Let us start with a brief description of Accountants.
An accountant is meant for performing the financial functions in relation to the accuracy, recording, collection, analysis and business or organization presentations, and the financial operations of the company. For small scale businesses, the accountants are engaged in data collection, data entry, and then report generation.
Alternatively, for the middle to large scale industries, the accountants act as their financial adviser as well as financial interpreter. They are often required to present the financial data of the company to the people involved in the business realm.
The accountants, generally also have to deal with third parties, like the vendors, customers, and financial institutions.
The Different Accounting Fields the Accountants Take Care of
Due to the result industrial, economic and technological developments, there has been the emergence of different specialized fields related to accounting.
i. Financial Accounting
In financial accounting, the accountants record and classify the business transactions, prepare and present the financial statements which the external and internal users use. While preparing the financial statements, they strictly comply with the GAAP or the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Primarily, financial accounting is concerned with processing historical data.
ii. Managerial Accounting
Management or managerial accounting prioritizes providing the necessary information the internal users use for comprehensive management. Managerial Accounting deals with the management’s needs, instead of strict compliance with the GAAP. The scopes included in managerial accounting are budgeting, financial analysis, cost analysis, business decision evaluation, and these related fields.
iii. Cost Accounting
Cost Accounting is sometimes termed as management accounting’s subset. It means recording, presenting, and analyzing the manufacturing costs. In manufacturing businesses, cost accounting is very useful as they have to deal with much-complicated costing process. The cost accountants even analyze the actual cost vs. budgets and standards for determining the future course of actions related to the cost management of the company.
iv. Auditing
External auditing means examining the financial statements by the independent party for expressing the opinion on presentation fairness as well as compliance with GAAP. On the other hand, Internal auditing prioritizes the evaluation of an adequate internal control structure of the company through testing segregation of procedures, policies, duties, authorization degrees, and such controls as the management implements.
v. Tax Accounting
Through tax accounting, the clients follow the rules as the tax authorities have set up. Tax planning and tax return preparations are included. More fields included income tax determination with the other taxes, the tax advisory services like the ways for minimizing the taxes legally, tax decisions consequences evaluations, and more such tax-related matters.
vi. Accounting Information Systems
Accounting Information Systems include developing, installing, implementing, and monitoring the accounting systems and procedures which the accounting processes use. The field even includes the business forms employment, software management, and accounting personnel directions.
vii. Fiduciary Accounting
Through fiduciary accounting, the accountants handle the accounts on being entrusted with the property’s custody and its management on behalf of another person. Trust accounting, estate accounting, and receivership are apt examples.
viii. Forensic Accounting
In Forensic Accounting, the accountants take care of the court and litigation cases, claims and disputes, fraud investigations, and the areas involving legal matters. Forensic accounting is a popular trend at present.
The Skills of the Accountants
The management accountants have the technical expertise which includes –
- Interpersonal Skills
Added to strong quantitative skills, accountants have appraising interpersonal skills like empathy, negotiation skills, and client management abilities. Accountants face regular meetings with several professionals, colleagues, and clients. - Dealing with Taxation
Accountants fulfill the responsibility of helping and navigating their clients through the taxation procedures appropriately in an ethical and flexible way. They delve deep to understand the various tax income limits, taxes, tax rates, taxable items, and more tax-related matters. - Analysis
Accountants carry out variance analysis, product profitability, price and volume analysis, cost analysis, capital budgeting, life-cycle cost analysis, forecasting, strategic planning, allocation, and more for making sure the resources are adequately allocated and management goals are achieved. - Accounting Basics
Accountants know the methods to prepare the financial statements as well as accounting reports to plan, control, prepare budgets and take decisions. The three chief financial statements are the profit and loss statements, cash flow accounts, and balance sheets. These three are interlinked. The accountants can understand the interlink and correlation between these statements. - National Certification
Accountants have earned certifications from the state’s authorizing bodies for having access to the lucrative monetary rewards for sustenance in the competition. - Accounting Software
Accounting chiefly concentrates on data mining, complex model interpretation and computations, and more. Through the software-based applications, the accountants fulfill the necessities like efficient and accurate financial record keeping. Accounting software like ERP, Tally, MARG ERP, Books, QuickBooks, MYOB, XERO, and more are daily used. Only the trained accountants are familiar with these accounting software skills.
The accountants work for different businesses and industries based on their roles and tasks. The common of all are the large professional firms and corporations located in the business districts; at the smaller firm established in the suburbs, clientele offices, home offices, and the commercial centres with good Internet connectivity.
Australian Business Network 