Importance and Responsibilities attached with the job of an Accountant

With the shifting of interest of the present day youth from government jobs towards the self employment/entrepreneurship the scope of the supporting but essential services has also been increased and one such important service is accountancy and provider of this service are generally known as Accountant. Accountant are those professional who maintains the accounts of various kinds of small or medium scale business be it maintaining balance sheets, ledgers or any other data relating to book keeping Though this is not considered as one of the glamorous profession even after attaining so much importance. But its presence and indispensability cannot be ignored now a day. Like every other profession this is also providing a lot of opportunities to earn handsome money to the younger generation throughout the world now and specially the developing countries like India.

To be an Accountant though no such formal education is compulsory even then one has to be really dedicated and hardworking. The job of a Accountant demands intensive knowledge of the various aspects of maintaining accounts in every aspect of the trade . For this one should have the capacity to work hard with commitment and honesty. The job requires a lot of hard work, alertness of mind and adaptability to follow difficult time schedule as some time he has to work for long hours continuously to accomplish the task in hand.

To discharge his duties efficiently and effectively he requires special training of related work like maintaining journals, ledgers, cash book etc. along with the basic theoretical knowledge of the subject related with his work. In the present scenario of paper less offices basic knowledge of computer application in accounts will be handy for an accountant to get rid of some repeated tasks.



Eligibility to be an Accountant
Although anyone who have basic knowledge of basic account can become an accountant .But to have full hold on the area of work and to get some kind of acknowledgement of one’s work one should have minimum amount of formal education of the field he is working in. So we can say that desirable qualification for becoming a successful accountant is as follows

1. Educational Qualification
(a) Pass in Senior Secondary Examination (10+2) or equivalent recognized examination with accounts, economics and mathematics as preferred subjects.
(b)Graduation in the commerce stream is the most preferred qualification for the Accountants desirous to join Government sector as Accountants or Section or Accounts Officers.
(c)Basic working knowledge of computers is required. Knowledge of some Accounts packages like Tally, etc adds to the efficiency of the prospective Accounts.

Process to be an Accountant
To be an Accountant one has to follow the below given steps:-
There are basically three ways to enter this field of accountancy

1. Self Employment
2. Joining private sector as an accountant
3. Joining Govt. Sector as an account.

1. Self Employment
This is the area which is gaining much ground now a day. Young people in present scenario want to be independent and remain an authority in themselves. Those who bear such thoughts can work independently by taking assignments from small enterprises for maintaining their accounts on daily or weekly basis. With little efficiency and experience they can handle a number of assignments of same or different organizations and can earn handsomely on an average. But those who are desirous to be self employed should have a personality with multiple virtues as these young ones have to find and do the work themselves by exploring the market by their own.

Remunerations or Earning of self employed accountants
There is no upper or lower limit of income to these professionals. It depends upon one’s capabilities how much he can earn. More the efforts put by an individual more the wealth generated by him in this field. On an average one can earn anything between 20,000-25,000 per month working independently
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2. Joining private sector as an accountant
Graduate accountants are also sort after by many large scale and multinational companies for their routine accounts maintenance .Those who wants to enjoy the certainty of income every month and are less inclined towards the self-employment and independence of work theory can avail the opportunities provided by these companies . They can join these positions either by interviews or clearing the written test taken by these from time to time.

Remunerations or Earning of private sector employed accountants
Although varying from company to company but on average one can get near about 10,000-12,000 to start with and go as much 20,000-25000 with experience and knowledge. However there is no upper limit for hard working and revenue generating employees in today’s culture of multinational companies. Today employers work on the principle of hire and fire one who produces results is employed on any terms and those who are not result oriented dispense with immediately.

3. Joining Government sector as an Accountant
Various State and Central Government department also require accounts professionals from time to time. For this they keep on recruiting commerce graduates from time to time through employment notice published by them in the various mass media resources. Government recruitment is generally done by a selection processes consisting of written exams followed by interviews. One can look for TargetStudy.com “Alerts” to get the dates and details of such exams held from time to time.

Remunerations or Earning of Government sector employed accountants
In Government sector an account gets anywhere near 10,000-12,000 per month but to compensate for lower monetary gains government provides with various other emoluments like free housing, medical expenses and above all job security. And the advantage that attracts most towards is that one gets the Authority of being in the government position.

Carrier prospects
Ladder of hierarchy for an accountant in the Government Sector.

Junior Accountant
Accountant
Senior Accountant
Section Officer (One has to pass S.A.S exam)
Assistant Accounts Officer
Accounts Officer
Senior Accounts Officer