Any state, budget or commercial enterprise carries out its activities in the framework of accounting and reporting by the chief accountant. Not a single business transaction, not a single economic process passes by the chief accountant, who controls all the accounting procedures of the company. But to comprehend the whole range of responsibilities assigned to the chief accountant, to one person, and even in a large-scale company, is quite difficult. Therefore, each head of the accounting department takes to his aid a mandatory personnel unit - an assistant chief accountant.
"Right hand" of the chief accountant
What is this position? Who is he - assistant chief accountant? What responsibilities are included in his job descriptions?
In fact, the assisting staff for the head of the accounting department is a person who performs all the technical aspects for him and takes responsibility for maintaining all the documentation assigned to him by the head. The assistant to the chief accountant is his pillar, an indispensable apprentice, practically considered his “right hand”. Initially, a young and promising person who is not devoid of ambition and desire to develop in his professional field is taken on such a position. Often, this is a recently graduated high school graduate with a short experience in the primary enterprise, to which he was sent by an educational institution. Seeking to realize himself as a worthy shot, such an employee clings tenaciously to the chance given to him to prove himself and by all means tries to prove his importance and provide professional assistance to his immediate supervisor. Meanwhile, in the process of this work, the assistant himself gains the necessary experience, acquires new knowledge, learns the way of the enterprise and enters the course of business processes.
Knowledge spectrum of the assistant to the chief accountant
However, it is not enough just to be promising and strive to conquer new career heights. The work of the assistant chief accountant is based mainly on his mandatory knowledge of the list of specific points of functioning of the department of a particular enterprise, namely:
- legislative basis of accounting;
- orders and instructions on the organization of accounting and reporting;
- main points of civil law, tax and financial legislation;
- company structure and strategic prospects of its development;
- P (C) BU;
- IFRS
- accounting documentation;
- basics of production technology;
- market management methods;
- labor legislation;
- rules and norms of labor protection.
The procedure for appointment
As is the case with any other employee, the procedure for appointing an assistant chief accountant is carried out in accordance with established labor laws. Formally, this is carried out through the director’s order to take on a new staff in the person of an accomplice of the chief accountant. In fact, the chief accountant himself selects the candidacy for the position of his assistant, looks at all kinds of resumes, conducts specific interviews, eliminates inappropriate candidates and notes for himself the most significant qualities of potential applicants for the position of his assistant. But, in any case, an employee of the accounting department hired must have a higher professional accounting or economic education, or a specialized secondary with experience in their educational profile of at least one year.
Dismissal from the post is also carried out in the manner prescribed by the current labor legislation through the order of the director upon a preliminary oral statement of the immediate supervisor - the chief accountant himself.
Conditions for hiring
According to the terms of employment, the assistant chief accountant reports directly to his supervisor and carries out his instructions as orders of his immediate superiors. In carrying out his work, the assistant chief accountant should be guided by the regulatory framework, the charter of the company, the provisions of accounting at the company, the current job descriptions and the rules of the internal labor schedule. At the same time, a prerequisite under which this shot is taken into the staff of employees is not only knowledge of the relevant regulatory framework, but also the presence of a standard set of computer skills, fluency in software applications, application of accounting programs in practice, including “ 1C ". Also, the assistant hired should understand that he can be sent on a mandatory basis, and in the case of a business trip by the chief accountant, be his deputy.
Job descriptions
The responsibilities of the assistant chief accountant are determined by the internal labor schedule of the enterprise, approved by its director, as well as by the private footnotes of the chief accountant as the direct manager of an employed employee. To conduct correct work when applying for a job, he is introduced to the list of specific functions required for mandatory performance. So, the job description of the assistant chief accountant includes:
- execution of orders and orders of its management and company administration;
- performance of work on the assigned accounting area;
- reflection in the primary documentation of the relevant business transactions;
- control of cash flow in bank accounts;
- execution of payment orders and their timely submission to the bank;
- monitoring the timeliness and correctness of capitalization and write-offs regarding cash;
- drawing up cash and other cash reports;
- making payments to the state budget and the budget at the local level;
- making settlements under lease agreements;
- ensuring the safety of accounting documentation;
- preparation of documentation for its subsequent transfer to the archive;
- participation in the inventory;
- replacement of the absent chief or ordinary accountant;
- providing methodological assistance to colleagues and employees of the unit in terms of accounting, controlling, analytical and reporting issues;
- observance of labor and production discipline.
