HI5020 Corporate Accounting: Accountant Job Advertisement Analysis

This report, prepared for the HI5020 Corporate Accounting unit at Holmes Institute, analyzes job advertisements for corporate accountant positions collected from Seek.com and Jora.com. The report examines various aspects, including the job titles, organizational industries, and the personal attributes, academic, and professional qualifications sought by employers. It provides a detailed understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a corporate accountant, emphasizing the importance of ethical financial statement preparation, compliance with regulations, and the ability to perform multiple tasks. The report critically evaluates the findings in relation to the course module, highlighting the connection between theoretical knowledge and practical application, and includes additional topics such as financial statements, ledgers and management of financial data. This report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the corporate accountant role and the skills and qualifications necessary to succeed in the field.

Corporate Accounting

Finance
Executive Summary
The main role of an accountant is to steer the organization in the correct direction and hence, the
requirement of an accountant is always visible in the job portal. A corporate accountant plays
multiple roles and ensures that the organization has complied with all the rules and regulations.
The report focuses on the role of corporate accountant and the job advertisements that are posted
regarding the vacancy of a corporate accountant. To ensure a holistic coverage, the
advertisement from Seek and Jora has been done. The report makes a vivid description of the
attributes of the corporate accountant and the eligibility that is required. Further, a critical
evaluation has also been done in this regard.
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
1. Advertisement collected......................................................................................................................4
2. Name of the organization with the industry segregation....................................................................4
3. Job titles in the advertisement............................................................................................................5
4. Personal attributes mentioned in the advertisement..........................................................................6
5. Personal attributes with detailed understanding...................................................................................8
6. Academic and professional qualifications............................................................................................9
7. Relation of the topic with the module...............................................................................................10
8. Additional topics................................................................................................................................11
9. Critical evaluation..............................................................................................................................12
References.................................................................................................................................................16
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Introduction
Maintaining financial statements is an art and is possible with the aid of a corporate accountant.
An accountant must prepare financial statements ethically. The accountant must necessarily
analyze the genuineness of all the business transactions to reduce or eradicate the possibilities of
errors and frauds. Compliance with all the laws and legislations is a must for any corporate
accountant to ensure that the financial statements reflect utmost credibility. The job
advertisement that was posted in Seek highlights the responsibilities of a corporate accountant
and the same will be projected in the report.
Evaluation of business transactions is substantial in the preparation of financial statements. The
accountants must responsibly deliver all their duties and analyze the nature and rightness of all
the financial transactions before the recording of the same in the financial statements of an
organization1. Compliance with all the legal requirements must also be necessarily ensured by
the corporate accountants.
1. Advertisement collected
The collection of advertisement has been done from Seek.com and Jora.com
Corporate
2. Name of the organization with the industry segregation
Company and Firms
GDA Group
HRMatrix Pty Ltd
Redpath Partners Pty Ltd
Fujitsu Australia Limited
ALS Limited
Consolidated Tin Mines Limited
Macias Consulting Pty Ltd
Moir Group
1 J. Graham, and S. Smart, Introduction to corporate finance, Australia: South-Western Cengage
Learning, 2012
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Intuitive Recruitment Pty Ltd
Karlka Recruiting Group
Redpath Partners Pty Ltd
Makekadi Mining Services
Pty Ltd
Hays Accountancy &
Finance
Makekadi Mining Services
Pty Ltd
Skytrans Airlines Pty Ltd
Commonwealth Bank of
Australia
First Graphene Ltd
MediPharm Labs Australia
Woodside Energy
Agencies
Abuzz Solutions
HOBAN recruitment
Private advertiser
Robert Half Finance & Accounting
Lawson Elliott Recruitment
Robert Half Management
Resources
Sharp & Carter Finance and
Accounting
3. Job titles in the advertisement
Corporate Accountant
Corporate Accountant
Corporate Financial Control
Accountant
Corporate Restructure Accountant
Corporate Accountant
Financial Accountant
Marketing accountant
Internal Management Accountant
Senior Management Accountant
Internal Management Accountant
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Management Accountant
Management Accountant
Assistant Accounting
Assistant Accountant - Contracting
Corporate Reporting Manager
Accountant - Commercial
Construction
Experienced Accountant
Corporate Accountant - Part Time
Corporate Financial Control
Accountant
Corporate Accountant
Senior Financial Accountant
Senior Financial Systems
Accountant
Accounting officer
Financial Accountant
Management Accountant
Mine Accountant
Assistant Accounting
Management Accountant
Assistant Accounting
Internal Management Accountant
4. Personal attributes mentioned in the advertisement
The advertisement provided to us contains all the academic as well as professional qualifications
that a corporate accounting must possess.
