An Accounting Manager ensures organizations' financial records remain accurate while meeting reporting deadlines. They establish internal controls and guidelines for preparing transactions that comply withgenerally accepted accounting principles(GAAP). They may even coordinate the budget preparation process to ensure financial reporting accuracy.
According to theInstitute of Management Accountants(IMA), approximately 75% of finance professionals supervise key accounting functions. Businesses, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions employ or contract accounting managers in part- and full-time positions. Accounting managers frequently collaborate with other team members and department heads.
Professionals who thrive in these roles enjoy working independently. They are also detail-oriented, organized, and mathematically proficient. Responsibilities may eventually expand to include supervising staff, overseeing budgeting and forecasting, and developing accounting procedures.
Experienced accounting managers may also shift from day-to-day operations to more strategic tasks, such as analyzing financial data and advising senior management on financial decisions.
Read on to discover more about this profession, including key skills, common job titles, and typical duties.
Common responsibilities for account managers include: Establish and Monitor Financial Systems:Accounting managers create, monitor, and evaluate financial systems within their organizations. They collect, analyze, verify, and report financial information to document firms' financial performance and position companies to make well-informed financial decisions. Meet Financial Objectives:Accounting managers recommend forecasting requirements, draft annual budgets, and project expenditures to prepare periodic statements and meet financial regulatory requirements. They analyze general ledger variances and suggest corrective action for management's approval to meet annual accounting financial objectives. Achieve Operational Objectives:These professionals develop action plans, audit operations, and propose efficiency improvements. Skilled accounting managers lead the accounting team to provide accurate, timely data and recommendations. Monitor Revenue and Expenses:An accounting manager ensures companies' financial wellbeing by tracking revenue and expenses, consolidating and analyzing financial data, preparing special reports, maintaining internal controls and other best practices, and reporting activity to internal and external customers. Lead Accounting Staff:Included in the accounting manager's purview is recruiting, hiring, and supervising accounting staff. They also conduct performance evaluations, coordinate training programs, and identify training needs. Key Hard Skills for Accounting Managers Financial Statement Preparation:Accounting managers prepare financial statements, which provide insights into the financial health of a company. These insights allow businesses to make strategic decisions about resource allocation. This skill also transfers to other accounting specialties, such astax preparationandauditing.
Microsoft Excel:There are many ways accounting managers leverage Microsoft Excel to streamline data. Some duties include automating repetitive tasks, creating sophisticated financial models, and streamlining data analysis.
Financial Close Experience:Financial close completes all financial transactions for the month, quarter, or year to ensure financial statements accurately represent the reporting period. The financial close process also uncovers errors or discrepancies recorded in the financial statements before publication.
Key Soft Skills for Accounting Managers Management:Management and supervisory skills allow managers to plan and organize work, set priorities, and delegate tasks. Additionally, these skills help leaders communicate effectively with team members to resolve conflicts and make decisions aligned with company priorities.
Communication:Successful accounting managers effectively communicate financial information to employees, shareholders, and other interested parties. Communication skills allow these professionals to simplify complex financial concepts, build relationships with key stakeholders, and prepare concise financial reports that accurately reflect organizations' financial health.
Eye for Detail:Accounting managers must accurately track and record financial transactions, using a keen eye for detail to find and correct discrepancies. This information helps companies make important financial and operational decisions. Thus, it is essential that financial transactions and reports are accurate.
Organizational Skills:Organizational and time management skills help accounting managers track and prioritize ongoing projects and tasks. With these abilities, accounting managers can effectively launch, monitor, and evaluate accounting operations and deliverables.
Summary of role requirements: Flexible hours available 2-3 years of relevant work experience required for this role Working rights required for this role Expected start date for role: 03 June 2024 Expected salary: ?65,000 - ?85,000 per month #J-18808-Ljbffr
