Lead Accountant: Responsibilities, Requirements and Job Descriptions

The position of a leading accountant is sometimes subject to varying interpretations. All due to the fact that the new professional standard mentions the 5th and 6th level by profession. These are, respectively, "accountant" and "chief accountant". Therefore, the question arises: who is this - the leading accountant?

The employer has the right to provide for the position of the lead accountant. At a large enterprise, this specialist heads one of the areas of work of the financial department or accounting. In budgetary institutions, the lead accountant heads the financial and material department, the settlement department and others.... Accounting in state organizations is based on the laws on the structure of budgetary institutions, strict adherence to instructions. This means that the work of the accounting department has the specifics of budgetary institutions. These are organizations of education, health care, culture.

In a children's educational institution (DOE), accountants are hired taking into account the requirements of the professional standard, which establishes education, length of service, basic labor functions, and obligations of the applicant. The lead accountant must know and follow the rules of labor protection, safety and fire safety in the assigned area... For the period of vacation, temporary disability, the work of the leading accountant is performed by a specialist who is instructed taking into account the requirements of the professional standard and instructions for the position.

In large enterprises with a large number of employees, the division of accounting into departments allows you to optimize and structure the work, clearly divide the labor functions and responsibilities of the employee for each area of ​​the accounting. The functions and responsibilities of the lead accountant are prescribed in the position manual, which is drawn up by the management.

A short list of the leading specialist's functions:

• planning and paying taxes to various budgets, funds, payments to banks;
• calculates fixed assets, material values, expenses for the manufacture and sale of products;
• financial analysis, budgeting;
• carries out operations to spend the funds of the enterprise;
• pays for the supply of equipment and with customers of products;
• works on creating new invoice payments, creating new documents for which there are no standard samples;
• prepares information for management about the activities of its accounting department, works on annual and quarterly reports;
• is responsible for the storage of accounting documents, transfers them to the archive;
• works on inventory and write-off;
• accepts reports from accountable persons on the expenditure of funds for economic needs.

The employer in the job description independently puts forward the composition of the functions of the leading accountant. At the same time, he is guided by the peculiarities of production, the size of the organization, and the requirements of the professional standard.

The selection of applicants and the appointment of a leading accountant is handled by the management of the enterprise and organization. This accounting employee reports to the chief accountant or his deputy... The accountant and senior accountant are hired and dismissed by the chief accountant. This is the main difference between a leading specialist and ordinary employees.

A lead accountant is a specialist who is assigned to several areas of accounting at the same time. He coordinates the work of junior and senior accountants, who are more specialized and do less important work. Advises employees of his department on the tax code of the Russian Federation, related to the work of the enterprise, changes in accounting legislation.

The new professional standard for an accountant, developed and adopted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation in 2019, does not require all organizations to be guided by this document in their work. A commercial organization can put forward qualification requirements without observing professional standards. A list of organizations that must take into account the requirements of the professional standard is indicated. These include budgetary institutions. The management of budgetary organizations can be punished if the requirements of the professional standard in the work of the accounting department are not observed.

This document clearly regulates:

• labor functions;
• characteristics of these functions;
• qualification requirements for an accountant who performs this function;
• characteristics of professional education and additional training of chief accountants, accountants of the 2nd and 1st categories;
• necessary skills, knowledge for each function in accounting.

And although the duties of the leading accountant are not specified in the professional standard, this is a specialist of the highest category. His professional knowledge and skills, skills must meet the qualification requirements of the chief accountant.

According to the law "On accounting in the Russian Federation", the following are considered:

• applicant's special education diploma;
• practical experience in the specialty;
• no criminal record for years of work in the profession.

The new standard has increased recommendations for education and work experience. The qualifications of a leading accountant must correspond to level 6 according to the requirements of the professional standard.

• This is a higher specialized education, the profession of "accounting and audit", 3 years of experience as a manager from the last 5 years of work in this specialty.
• If the special education is at the bachelor's level, the work experience of the chief accountant must be at least 5 years.
• In case of non-core higher education, additional retraining in the profession of an accountant is required.
• For employees with only secondary specialized education, you need experience in accounting. He must be 7 years old or more.
• The professional standard requires constant work to improve qualifications. The specific figure is 120 hours of advanced training in total over the last 3 years of work in accounting.

Job description is a basic document that defines the functions, rights and responsibilities of an employee.

The leading specialist has the right to:

• get acquainted with the decisions of the management in relation to his professional duties;
• improve working methods, present them to the management;
• inform about problems that have arisen and propose methods for their elimination;
• receive information and documentationrequired in the work.

The responsibility of each employee is stipulated in the job description and employment contract. The amount of liability for poor-quality performance of duties, for violations as a result of professional activities, for financial damage caused to an enterprise or organization is negotiated. Responsibility comes under the Labor Code, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. An administrative penalty is possible.

An accountant who has made a mistake in his work is financially liable if a liability agreement has been concluded. Compensates for damage to the company within the limits specified in the employment contract... This right is provided for in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the employee cannot be punished for lost profits or for insufficient receipt of interest on loans. In some cases, a fine is imposed for late submission of reports.

Damage caused by criminal activity is compensated for by a court decision. Responsibility can also come after dismissal... According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, you can file a claim for damages within 1 year. In this case, the management of the organization needs to prove that the damage occurred as a result of the employee's activities.