On evaluating the advertisements, it is understandable that a corporate accountant must have
proper qualifications for achieving the goals of the organization. The academic, as well as
professional qualifications that are required as per the advertisement stated above are:
A corporate accountant should be capable of recording financial transactions and also be
efficient in preparing financial statements2. The job of a corporate accountant is not limited to
preparing in examining the financial statement; it also includes having in-depth knowledge about
2 Jora, ‘Jora Australia’,https://au.jora.com, 2019 (accessed 16 September 2019)
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taxation. If a corporate accountant has a piece of good knowledge about tax then the company
will be benefited by paying less tax and in a timely manner to avoid penalties. An auditor is a
person who helps in evaluating the operations that take place in an organization. An auditor must
have a professional degree and having updated knowledge of his field.
A corporate accountant must have 3 years of working experience in any other company for a
similar role. He may have an undergraduate degree along with a certified public accountant or
chartered accountant degree. Usually, this position demands good computer knowledge along
with ERP experience3. In academic fields, you should be efficient in preparing the consolidated
financial statements and should be able to analyze as well as review this statement4. It is very
important to have updated knowledge about the rules and regulations that are presently
prevailing because the financial statements have to be made accordingly5.
A corporate accountant must be able to perform a multi-task. There are various tasks that are
performed such as preparing budgets and cash flows of the company which will help the
management in taking decisions regarding the operations of the company. The management
should always strive to maintain and keep its financial systems updated because it will help in
the derivation of a true and reliable financial statement. The minimum requirement for becoming
a certified public accountant is the attainment of a bachelor's degree. However, it is not very easy
to become a corporate accountant of a company because an individual has to be knowledgeable
in many fields along with accounts6. An individual must be comfortable with numbers and
should have updated knowledge about various laws that are prevailing in the current scenario as
it would have the company to avoid any financial risk that may arise. An accountant has to
obtain many licenses and certificates for getting a good job as a corporate accountant in a
renowned company.
3 B.E. Needles and M. Powers, Principles of Financial Accounting, Financial Accounting Series: Cengage
Learning, 2013
4 K. J. Leo, Company Accounting, Boston:McGraw Hill, 2012
5 E, Michael, ‘What Are the Duties of a Corporate Accountant?’, https://work.chron.com/duties-corporate-
accountant-13583.html, 2019 (accessed 16 September 2019)
6 J, Lister ‘Advantages and Disadvantages of Financial Risks Within Companies’,
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-financial-risks-within-companies-16048.html, 2018
(accessed 16 September 2019)
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5. Personal attributes with detailed understanding
The financial statements prepared by the corporate accountant helps the management in taking
crucial decisions. The decisions taken by the senior management are entirely based upon the
results of the financial reports. An accountant must prepare financial statements keeping in mind
the impact of the same on the well being of an organization7. Ethical financial statements attract
more investments from investors and ultimately allow the company to perform better financially.
An accountant must necessarily comply with all the legal requirements whilst the preparation of
financial statements. Accountants may not necessarily work within the office premises for some
designations of accountancy require traveling and meeting new individuals8.
