An accountant manager presides over his department in all operations related to accounting in the company. This type of financial specialist needs to have met several qualifications and has a number of tasks and responsibilities.
The first qualification is concerned with education and working experience. An accountant manager needs to have finished a degree in Accounting, and he needs to have four to ten years of work experience in the said field. Moreover, companies give additional points to accountants with CPA designations.
The second qualification deals with working relations. An accountant manager needs to work smoothly within a team. Furthermore, he needs to possess strong oral and written communication skills as well as interpersonal skills. He should also project a professional image at all times.
The next qualification deals with the use of software. An accountant manager needs to have functional knowledge on computer-based applications such as spreadsheets and graphical presentation programs. He also needs to learn the specific accounting software used by the company.
The last qualification deals with flexibility. Owing to the volatile nature of business and finance, an accountant manager needs to be flexible enough to attend early morning meetings and work until late hours in the evening.
Moving on, the tasks and responsibilities of an accountant manager cover a wide area of accounting. First, he processes monthly and semi-monthly payroll using specific software provided by the company. quarterly-based commissions and incentives are included in the payroll. Second, he manages the general ledger of the company. This includes accruals, cash management, and generation of financial statement. Third, he supervises and completes maintenance on accounts receivable and accounts payable on a daily basis. The former includes payment collection, invoicing, and credit evaluation. The latter includes purchasing, check processing, and receipt monitoring. Fourth, he presides over the yearly financial audit by arranging schedules for auditors and acting as a representative to tax authorities. Furthermore, he manages other financial matters such as administration of capital lease and equipment procurement.
Finally, an accountant manager prepares analysis, pricing, budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning. The output he produces in this task is used by the company to determine its current stability as well as the amount it will be spending for the upcoming year.
