WHAT DOES A COMPANY ACCOUNTANT DO?

Published: August 6, 2024 - The Company Accountant spearheads the development of accounting and budgetary procedures to bolster internal controls and enhance financial data accuracy. Implements robust systems to prepare financial statements and monitor budget compliance, ensuring the safeguarding of assets and fraud prevention. Provides strategic financial insights and taxation advice, playing a crucial role in guiding company financial decisions and operational planning.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Company Accountant

1. Company Accountant Duties

  • Management Reporting Coordination: Coordinate the preparation and provision of accurate and timely management reporting on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis, from journal entries to report improvements.
  • Cash Flow Management: Manage cash flows and maintain accurate cash flow forecasting.
  • Budget Management: Support the preparation of annual budgets and undertake periodic re-forecasts.
  • Management Support: Provide support to management with reporting, analytical and decision-support assistance.
  • Process Improvement: Drive the continuous improvement in business management processes including cost control and pricing maintenance.
  • Internal Auditing: Conduct internal audits & reviews as required in conjunction with CFO.
  • General Ledger Oversight: Support the management of the General Ledger (GL), ensuring that key GL accounts are reconciled and accurately reflect the performance and position of the business.
  • Team Collaboration: Be an active team member providing commercial accounting and financial support across the business.
  • Audit Preparation: Prepare requirements for external audit and liaise with auditors regarding financial accounts.
  • Budget Analysis: Assist with the preparation of budgets, forecasts, and tracking of budget analysis.

2. Company Accountant Details

  • Internal Controls Development: Develop accounting and budgetary procedures and policies to establish effective internal controls.
  • Financial Integrity Enhancement: Enhance the accuracy and validity of financial data and serve as a mechanism to safeguard the company’s financial assets, and to prevent fraud.
  • Financial Reporting: Prepare financial statements and monthly closing and cost accounting reports for directors, management, and shareholders to measure business performance.
  • Internal Systems Coordination: Establish, maintain, and coordinate the implementation of internal control systems.
  • Budget Analysis: Analyze revenue and expenditure trends and recommend appropriate budget levels, ensuring expenditure control on a weekly basis.
  • Financial Variance Analysis: Examine the company's income, expenditure, and operating costs, and report to management on variances from the budget.
  • Financial Decision Support: Recommend financial actions by analyzing accounting options and resolving accounting discrepancies.
  • Financial Systems Management: Recommend, develop, and maintain financial databases, computer software systems, and manual filing systems.
  • Taxation Advice: Provide taxation advice on business structures, plans, and operations.
  • Cash Flow Analysis: Conduct cash flow analysis to assist management in making decisions regarding sales and marketing plans, purchasing, inventory, human resources, and investments.

3. Company Accountant Responsibilities

  • Statutory Compliance: Manage monthly, quarterly, and annual procedures to meet statutory reporting obligations including FBT, BAS, Payroll Tax, WorkCover, Novated Leases, and ABS surveys.
  • Financial Reporting: Prepare and manage monthly and year-end financial accounts and reporting to Executive, Board, and key stakeholders and balance sheet and other reconciliations.
  • Revenue Management: Prepare weekly revenue report and manage sales commissions.
  • Payroll Management: Manage payroll via external provider for payment of wages and superannuation including statutory superannuation for contractors.
  • Tax Reporting: Prepare and report Single Touch Payroll (STP) and prepare taxation returns for the company and employees.
  • Regional Compliance: Payroll Tax Reporting to States and Northern Territory governments for nationwide operations.
  • Financial Accounting: Bookkeeping and preparation of financial statements, statutory reporting including annual reports, income tax returns, and VAT.
  • Cost Monitoring: Monthly financial reporting and cost monitoring.
  • International Accounting: Ongoing reconciliation and accounting on an international level.
  • Quality Assurance: Ensuring quality of the accounting and reporting to clients.

4. Company Accountant Accountabilities

  • Accounts Maintenance Oversight: Oversee the ongoing maintenance of accounts and ensure aged creditors are reconciled to statements.
  • Payroll Accuracy: Ensure payroll is accurate and records are maintained.
  • Budgeting Support: Support management in the accurate production of budgets and cash flow forecasts.
  • Account Reconciliation: Reconcile accounts including receivable and payable.
  • Cash Flow Monitoring: Ensure cash flow is closely monitored and information is provided weekly and on an ad-hoc basis.
  • WIP Reconciliation: Ensure WIP is reconciled to project cost details in Sage.
  • Funds Management: Handle funds requests to investors and perform bank reconciliations.
  • Tax Reporting: Manage monthly and quarterly VAT returns for various companies.
  • Financial Reporting: Produce management accounts for two separate legal entities either monthly or quarterly, providing WIP balances and project actuals compared to forecasts.
  • Project Expense Reporting: Provide spend by project/site on an ad-hoc basis.