An aspirant accountant must have various personal attributes to qualify as a chartered
accountant. He must be specialized in accounting and must know how to multitask. He must be
thoroughly skilled and have good knowledge of accountancy. He should also be fully aware of
how financial transactions can be analyzed, maintained and recorded in full compliance with all
the statutory requirements. Communication of financial statements at various levels of
management is also important. Therefore, an accountant must also have good communication
skills to minimize or eliminate even the slightest possibilities of miscommunication. Knowing
the company’s clients is also substantial for a corporate accountant. He must not only learn about
the type of industry the organization is working in but also understand how the industry operates.
This will ensure that the accountant can deliver his responsibilities more efficiently. An
accountant must also keep himself updated from time to time about the slightest of the changes
or amendments in the rules and regulations 9.
Maintaining the integrity of the financial statements is the prime responsibility of the accountant.
Therefore, he must ensure ethical behavior so that the integrity of the financial reports is
safeguarded10. The accounting team hired by the organization for analyzing and recording
business transactions must work in full sync with each other. The accounting team must ensure
7 Jora, ‘Jora Australia’,https://au.jora.com, 2019 (accessed 16 September 2019)
8 Seek, ‘Job Search 2019’, https://www.seek.com.au/ (accessed 16 September 2019)
9 E, Michael, ‘What Are the Duties of a Corporate Accountant?’, https://work.chron.com/duties-corporate-
accountant-13583.html, 2019 (accessed 16 September 2019)
10 Jora, ‘Jora Australia’,https://au.jora.com, 2019 (accessed 16 September 2019)
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effective coordination with one other to ensure a smoother flow of information. A coordinated
accounting team will be able to make decisions in the best interest of the company. A corporate
accountant must be fully aware of the goals of an organization to construe appropriate decision
making. A corporate accountant must know how to tackle pressure and not let anything come his
way. He must be able to maintain the utmost accuracy and integrity at the same time. An
accountant must carefully check his presentation before the submission of the financial
documents.
6. Academic and professional qualifications
There are certain characteristics and personal attributes that are needed to be present in an
accountant:
· The accountant should have properly certified practicing accountant certificate.
· They should be able to implement and process the operations that are going to be carried out by
the organization11.
· The accounting tertiary qualifications should also be judged.
· The accountant should have the experience to conduct cost accounting projects.
· They should have proper knowledge of the software in order to record the transactions12.
· Proper experience in the field should also be considered.
· High level of productivity and skill set should be acquired by the accountants.
· The financial records should be accurate and detailed properly.
· Good communication skills are necessary for an accountant.
· The job of an accountant is versatile in nature because of which he should be able to multitask.
11 Seek, ‘Job Search 2019’, https://www.seek.com.au/ (accessed 16 September 2019)
12 Jora, ‘Jora Australia’,https://au.jora.com, 2019 (accessed 16 September 2019)
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· Management is a forward-looking process because of which the counter should be properly
skilled.
· Interaction at different levels of management will be required because of which the accountant
should have proper work experience and positive nature.
7. Relation of the topic with the module
The study of the corporate accounting in this report has a direct link with the advertisement
which explains the key roles and responsibilities. It has been taught in the MPA unit that an
accountant must perform all his financial duties such as recording, evaluating and presenting the
business transactions of an organization in an accurate manner. There is a difference in the role
of an accountant in a small and in a large business13. It has been taught that in a small business,
an accountant has to only collect the financial data and generate a report in a large-sized
company an accountant has to also do the job of advisor on analyzing the financial data and the
report that is prepared. He must be able to interpret the financial data of the organization which
would help in protecting the interest of the stakeholders.
There is a match between the learning provided to us and the role that is mentioned in the
advertisement. In the advertisement, it has been mentioned that a corporate accountant must
maintain all the relevant financial records on complying with the rules and regulations. It is
equally important to communicate important data in different departments of the management
fairly. An accountant must be ethical and should be able to hold integrity while recording
financial transactions.
