One of the most important and significant positions in the enterprise is an accountant. It is he who is responsible for all finances and calculations. It is believed that only with a good accountant can an enterprise become successful.
General Provisions
Specialists in this position are representatives of a professional group. Only management can appoint or remove them. Especially if the position of "leading accountant" is considered. All appointments must be carried out in strict compliance with the laws of the country. He must obey the main management of accounting.
Functions
The lead accountant must keep records of all irreversible assets in their entirety. He also deals with accounting for all funds, assets, stocks. His responsibilities include controlling the organization’s capital. All actions must comply with the organization’s regulations, taking into account its scope and technologies for data processing.
The responsibilities of the lead accountant also include providing the management with reliable and complete information contained in the documents of the primary type relating to accounting. After coordinating his actions with the higher management, he must personally cooperate with banks, making payments on behalf of the enterprise, including taxes, payments under credit agreements, etc.
During the inventory, he must personally regulate the process of work. He also takes part in the processing of data that is directly related to compensation for losses in connection with the loss, theft and damage to the property of the organization, its branches and other structures belonging to the enterprise.
The job description of the leading accountant implies that he will prepare the data, then to enter it in the financial statements. He must also create and prepare, in accordance with the requirements, periodic reports of all types and forms based on accounting data. He must prepare the processed documentation, report data and information contained in the registers in order to save it.
When accountant participation is required
The accountant’s training is necessary when making proposals to management in such situations:
- if you need to make changes to the accounting policy, modernize business or other management accounting, improving it, or change the rules for the circulation of documentation;
- if it is necessary to develop additional systems, including accounts and registers of reports, analytics or business operations management;
- if it is necessary to ensure the safety of property, to control how efficiently and rationally the resources of the material, labor or financial type are used;
- if you need to control the receipt or payment of credit obligations of the enterprise.
Such requirements are put forward to the employee by the job description of the leading accountant.
Responsibilities
In addition, the job description of the leading accountant implies that he will constantly monitor the changes and study the documents of the normative and reference staff regarding the issues of maintaining and organizing accounting records. Also, based on his own conclusions and analysis of the proposed information, he will propose the introduction of certain changes in the organization. In some cases, he will have to fulfill the instructions of his leadership, offered to him privately.
Rights
The job description of the leading accountant of a public institution implies that the employee has certain rights, namely:
- he can study draft decisions of the management team of the organization that are directly related to his official duties;
- he can draw up and offer his immediate leadership methods and measures that can improve and make more efficient the fulfillment of his labor duties provided for by the official list;
- taking into account the competence of the position, the employee can notify the management of any shortcomings that, in his opinion, harm the company's activities; if any, then propose their own solutions to resolve the problems;
- if necessary, request documentation from his superiors, or any other information that he needs to fulfill his direct duties;
- also the job description of the lead accountant implies that, if necessary, he can attract any specialist from all departments of the organization where he works, so that they help him complete the tasks assigned to him by the management;
- if necessary, he may request the assistance of management in fulfilling the duties that it has entrusted to him.
Responsibility
The job description of the leading accountant of the budgetary cultural institution and other enterprises implies that the specialist in this position is responsible for the performance of his duties. He must be responsible for his actions in accordance with state legislation. He is responsible for any offenses that he committed during the performance of his duties under this instruction. Moreover, he can be attracted for administrative, civil and criminal liability, depending on what kind of offense he commits. The lead accountant is also responsible for any material damage caused to the company in the process of fulfilling its duties.
What should know
The accountant’s CV should indicate that he knows all the management information, including methodological and regulatory materials related to organizational matters, accounting accounting and reporting on the financial activities of the company. In addition, he is obliged to know the accounting policy, accounting registers, the rules for maintaining the circulation of documents in the company. It is also understood that he is aware of how the technology for processing all the information related to accounting in the organization works.
His knowledge should also include a plan for accounting for the company's capital, its assets, business operations and liabilities. He is acquainted with labor legislation and the system of management accounting, control and reporting. And of course, knowledge of labor protection rules at the enterprise is important.
Qualification
In order to be hired, an accountant’s resume should include that he has a specialist diploma. He must have a university degree with a specialist diploma, and preferably a master's degree. Education should be in the appropriate direction. It is advisable that he graduate from continuing education courses.
Employers usually pay attention to specialists who have a minimum length of service in this position for at least two years. Especially when it comes to specialists of the first category.
First category
There are various categories that a candidate for the position of lead accountant can get. Qualification requirements for the first category: a bachelor’s, master’s or specialist’s diploma with the necessary level of training is required. It is also important to take advanced training courses in the appropriate direction. If the candidate has a master’s diploma, then he can be hired without the length of service. With a specialist diploma, an employee must have at least two years of experience as a second category accountant. Bachelors need work experience of three years.
Second category
Very rarely, specialists with the second category are hired by the lead accountant. Qualification requirements for the second category: higher education and vocational training courses in the relevant direction. Candidates with a specialist diploma require work experience only in some organizations. But for candidates with a bachelor’s diploma, you must have at least two years of experience in this position.
Professional Standard for Chief Accountant
An employee holding the post of chief accountant is required to prepare and then transfer the financial statements of the enterprise to management and to the appropriate structures. In other words, it should prepare financial statements, consolidated financial statements taking into account IFRS, exercise internal control over how the employees of its department keep records. He is also responsible for planning and maintaining tax reporting in the company, as well as transferring payments to the relevant institutions.
It is the lead accountant who must deal with tax reporting. The professional standard implies that such a serious matter should be handled by a qualified leader, and not an ordinary employee of the enterprise. This is quite justified, because in large companies the preparation of such documentation requires special knowledge and perseverance. And any mistake or typo can result in the loss of huge amounts of money or even criminal liability. If the company has only one accountant, then when preparing reports for the tax it must be called the "main".
Professional standard for an accountant
The responsibilities of the accountant include the implementation of the final synthesis of the managerial life of the organization. In other words, he must carry out counts in registers, take stock and allocate balances, as well as close the turnover in the accounts of the company. According to the standard, accountants are employees who are engaged in accounting and other accounting operations.
That is, they perform operations related to simple, and most often they are responsible only for a specific department or field of activity of the company. For the employer, it will be best to divide their employees into categories, and for each position to draw up a separate job description.