Job Descriptions: Chartered Accountant

A Chartered Accountant is a qualified professional who is a trained in dealing with finances and accounts for anyone from small businesses right up to global corporations.

Chartered Accountants are specially trained and qualified professionals who are responsible for the legal and proper management of accounts and finances for a range of businesses. The role of a Chartered Accountant varies depending on where they are plying their skills. Chartered Accountants also are able to have certain specialities, such as Auditing, Actuarial or Tax.

For an Accountant to be Chartered they are required to undertake professional qualifications, these could be awarded by the ACCA, ACA or similar organisations. However to be a successful Chartered Account graduates firstly need to be extremely good with numbers, whether this is a numerical degree background or just a natural flair for figures. Graduates need to also have first rate analytical skills as some of the work, especially Tax related work, will require high levels of attention and comprehension.

Other essential traits are excellent people skills for dealing with clients and companies. The majority of the work undertaken by Chartered Accountants would require a graduate to have fantastic organisation skills to handle the work and the peak seasons as the financial years close each year.

Chartered Accountant Salaries

The average starting salary for a graduate Chartered Accountant is £22,794. This is a more than respectable sum for graduates to start their careers earning and is competitive to similar jobs in Finance and Insurance like Brokerage and Actuarial.

Something that is worth remembering is the importance of the first few years as a Chartered Accountant. While the first few years for Chartered Accountants may not give the highest graduate salaries, further down the line graduates can be earning very nicely. As with many simialar job roles, like an Actuary or Auditor, with more experience and a developed specialism, graduates can start to command very high salaries indeed.

The Daily Duties of a Chartered Accountant

The daily duties of a Chartered Accountant can vary immensely and will be dependent on what field you go on to specialise in. The main duties of a Chartered Accountant include:

• Managing accounts - The majority of Chartered Accountancy work includes helping businesses and organisations in managing their finances. This could be preparing reports of annual, monthly and weekly turnovers and outgoings, as well as managing budgets and expenditure.
• Tax and legal duties - Chartered Accountants are responsible for ensuring all tax and other legal duties are paid correctly and on time. This could also involve advising organisations on how to best deal with their tax responsibilities.
• Salaries and pay roll - Often accountants are in charge of pay roll and ensuring that employees are paid on time and to the correct amount. Things like bonus calculations and maternity pay all fall under the jurisdiction of Accountants. This could also involve negotiating pension options and pension funds.
• Business and Financial advice - Chartered Accountants are often looked to for advice on business proposals, plans and financial advice. This requires Chartered Accountants to scrutinise proposals and audit them to see how financially sound they are.

The duties of a Chartered Accountant are completely dependent on where they are applying their accountancy skills. An accountancy firm in a small town will have very different requirements to those in the Big Four accountancy firms. However, the general duties of a Chartered Accountant are challenging and rewarding wherever graduates decide to apply them.