employer can check not only the presence of formal professional qualifications (for example, a diploma of education), but also actual knowledge. Certification tests or interviews may be conducted for this.

This is especially true for those who were serious about the practice and showed their best side. After working in a starting position for several years, you may qualify for a promotion. Gradually, an accountant who specializes in primary documentation can reach the position of head of a department or even director of an enterprise, especially if a person manifests himself as an active and proactive employee.