Associate Accountant Responsibilities

Associate accountant responsibilities are a typical set of duties that are mostly assigned to entry level professionals. Every private, federal, or nonprofit organization today maintains detailed accounts for their transactions without which it becomes difficult to track the accurate profit or loss and the financial position of the organization. The associate accountant is thus employed to prepare the accounts and also verify the accuracy of accounts during internal and external audits.

An associate accountant has to gather all the receipts pertaining to financial transactions of the organization. All these receipts have to be entered into the accounts and the accounting software to keep a track of all expenses and incomes. The associate accountant has to follow all the standard accounting guidelines including Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

As the financial year ends or approaches towards end, the associate accountant teams up with the accounting manager or chief accountant to analyze the financial accounts and calculate yearly expenses, expenses, incomes, profit/loss, payable taxes, dividends, assets and liabilities, etc. This helps the organization to prepare a financial plan for the next financial year and set business targets too. Associate accountant has to communicate and coordinate with various staff in the organization and external public such as vendors, clients, etc., to perform his job duties.

Associate accountant responsibilities can be understood if you go through the following details related to the duties of this job.

Preparing Accounts

• The associate accountant has to prepare the financial statements including general ledger, balance sheet, etc.
• He has to keep physical and digital records so that they can be referred and shared among the employees in the organization.
• He has to ensure that all accounting standards are being followed by fellow accountants in the accounts department.

Budgeting

• An associate accountant also helps in planning budgets for the organization.
• He presents the reports to the finance department for approval.

Communicating with Clients, Vendors and other Agencies/Personnel

• The associate accountant communicates with clients to verify the amounts related to bills payable or receivable.
• He communicates with the vendors to get details of invoices if the original have been lost or misplaced.
• He also communicates with the external auditors and provides them all the records as they conduct audit.

Presenting Financial Statements to Accounts Manager

• The associate accountant prepares detailed reports, charts, graphs and presentations to discuss the financial statements with the accounting manager.
• He may also present these reports to the board of directors or shareholders.

Calculating Taxes

• The associate accountant has to calculate taxes and inform the same to the administration for paying the same.

The associate accountant responsibilities are to present accurate figures that represent the accurate financial position of the organization.

Skills of an Associate Accountant

An associate accountant should be well versed with the most recent accounting principles. He should be proficient in the most advanced applications used in accounting for companies. Associate accountant should be flexible to work overtime to meet deadlines. He should know how to organize and compile complex data and information and also calculate various taxes for the organization.

Becoming an Associate Accountant

Organizations hire individuals who have completed their education with either a bachelor's or master's degree in accounting, finance management or taxation with adequate exposure to business accounts and various aspects of taxation.

Career Scope for Associate Accountant

An associate accountant can easily earn an annual salary that ranges from $43,000 to $70,000. This is an entry level position and through hard work and learning, an associate accountant can easily move to senior positions within a few years.

Associate accountant responsibilities are to help the organization in preparing accounts, calculating taxes and profit or loss, and for budgeting as well.