Accountant

Examine, analyze, and interpret accounting records to prepare financial statements, give advice, or audit and evaluate statements prepared by others. Install or advise on systems of recording costs or other financial and budgetary data.

O*NET reports this occupation under titles such as: Accountant; Accounting Officer; Audit Partner; Auditor; Cost Accountant; CPA (Certified Public Accountant); Financial Auditor; Financial Reporting Accountant; General Accountant; Internal Auditor

Tasks

• Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
• Process invoices for payment.
• Review accounts for discrepancies and reconcile differences.
• Compute taxes owed and prepare tax returns, ensuring compliance with payment, reporting, or other tax requirements.
• Prepare adjusting journal entries.
• Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions.
• Prepare detailed reports on audit findings.
• Prepare, analyze, or verify annual reports, financial statements, and other records, using accepted accounting and statistical procedures to assess financial condition and facilitate financial planning.
• Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations, and management policies.
• Review data about material assets, net worth, liabilities, capital stock, surplus, income, or expenditures.
• Report to management regarding the finances of establishment.
• Evaluate taxpayer finances to determine tax liability, using knowledge of interest and discount rates, annuities, valuation of stocks and bonds, and amortization valuation of depletable assets.
• Supervise auditing of establishments, and determine scope of investigation required.
• Develop, implement, modify, and document recordkeeping and accounting systems, making use of current computer technology.
• Confer with company officials about financial and regulatory matters.

Knowledge

• Economics and Accounting
• English Language
• Mathematics
• Administration and Management
• Customer and Personal Service
• Law and Government
• Administrative
• Computers and Electronics

Skills

• Reading Comprehension
• Active Listening
• Writing
• Critical Thinking
• Speaking
• Mathematics
• Active Learning
• Monitoring

Abilities

• Written Comprehension
• Inductive Reasoning
• Mathematical Reasoning
• Oral Comprehension
• Oral Expression
• Written Expression
• Deductive Reasoning
• Number Facility
• Near Vision
• Problem Sensitivity
• Information Ordering
• Category Flexibility
• Flexibility of Closure
• Speech Recognition
• Speech Clarity
• Fluency of Ideas
• Selective Attention