Accountant, tax specialist, what kind of profession?

A good manager strives to select a well-coordinated team of professionals to work at the enterprise. It is especially important to have such people in the accounting department. After all, if the specialist responsible for the state of finances is incompetent, then the work of all other people in the company may go down the drain.

In order not to make a mistake in choosing the right employee or to remove unnecessary “ballast” from the team, you need to analyze the qualities of the accountant - professional and personal. It is also necessary to monitor the results of his work and the level of its effectiveness.

What kind of professional accountant is he?

Availability of education in a specialty is one of the key issues that an employer is interested in when selecting a new employee. The criterion is one of the most important, but it is not exhaustive. The concept of “professional qualities of an accountant” includes other elements. Conventionally, they can be listed in order of importance.

1. Knowledge. The requirement is mandatory and fair. An accountant must have a solid theoretical base, be fluent in terms (fixed assets, current assets, balance sheet, posting, primary documents, reporting, etc.), and at least have minimal computer skills.
2. Experience. Its presence allows an accountant to apply for higher-paying vacancies or ask for an increase. However, we should not forget that work experience is not just an entry in the work book that is shown at an interview. Practical skills must be present in reality. Having experience makes it possible to quickly adapt to another place of work, quickly delve into the process and avoid mistakes when accounting.
3. Literacy. An accountant needs this skill. After all, a person in this position constantly works with documents, letters, and reports. The presence of errors in important papers will not be a plus for the operation of the enterprise.
4. Knowledge of special accounting programs. This skill allows you to maintain full-fledged automated accounting at the enterprise, optimizing working time.

It can be difficult for a manager to understand the level of professional skills of an accountant during a 15-minute interview. To do this, at many enterprises the applicant is first hired for a probationary period, during which his work is secretly monitored.

Rights and duties of a tax accountant

An accountant, like any employee, has general rights, which are covered by Art. 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation: a workplace that meets regulatory requirements, remuneration, rest of a specified duration, etc. But usually these rights are not included in the instructions, but are reflected in the employment contract.

To directly perform duties, an accountant can take the initiative. For example, to increase efficiency in his area of ​​work, he can propose an innovation to his manager. Also, sometimes an accountant may be given authority to sign certain primary documents.

As for the responsibilities, for a tax accountant they consist of calculating mandatory payments, reflecting them on accounting accounts and generating declarations. The specific scope of responsibilities depends on the size of the company. In small businesses, one specialist may be responsible for calculating several mandatory payments at once. In medium and large companies, an accountant usually handles one tax or even only part of the calculations for it. For example, a VAT specialist may only deal with the sales ledger.

What should be the personal qualities of a good accountant?

If management is satisfied with the level of professionalism of an employee, then they should pay attention to other aspects of it. After all, the personal qualities of an accountant are also very important.

Honesty and integrity of the employee come first for many managers. They are ready to turn a blind eye to other shortcomings of the accountant if they completely trust him. Catching an employee for theft, misrepresentation, or dishonesty should have only one result - immediate dismissal.

• The pedantry and scrupulousness of the accountant will guarantee his accuracy in accounting. Such specialists are always accurate in calculations, attentive to details, and comply with the necessary requirements and rules.
• Organization and discipline are very good qualities for an accountant. Such an employee is not late. Submits all reports on time. And the rest of the employees do not complain about the delay in salaries.
• Stress tolerance greatly helps an accountant cope with psychological stress during audits or conflict situations with counterparties. The presence of this quality is not critical for management, but it is useful for the employee himself.
• Responsibility is mandatory for an accountant. If there is no understanding of this, then it is worth choosing another person for the position.
• Patience. A person who gives up halfway through a job should not become an accountant. If such a specialist appears at the enterprise, then you should not be surprised by fines from the tax service and claims from dissatisfied partners for money transferred incorrectly or on time.