An accounting structure of a company is an integral part of the business. The most significant job
of an accountant is to collect financial data and maintain the records for future reference. All the
regulatory method must be complied with when recording this financial transaction. This
financial information about a company is a very important element as it is useful to the internal
as well as the external stakeholders of the company. The discussion and the study have provided
major importance to the evaluation process is carried out by an accountant as it helps in the
13 S. Northington, Finance, New York, NY: Ferguson's, 2011
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decision making the process. The various decisions that an accountant has to take care of the bill
payments, order to supply as well as financial data handling.
8. Additional topics
Financial statement and ledgers
The efficiency with which the company functions are recorded in the financial reports required to
be maintained by the corporate accountants. It has to keep track of the activities that are
happening in the organization.
Management of financial data
In order to carry out the operations of the company smoothly, it is very important to maintain
proper accounting structure. The financial data that is used in the preparation of these financial
statements are collected from different sources and is further analyzed by the stakeholders or the
senior management of the company14. The rules and regulations along with the policies have to
be complied with in the preparation of the financial statements. A financial database is
maintained by updating the financial information about the company which will help in
monitoring the control procedures.
Financial report preparation
It is one of the major jobs of the accountants to prepare the financial statements of an
organization on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis so that they can be analyzed at the year-end.
These reports provide continuous support to the management team by helping them to forecast
the operations that can be carried out by the organization for generating maximum profit15.
Providing advice
14 I, Lapsley. Commentary: Financial Accountability & Management, Qualitative Research in Accounting &
Management, vol. 9, no. 3, 2012, p. 291-292
15 K. A. Merchant, ‘Making Management Accounting Research More Useful’, Pacific Accounting Review, vol.24,
no.3, 2012, p. 1-34.
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An accountant is also having the job to analyze the operation carried out by the organization and
help them to take decisions in accordance with them. Hence they also act as an analyst by
determining various types of decisions for the organization in relation to the payment of bills,
payroll, the supply of orders maintenance of intern interior value and other financial details that
are needed to be assessed by the organization on a daily basis16. They also advise organizations
to carry out the operations in a manner which will be most profitable for them. The organization
is observed to face a lot of problems if the financial records are not maintained properly. It is the
duty of the accountant to follow the rules and regulations of the international regulatory bodies
while maintaining the financial records.
Compliance activities
It is very important for the accountants to logically maintain and prepare financial statements so
that they can be assessed at the end of the year. Also, accountants need to determine the total
value of the tax that is to be paid by the organization. The financial report prepared by the
accountants also used for conducting the audit process and carrying the information to the
stakeholders and the top-level management structure of the company.
9. Critical evaluation
A good corporate accounting should have proper judgment skills so that he can prepare, analyze
and interpret the financial transactions and record them in a manner which will reflect the
financial records in the best possible manner. The financial records should be maintained in an
artistic as well as scientific way. The accountants also need to analyze the internal environment
of the organization for any kind of risk or fraud that is being conducted in terms of financial
decisions or transactions. All the tasks that are being carried out by the accountant should be
ethical in nature so that the financial reports are not having any kind of vulnerability present in
them.
Financial skills
16 J. W, Petty, S. Titman, A. J. Keown, J. D. Martin, M. Burrow,and H 2012, Nguyen, Financial
Management: Principles and Applications, 6th ed. Australia: Pearson Education Australia.
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Good mathematical knowledge should be acquired by the accountant in order to have a proper
understanding of the business. The different type of financial software that is being used by the
organizations should be made known to the accountants so that they can work efficiently. There
are many accountants who are experts in certain industries because of which they have
specialized knowledge to maintain accounts of that particular industry17.
Organization skills and time management skills
The accountants of an organization should be detail-oriented. They should have proper
organization skills so that they can carry out the tasks easily. They should also of time
management skills because accountants generally have a very busy and hectic life. Hence they
should try to have multi-tasking skills so that they can save time and priorities their goals.
Accountant general tries to schedule and make lists before carrying out their activities. The
schedule created by the accountant should consider all the tasks needed to be completed by him.
It is a common human nature that people forget to do their job because of which they become
inefficient in nature. Hence, making a schedule will help the accountants to priorities their tasks
and goals18.
