What does An Account Assistant Do?
In India, working in the field of finance, and especially accountancy is considered a respectable job. It is one of the most sought-after jobs. All businesses and organisations need an accounts department and qualified professional to take care of their finance-related matters. They are the backbone of the organisation and play a vital role in business growth and prosperity.
Many young graduates aspire to become an accountant and consider it a lucrative career option. However, being an accountant is not easy. It requires you to have some specific skills and experience. And one of the best ways to gain experience and the necessary skills to become a successful accountant is to take an entry-level job as an accounts assistant.
The educational requirement to become an accounts assistant is quite basic. You must have a bachelor’s degree in commerce or an equivalent qualification with knowledge of accounting and bookkeeping. However, to be a successful accounting assistant and to move up the success ladder, you must have more than formal education.
Some of the important skills required are:
Mathematical skills
If you are someone who enjoys working with numbers, and don’t mind getting involved in computing complex numbers, accounting is the right field for you. You must also be a quick learner and be willing to learn new things.
Multitasking skills
When you work in the accounting field, you must be able to multitask. You must have the capacity to work in different assignments simultaneously.
Be methodical and systematic
You must be able to follow a process correctly and diligently. You have a process of working for all your assignments. This will hold you in good stead while working on multiple projects and you can get the work done accurately. Being systematic is a primary prerequisite for all bookkeeping related tasks.
Good communications skills
Like all other jobs, you must have good communication skills while working as an account assistant. The employer would expect you to have strong written and verbal communication skills. Since you may interact with different stakeholders within and outside organisation, good communication skills will help you move up the success ladder faster than others.
Excel under pressure
Some people relish a challenge and come out shining under pressure, others succumb. If you belong to the latter category, you may not go too far in your career.
Now that you know the skills required to succeed in the job, let us know what roles and responsibilities you may undertake as an assistant to an accountant.
- Preparing financial documents such as bills, invoices
- Managing the salaries of the employees of the organisation
- Completing and handling financial reports on a daily basis and providing updates to the senior person and other team members
- Entering financial information into appropriate books of records in the software program
- Coordinating with internal and external audit teams
- Verifying bank deposits and account balance in the record books and managing/rectifying discrepancies
- Maintaining a record of daily organisation’s expenses, and ensuring that these expenses are within the budget set by the management
- Assisting the senior account staff with various administrative tasks like filing the papers, maintain important records, reports, etc
- Liaising with external third-party members like clients, suppliers
Final Word
The roles and duties you carry out may vary from one organisation to another based on the industry the company is into and the accounting structure they follow. However, the basic jobs mostly remain the same. Make sure that you focus on developing your skills so that you can take higher and better roles and be successful faster than others.