Personal qualities and skills of the work performed
In addition to fulfilling the range of specific duties, the position of assistant chief accountant provides for the employee to possess a number of personal qualities that contribute to his high-quality functioning as a full-time unit. It is important enough to have endurance, attentiveness, perseverance, because the work is not easy, requiring constant concentration on the tasks performed. Such qualities as prudence and moderation will not interfere, because work must be performed not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively. Logical and analytical thinking, as an indispensable aspect of the professionalism of the assistant chief accountant, will become the employee’s indispensable trump cards in helping his leader. A rather important role is played by constant training of memory, especially visual, as well as commitment to one’s duty and one’s work, because the coefficient of useful activity in the work done depends on this.
Rights
Not only a separate group of duties and skills should be owned by an assistant to the chief accountant of the enterprise. In any case, he has certain rights that guide him in carrying out a specific range of tasks assigned to him by the chief accountant. What are these rights?
Firstly, he can at any time request or require the necessary materials and documents that relate directly to the accountant’s activities. No one has the right to refuse an assistant to the chief accountant in his inquiries of a financial and accounting nature or questions regarding the economic activities of the enterprise.
Secondly, he can make his conclusions to the administration of the enterprise, which will help improve the work related to the functional apparatus of accounting and sections of the entire enterprise as a whole. The orders of the chief accountant, the assistant does not have the right to challenge or object to them, but he can make his proposals, which will really be rational.
Responsibility
As for the responsibility that the assistant of the chief accountant bears, it is limited to the following aspects, upon revealing of which he may be administratively punished by reprimand or depremization:
- full or partial failure to comply with job descriptions;
- providing false information to higher management on the implementation of tasks, assignments, orders received from him, as well as violation of the period of time allotted for the performance of these tasks;
- refusal to fulfill orders, instructions and instructions of the director of the company;
- decomposition of discipline and violation of internal regulations;
- damage to the property of the company, including goods and other material values;
- disclosure of information that constitutes official or commercial secret.
Working conditions
Regarding the operating mode: the assistant to the chief accountant by order of the director agrees to comply with the exit schedule, which he has been announced as the internal labor schedule, as well as adhere to official punctuality in visiting the workplace and agreed discipline with the mandatory observance of the company dress code. If there is a production need by order of the leadership with the consent of the direct superiors of the assistant chief accountant, the latter may be sent on a business trip.
Covert duties
Speaking of the unspoken duties of an assistant, we can assume the existence of possible requirements of the chief accountant for his assistant, which are not officially recorded on paper, but have a place to be. For example, daily coffee to brew at the arrival of the authorities at work or watering flowers during his absence at the workplace. Obligations of this kind are not included in the list of job descriptions, but to maintain a normal friendly microclimate in the relationship between the boss and the subordinate, the assistant needs to follow these simple unwritten rules.
The practical significance of the frame
The assistant to the chief accountant at the plant, at the trading enterprise, at the budgetary institution is equally significant for his manager and the company as a whole. This is the very frame that ensures the uninterrupted operation of the managerial staff of the accounting department. Thanks to him, the direct activity of the chief accountant is organized and technical problems are eliminated in the established system of the accounting department as a whole. Therefore, it is a mistake to believe that the assistant chief accountant is just a “pawn” in his hands. With the right selection of personnel from the mass of worthy applicants, an assistant to the head of the accounting department can really become a valuable employee and an indispensable personnel unit in the economic activity of an enterprise.