5. Company Accountant Functions

  • Invoice Management: Posting sales invoices, allocating receipts.
  • Expense Coding: Coding and posting purchase invoices.
  • Payment Processing: Creating single and batch supplier payments.
  • Reconciliation Duties: Make month-end and year-end reconciliation prior to submission to the external auditor.
  • Report Generation: Producing in-depth management reports including P&L, aged debtors, sales territory, products, and others.
  • Petty Cash Management: Make reconciliation of petty cash and monitoring payment records.
  • Sales Accounting: Make salesmen receipts, credit card categorization.
  • Commission Handling: Make commissions payable: salesman, agents.
  • Tax Filing: Make VAT and Intrastat monthly returns.
  • Credit Management: Checking credit ratings on customers and setting credit limits on customer accounts.
  • Debt Collection: Direct pursuance of default debtors by phone, email, fax, and letter.

6. Company Accountant Job Description

  • Debt Management: Maintain a detailed Excel spreadsheet of debt-chasing activity.
  • Customer Billing: Issue monthly customer statements and make banking cheques.
  • Financial Forecasting: Make cash flow and expenditure forecasting reports and spreadsheets.
  • Insurance Management: Deal with all insurance issues.
  • Pension Administration: Administer pension schemes: staff and Directors’ accounts and contributions.
  • Management Reporting: Produce monthly management accounts reports: monthly sales, territory sales, forecast vs. achieved.
  • Payroll Processing: Make salary advice notes, reconciliation, and distribution of payslips.
  • Procedure Updating: Regularly update (and create new) Accounts procedures on the server.
  • Auditor Liaison: Maintain contact with auditors and authorities.
  • Team Support: Help colleagues and provide support to accountants in the team.
  • Data Accuracy: Provide accurate financial data to the company.

7. Company Accountant Overview

  • Audit Support: Assisting in the external audit process of the Group.
  • Tax Compliance Management: Handling tax compliance of the Group (BAS, Payroll Tax, PAYG, Superannuation, Child Support).
  • Journal Processing: Calculate and process month-end journals.
  • Ledger Reconciliation: Make general ledger reconciliations.
  • Fixed Asset Management: Managing fixed assets and processing of depreciation.
  • Accruals Processing: Processing prepayments and accruals.
  • Payroll Assistance: Work with HR and Managers within the payroll system to assist in the processing of payroll.
  • Accountant Liaison: Liaise with external accountants regarding tax and statutory accounts.
  • Staff Management: Management of one member of staff.
  • Team Leadership: Direct line management of two assistant accountants as well as being indirectly responsible for a further team of ten.

8. Company Accountant Details and Accountabilities

  • Reporting Oversight: Preparation and oversight of reporting instructions and associated timelines.
  • Financial Controls: Operating effective financial processes and audit controls for the entity and its European branches within the deadlines.
  • Executive Reporting: Producing and analyzing internal reporting to the Executive Committee, Audit Committee, and Board, both on reporting segments and consolidated level.
  • Regulatory Reporting: Contribute to quarterly and annual regulatory reporting and respond to ad-hoc questions from regulators.
  • Reporting Compliance: Identify changes in financial reporting requirements impacting MS AISE and contribute to solutions going forward in various reporting projects.
  • Quality Assurance Management: Manage outputs and subsequent quality assurance over the accuracy of financial results and reporting.
  • Risk Management: Understand and maintain the company's financial risk management framework consistent with the Group's risk management process.

9. Company Accountant Tasks

  • Group Finance Reporting: Reporting directly to the group finance function and having a broad set of responsibilities within the subsidiary.
  • Stakeholder Communication: Liaise with senior leadership and external stakeholders to confirm weekly payment runs.
  • Cash Flow Reporting: Mid to long-term cash flow reporting.
  • VAT and Sales Reporting: Monthly VAT returns and sales reporting.
  • Invoice Management: Tracking, processing, and payment of supplier invoices.
  • Credit Control: End-to-end credit control procedures from sales invoicing to posting cash receipts.
  • Credit Management: Managing customer credit limits, posting charges, and balancing accounts.
  • Bank Reconciliation: Multi-currency bank reconciliation.
  • Payroll Preparation: Preparation of payroll on a weekly and monthly basis.
  • System Improvements: Ongoing system and process improvements.

10. Company Accountant Roles

  • Bank Reconciliation: Perform bank reconciliations and analyze journal entries.
  • Asset Management: Maintain the fixed asset and associated depreciation schedules; ensure proper recording of new purchases and disposals.
  • Rent Management: Maintain the rent schedules and ensure proper recording and transferring of rent payments.
  • Issue Resolution: Communicate with appropriate personnel on issue resolution, as applicable.
  • Special Projects Support: Provide accounting support for special projects.
  • Period Close-Out: Assist with timely close out of reporting periods.
  • Confidentiality: Maintain and keep all financial information confidential and secure.
  • Office Administration: Cover or assist with general office admin duties.
  • Management Accounts Production: Produce detailed management accounts for the group with assistance from two assistant accountants.
  • Executive Reporting: Report to the MD of the business