WHAT DOES AN ACCOUNTING MANAGER DO?
Published: May 15, 2025 - The Accounting Manager manages and oversees daily accounting operations in compliance with legal and economic requirements, ensuring accurate statutory and tax reporting. This position leads monthly group reporting, reconciliations, internal control improvements, and ensures compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and company policies. This role coordinates with auditors, promotes cross-functional collaboration, and strengthens inventory and financial controls to support continuous improvement and KPI monitoring.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Accounting Manager
1. Accounting Manager Duties
- Invoice Management: Reviewing and processing vendor invoices for payment, reviewing and approving monthly billing to CLD locals
- Cash Posting: Posting cash receipts and disbursements to the ledgers
- Ledger Reconciliation: Reconciling the general ledger monthly
- Statement Preparation: Preparing trial balances, reconciling monthly bank and investment statements, managing investments and bank-to-bank transfers
- Payroll Reporting: Computing and preparing federal and state quarterly and annual payroll tax reports
- Payroll Recaps: Preparing quarterly and annual payroll recaps
- Payroll Processing: Processing payroll including reviewing payroll tax updates, salary increases, paid vacations, sick leave, etc. based upon union contracts
- 401(k) Processing: Processing 401(k) contributions for CLD officers and staff
- Report Preparation: Preparing quarterly financial statements and budget reports
- Expense Analysis: Providing analysis on expenses, preparing annual statement of Chargeable and Non-Chargeable reports
- Bookkeeper Supervision: Supervising a bookkeeper, consulting with and preparing necessary financial statements with CLD auditors
- Union Communication: Corresponding with local unions regarding routine financial matters
- Vendor Relations: Interfacing with banks, hotels and vendors
- Financial Advising: Advising and alerting CLD officers regarding financial matters
- File Maintenance: Maintaining personnel files and paid time off benefits
2. Accounting Manager Details
- PO Review: Review the PO, Invoice and prepare the voucher payable for bookkeeping
- Operations Management: Manage the daily operations including month and year-end process/accounts payable/general ledger/account statement reconciliations
- Report Review: Review monthly accounting reporting package including analytical review of the monthly operating results to ensure accurate accounting records are maintained
- PTO Review: Review the PTO record and prepare the monthly employee salaries calculation
- Budget Preparation: Prepare a weekly forecast/budget to make sure the funding is sufficient to support business operations
- Regulation Compliance: Manage and comply with US GAAP/local government reporting requirements and tax regulations
- Ad Hoc: Participate in various ad hoc accounting projects and requests
- Group Consolidation: Responsible for the group consolidation, as it grows in number of entities and markets, performing eliminations and adjustments under IFRS
- Process Improvement: Put new processes and controls in place - challenge and improve existing ones
- Best Practices: Drive best practices within the finance function in regards to financial control, compliance, and up-to-date accounting standards
- Audit Coordination: Work with external auditors to ensure correct and timely closing and reporting at year-end (including balance sheets, income statements, income tax, and tax filings)
- Staff Training: Train and guide other accountants and staff by answering questions and providing instructions
- Report Preparation: Preparation of the monthly reporting (financial results, balance sheet and working capital reporting)
- Standards Compliance: Ensuring all controls and accounting standards (IAS and UK GAAP) are met.
- Period Closing: Manage the month end, quarterly and year end accounting process, ensuring all group and external deadlines are met.
3. Accounting Manager Responsibilities
- Accounting Oversight: Manage and oversee the daily accounting operations, taking into account all legal and economic requirements
- Tax Compliance: Tax compliance, as well as timely and accurate Tax reporting in all relevant jurisdictions for Spain and Portugal
- Tax Audits: Contact person for all tax audits and responsible for implementation of relevant tax changes.
- Statutory Reporting: Statutory reporting ensures accurate and in time reporting
- Group Reporting: Monthly Group reporting including review of balance sheet and income statement
- SOX Controls: Monthly reconciliations and controls in accordance with Sarbanes-Oxley requirements
- System Improvement: Improve systems and procedures and initiate corrective actions
- Audit Coordination: Main point of contact for internal and external auditors, ensuring any issues are resolved.
- Account Consistency: Ensure management information provided agrees to financial accounts submitted to Group ensuring consistency within Finance.
- Control Improvement: Improve internal controls in-line with Group guidance and business needs.
- Continuous Improvement: Promote continuous improvement and report monthly on departmental key performance indicators (KPI’s).
- Policy Compliance: Ensure compliance with Group and Branch internal control policies.
- Inventory Control: Maintain inventory controls and decrease risk of inventory loss
- Team Partnership: Build partnerships with supply chain and customer service teams across all Georgia-Pacific Businesses
- Roll-Forward Management: Manage monthly roll-forwards, planned physicals and book-to-book reconciliations
- Closing Activities: Oversee month-end closing activities, journal entries, accruals, etc.
4. Accounting Manager Job Summary
- Reporting Management: Ensure timely, correct and reconciled reporting and public authorities reporting
- Accounting Solutions: Handle complex accounting issues
- Finance Problem-solving: Solve challenges within the finance/accounting area
- Data Quality: Ensure high-quality data of high quality
- Service Development: Develop Share Service offerings including optimization, automation and documentation of finance processes
- Project Participation: Participate in projects where Finance/Accounting are stakeholder
- Tax Assistance: Assist parent company staff with tax preparation
- 1099 Assistance: Assist parent company staff with 1099 preparation
- Regulatory Reporting: Applying information to regulatory reporting, as applicable
- Policy Implementation: Policy and procedure creation, implementation, and maintenance
- Account Review: Review balance sheet account reconciliations and address abnormalities in inventory balances
- Inventory Review: Review that inventory adjustments are appropriate
- LIFO Oversight: Oversight of LIFO calculations and results
- Process Improvement: Create value through process improvement and standardization
- Audit Support: Work with external auditors to support the year-end audit for the inventory area
- ERP Support: ERP implementation support and an inventory subject matter expert for ensuring inventory controls in the new ERP
- Knowledge Sharing: Seek and share knowledge, challenge the status quo and identify opportunities for improvement
5. Accounting Manager Functions
- Accounting Management: Maintains all accounting activities, financial systems, controls, reporting, budgetary and other systems with internal control including the general ledger
- Work Auditing: Audits all work activities within the Accounting/Finance department
- Confidential Accounting: Engages in critical and confidential aspects of Accounting
- Audit Liaison: Interfaces with various departments and acts as a liaison with external auditors during audits within a calendar year
- Close Management: Manages and is accountable for the month-end close process.
- Bank Reconciliation: Completes duties associated with bank and inventory reconciliation
- Invoice Preparation: Prepares and/or supervises the preparation of customer invoices.
- Tax Planning: Leads and/or participates in tax planning throughout the fiscal year. Leads and/or partners in filing tax returns.
- Account Auditing: Audits accounts to ensure compliance with federal, state and/or local requirements
- Payroll Assistance: Assists with Payroll activities and systems
- Finance Interface: Interfaces with Corporate Finance (as appropriate)
- Report Preparation: Assists in the preparation of all financial reports
- System Balancing: Assists in balancing operational and financial systems
- Control Documentation: Maintains and is accountable for internal control documentation.