For a summary of the duties of an accountant at a bank site

• maintaining 51‚ 52 accounts;
• work in the Bank Client program;
• preparation of account statements;
• entering payment orders into the 1C Accounting program and transferring them to the bank;
• maintaining accounting records of business transactions on the movement of funds in ruble and foreign currency current accounts of the company;
• generation of payment orders using the Client-Bank system, 1C: Accounting;
• carrying out non-cash transfers of funds from all company accounts opened in banks;
• sending payment orders to banks and monitoring their status;
• reflection of transactions related to the purchase and sale of currency, compliance with the currency legislation of the Russian Federation;
• maintaining accounting and tax records of business transactions under credit agreements and loans, timely accrual and reflection in accounting and tax accounting of interest on credit agreements and loans;
• conducting currency transactions, issuing transaction passports, monitoring the timely execution of documents for currency transactions;
• knowledge of the procedure for storing bank documents;
• accounting of contracts with counterparties.

Intellectual qualities

For high salaries, employers are looking for employees with a fairly high level of thinking. In this case, it is worth paying attention to some of the intellectual qualities of the accountant. Specialists who have them are not very common.

High efficiency and the ability to concentrate help an accountant identify priority issues from the general mass of problems and solve them as quickly as possible. A person with similar qualities can replace two or three who will take on work from the wrong end.

Developed logical thinking and an analytical mind allow an accountant to see a problem in dynamics. A specialist with such qualities does not need to spend a long time processing primary documentation or issuing invoices. Such employees are most often recommended for leadership positions.

A critical mind is useful in accounting. After all, constant changes in legislation and tax conflicts require constant analysis.

Career, places of employment:

An accountant is needed in any organization involved in financial activities. This occupation provides the opportunity to work in public and private organizations of any type, both as part of the staff and outside of it (remotely).

The applied application of knowledge plays an important role, therefore both a high level of education and the ability to navigate the professional field are important. Work experience is very important, only with it can you hope for a high salary, and you can get a job at an average rate without it.

Accountant education: opportunity for retraining

You can study to become an accountant through professional retraining courses, where specialists in related fields learn the basics of accounting. The easiest way to retrain is for graduates of legal, information, mathematical or management fields. For example, such specialties as: “Information systems and technologies”, “Commerce”, “Applied mathematics”, “Jurisprudence”. The main thing is to master professional programs, basic economic and legal aspects. Having sufficient experience and education, it is possible to take a management position by taking advanced training courses for professional accountants.

External manifestations of certain qualities of an accountant

Some people are quite successful at hiding their flaws. However, there are external markers that help determine the individual qualities of an accountant:

• frequent delays – irresponsibility;
• constant delays at work - inability to organize one’s activities;
• complaints about other employees - a tendency to conflict;
• a mess on the table is disorder.

If an employee has an orderly workplace, all documents are in folders, the computer is turned on, and the mobile phone is on vibrate alert, then almost certainly this employee’s accounting will be fine.

What qualities should a chief accountant have?

The right hand of the manager and the second person in the enterprise. This place in the production hierarchy is occupied by the chief accountant. A mistake in choosing this person can be very costly for the company. Therefore, the qualities of the chief accountant are assessed extremely strictly by management.

A specialist in this position must have:

• honesty;
• deep knowledge in the field of tax and accounting legislation;
• high organizational skills;
• analytical mind;
• responsibility and discipline.

The person responsible for finance must always be extremely correct both with management and with inspection and control authorities. It would be nice if he has good communication skills.

Who is an accountant?

Not a single enterprise, both commercial and government (even public organizations) can operate without accountants. What is the profession of an accountant? Description below.

The responsibilities of the accounting service include maintaining records of material assets, payroll, maintaining tax records, calculating and paying tax payments and contributions to extra-budgetary funds, and submitting reports to regulatory authorities. Chief accountants develop accounting policies for the enterprise, internal reporting forms, and manage the work of the accounting service.

Often, people in this profession are additionally responsible for maintaining management accounting or accounting according to international standards. If you stop keeping records at an enterprise, then activities will very quickly be paralyzed. There will be no information on the debts of buyers or suppliers; the owners will not know whether the business is generating income or losses. Therefore, the work of accountants involves enormous responsibility.