Good communication skills
An accountant should have proper communication skills because we have to convey information
to different levels of management. He should have both verbal and nonverbal communication
skills. All the financial transactions and records maintained by him are needed to be conveyed to
the top-level management and the stakeholders so that they can carry on with the process of
decision making more efficiently19. Hence, if an accountant is not having proper communication
skills, then he will not have the ability to interact at different levels of management which will
further make him inefficient in nature.
Interpretation with the numbers and forecasting
17 R. Libby, P, Libby, and D. Short, Financial accounting, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2011
18 R. Madura, & J. Fox, International financial management, South Western, 2011
19 K. A. Merchant, ‘Making Management Accounting Research More Useful’, Pacific Accounting Review, vol.24,
no.3, 2012, p. 1-34.
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Good numeracy skills and mathematical skills are needed by the accountants. The accountant
should be able to relate the facts and figures and understand the relationship between them so as
to provide a logical explanation for the transactions20. There are several numerical operations
carried out while preparing the accounts of an organization, which compels the accountant to
have proper numerical skills.
One of the most important functions of the accountants is to analyze the nature of the
transactions and the internal environment of the organization. This requires analytical ability so
that they can carry out the job of financial analysis and integrate proper accounting knowledge
and technique while preparing the financial statements. The financial data should be effectively
used by the professionals to make decisions for the organizations.
20 C. Horngren, Financial accounting, Frenchs Forest, N.S.W: Pearson Australia Group, 2012
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Conclusion
An accountant is delegated to deliver various types of tasks and responsibilities. This means that
an accountant must be versatile enough to manage to multitask. The decision-making ability of
senior management hugely depends on the presentation of financial statements. Therefore, the
genuineness of the financial reports acts as a basis for the appropriateness of the decisions taken
by the top-level executives. An accountant must always be wise and also ethical while recording
financial transactions to ensure that the decisions taken by the users of the financial statements
are appropriate and in the best interest of company’s financial well being. From financial
statements, senior management can easily segregate operations that are profitable, non-profitable
and semi-profitable and accordingly take the best decisions to increase the effectiveness of all the
operations. The corporate accountants must prepare financial statements ethically to ensure that
the interest of the investors is not deceived and their decision-making ability concerning
investing in the company is not impacted.
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References
Graham, J. and Smart, S., Introduction to corporate finance, Australia: South-Western Cengage
Learning, 2012
Horngren, C., Financial accounting, Frenchs Forest, N.S.W: Pearson Australia Group, 2012
Jora, ‘Jora Australia’,https://au.jora.com, 2019 (accessed 16 September 2019)
Lapsley.I., Commentary: Financial Accountability & Management, Qualitative Research in
Accounting & Management, vol. 9, no. 3, 2012, p. 291-292
Leo, K. J., Company Accounting, Boston:McGraw Hill, 2012
Libby, R., Libby, P. and Short, D., Financial accounting, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2011
Lister, J, ‘Advantages and Disadvantages of Financial Risks Within Companies’,
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-financial-risks-within-companies-
16048.html, 2018 (accessed 16 September 2019)
Madura, R., & Fox, J., International financial management, South Western, 2011
Merchant, K. A., Making Management Accounting Research More Useful, Pacific Accounting
Review, vol.24, no.3, 2012, p. 1-34.
Michael, E, ‘What Are the Duties of a Corporate Accountant?’, https://work.chron.com/duties-
corporate-accountant-13583.html, 2019 (accessed 16 September 2019)
Needles, B.E. and Powers, M., Principles of Financial Accounting, Financial Accounting Series:
Cengage Learning, 2013
Northington, S., Finance, New York, NY: Ferguson's, 2011
Petty, J. W, Titman, S., Keown, A. J., Martin, J. D., Burrow, M. and Nguyen, H 2012, Financial
Management: Principles and Applications, 6th ed. Australia: Pearson Education Australia.
Seek, ‘Job Search 2019’, https://www.seek.com.au/ (accessed 16 September 2019)
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