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Accountant Job Description: All Key Roles & Duties
Accountant Job Description: All Key Roles & Duties
4 min read. Updated on April 23, 2024
Ronda Suder
Career Expert
Use this accountant job description to design a job-winning resume.
Accountants help organizations make critical financial decisions and corrections. They do this in a variety of ways, including research, audits, and data input, reporting, analysis, and tracking. Accountants can be responsible for tax reporting and filing, reconciling balance sheets, helping with departmental and organizational budgets, financial forecasting, communicating findings with stakeholders, and more. An accountant job description will include this type of information, tailored specifically to the type of accounting position listed.
Why refer to an accountant job description?
If you're an Accountant looking to land your next job and need to update your resume, one of the best resources you can turn to is an accountant job description. By reviewing job description examples, you can identify what technical and soft skills, credentials, and work experience matter most to an employer in your target field. In this post, we share an example of an accountant job description summary, followed by responsibilities, requirements, and skills.
Accountant job description example
Accountant Job Description
Prepare balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and other financial reports. Accountant duties and responsibilities also include analyzing trends, costs, revenues, financial commitments, and obligations incurred to predict future revenues and expenses.
Reports organization's finances to management and offers suggestions about resource utilization, tax strategies, and assumptions underlying budget forecasts.
Accounting candidates must be familiar with standard concepts, practices, and procedures within the [field of focus]. Astute at relying on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of additional tasks as assigned. A certain degree of creativity and latitude is required.
Works under general supervision. This position will report to [title of supervisor or manager].
Requires a bachelor's degree in accounting or a similar area of specialty and two to four years of experience in the field or in a related area. An associate's degree in accounting might be acceptable.
Accountant responsibilities
Below the general job description summary, like the example above, you'll typically see a list of responsibilities, requirements, and necessary skills, as outlined in this section and the next two.
Here are some of the accountant job description responsibilities you might find listed:
Prepare asset, liability, and capital account entries by compiling and analyzing account information
Document financial transactions by entering account information
Recommend financial actions by analyzing accounting options
Summarize current financial status by collecting information; preparing balance sheet, profit and loss statement, and other reports
Substantiate financial transactions by auditing documents
Maintain accounting controls by preparing and recommending policies and procedures
Guide accounting clerical staff by coordinating activities and answering questions
Reconcile financial discrepancies by collecting and analyzing account information
Secure financial information by completing database backups
Verify, allocate, post, and reconcile transactions
Produce error-free accounting reports and present their results
Analyze financial information and summarize financial status
Provide technical support and advice on management
Review and recommend modifications to accounting systems and generally accepted accounting procedures
Participate in financial standards setting and forecast process
Provide input into department's goal-setting process
Prepare financial statements and produce budget according to schedule
Direct internal and external audits to ensure compliance
Plan, assign, and review staff's work
Support month-end and year-end close process
Develop and document business processes and accounting policies to maintain and strengthen internal controls
Communicate effectively with clients
Contribute to a strong client relationship through positive interactions with client personnel
Communicate with Manager and/or Director on work status and client issues that arise