Indicators of quality work of an accountant

No matter how careful the selection of a candidate for a position is, the fruits of an employee’s labor become visible only over time. The quality of an accountant’s work can be assessed in three areas.

1. Individual indicators. These are discipline, initiative, independence, innovation, and avoidance of conflict situations.
2. Maintaining internal records. This includes making mistakes in documents or their absence, failure to submit reports on time, and diligent performance of job duties.
3. External interaction. Work with fiscal authorities, prosecutor's office. Ability to resolve controversial situations.

An accountant's work can be considered high-quality if it is performed quickly, correctly and in full. In order to determine this indicator, some enterprises appoint certifications, others conduct internal audits.

Approximate salary level

The approximate salary level for such a specialist as a tax accountant varies from 30 to 50 thousand rubles, depending on the region. The salary will also depend on the scope of duties the specialist will perform. A high-class specialist can even receive a salary of 60 thousand rubles even in the regions. In Moscow, the salary level of a high-level professional can exceed 100 thousand rubles.

In addition, other circumstances may also affect the salary of a tax accountant, including:

• how popular is this profession in the region;
• level of economic development of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation;
• other factors.

What quality of work of a chief accountant is considered unsatisfactory?

If management has any doubts about the satisfactory performance of the duties of the person responsible for finance, then the question of his suitability for the position should be raised. Most often, complaints about the quality of the chief accountant’s work appear if:

• accounting registers are maintained incorrectly;
• documentation is processed late;
• reports are not submitted on time or are filled out incorrectly;
• labor discipline is not observed.

No personal or professional qualities of an accountant will help if an employee is caught in theft or forgery of documents. In this case, he must not only be fired, but also punished in accordance with the law.

How to become his ideal... Chief Accountant?

What skills do general directors of Russian companies value most in their chief accountants? What do managers expect from the head of accounting? And how much are they willing to pay him for impeccable work? UNP, together with the General Director magazine, painted a portrait of the ideal chief accountant from the point of view of a manager.

“It’s difficult to be an ideal chief accountant, since our work is based on contradiction,” says Semyon Spiridonov, chief accountant of PKP BIST (Chistopol). — We must present as honest information as possible about the state of affairs in the company for the director and owner and, on the contrary, “paint” as rosy a picture as possible for the tax inspectorate. Therefore, either one or the other is constantly not satisfied with the work of the chief accountant.”

As for officials, their image of the ideal head of accounting can be read between the lines in the draft of the new law “On Official Accounting” <*>. I found out the opinion of Russian leaders on this matter together with the General Director magazine. We conducted an online survey of directors about what skills an ideal chief accountant should have, how managers evaluate the work of the head of their accounting department and how much they are willing to pay him (see diagrams on page 7).

<*> See “UNP” N 45, 2006, p. 6 “The chief accountant of the future through the eyes of the Russian Ministry of Finance.”

Which people are not recommended to be hired as accountants?

There are categories of applicants whom experts do not recommend employing. It is not recommended to hire the following as accountants:

• friends;
• relatives;
• close people of existing employees.

It is better to hire a suitable person from outside.

If the personal qualities of an accountant are impressive, but he lacks professionalism, the right decision would be to hire such a person and train him. In this case, people try very hard and stay with the company for a long time.

How to avoid problems associated with working as a tax accountant

Tax administration is becoming tougher every year. And when, based on the results of an audit, arrears and fines are collected from the organization, the question arises: who is to blame for the violations committed?

Often, disputes between organizations and specialists cannot be resolved peacefully, and then disagreements are brought to court. And this is where the “correct” DI helps to figure it out. Moreover, if the specified document is not drawn up for show, its contents can, in principle, resolve the situation at the pre-trial stage.

But there is a way to guarantee avoiding problems with both tax authorities and specialists. By outsourcing your accounting to a specialized company, you can be sure that high-level professionals will work with your documents.

We hire employees only after carefully checking their qualifications. And in the future, our specialists regularly improve their professional level by taking various retraining courses.