What Do Accountants Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

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Job Description, Daily Responsibilities, and Work Life

Accountants

Accountants analyze financial information and prepare financial reports to determine or maintain record of assets, liabilities, profit and loss, tax liability, or other financial activities within an organization.

Salary
$81660
Becoming One
Hard
Education
Bachelor's degree
Job Satisfaction
Job Growth

Personality
Interest Match



Job Description

Job Description

Accountants analyze financial information and prepare financial reports to determine or maintain record of assets, liabilities, profit and loss, tax liability, or other financial activities within an organization. They also maintain or examine the records of government agencies.

Other tasks include:

  • Develop, maintain, and analyze budgets, preparing periodic reports that compare budgeted costs to actual costs.
  • Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
  • Review accounts for discrepancies and reconcile differences.
  • Prepare adjusting journal entries.
  • Establish tables of accounts and assign entries to proper accounts.
  • Compute taxes owed and prepare tax returns, ensuring compliance with payment, reporting, or other tax requirements.

We asked Accountants how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

Job satisfaction

71%

How meaningful is this job

38%


71% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 38% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.



Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Accountants analyze business operations, trends, costs, revenues, financial commitments, and obligations to project future revenues and expenses or to provide advice. They review accounts for discrepancies and reconcile differences.

A typical day for an Accountant will also include:

  • Prepare forms and manuals for accounting and bookkeeping personnel and direct their work activities.
  • Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
  • Maintain or examine the records of government agencies.
  • Develop, implement, modify, and document recordkeeping and accounting systems, making use of current computer technology.
  • Prepare adjusting journal entries.

We asked some Accountants a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job? 81% said yes
How important is it to work in a team in this job? 45% said very important
Do you have group discussions everyday in this job? 46% said yes
Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job? 15% said yes
Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job? 9% said yes
Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job? 36% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Accountants also develop, maintain, and analyze budgets, preparing periodic reports that compare budgeted costs to actual costs. They may also advise management about issues such as resource utilization, tax strategies, and the assumptions underlying budget forecasts.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Accountants Prepare adjusting journal entries. They might also Report to management regarding the finances of establishment.

In addition, they Compute taxes owed and prepare tax returns, ensuring compliance with payment, reporting, or other tax requirements.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.

To some Accountants, it is also their responsibility to Review accounts for discrepancies and reconcile differences.


Working life

Working hours

Standard 40 hour work week

Working schedule

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as an Accountant, you can expect to work 40 hour work week.

Do Accountants work in an office-style work environment?

Every day
91%


Never
5%


Do Accountants work outdoors?

Never
98%


Once a month
1%



Is this right for me

Best personality for this career

The Organizers and The Entrepreneurs

People who are suitable for this job tends to like following set procedures and routines. They like working with data and details more than with ideas..

They also like starting up and carrying out projects. They like leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

You can read more about these career personality types here.



Learn more about Accountants

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Related to Accountants Job Description

Accountants job description, what do Accountants do, typical day for Accountants, what is it like to work as an Accountant, how many hours do Accountants work, day to day work of an Accountant

Additional resources

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/business-and-financial/accountants-and-auditors.htm
http://www.aacsb.edu/
http://www.aicpa.org/
http://www.imanet.org/


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