Being an accountant is a bit like being at the heart of the company. The accountant knows just about everything that goes on in a business. Whether in terms of income and expenses, cash or human resources.
An accountant does the bookkeeping and submit the financial statements. He enters suppliers invoices and pay them. He bills the customers and collect their money. The accountant also does the payroll, government rebates and income taxes. He must also be available all the time to respond to management requests.
On a typical day, accountant usually starts his day with bank reconciliation. Managers normally wants to know the liquidity of the company. Then, he has to go through the mail. If there are any check on it, the accountant will prepare the deposit slip. If any invoices are overdue, he will have to pay them. Then, he has to to concentrate on the other tasks according to their priority. For example, they have to make sure the pay slip comes in time at the bank for deposit.
An accountant can work in a private company or in an accountant's office. Working in a private company gives the advantage of knowing the location, the employees and the products and services being sold. Working in an accountant's office means to do the accounting for several companies. It is more difficult to master all facets of the business and it is less easy to access colleagues to ask them for additional information.
To be an accountant, you can take three different ways. The shortest way is to get a professional studies diploma in secretarial and accounting. There is also the cegep diploma in accounting and management. Finally, the longest way is to go on college to get the MBA.
The salary ranges of an accountant depends on his education, his experience and his working environment. I did get information on the website Jobs.ca. In 2015, a bookkeeper can earn an annual salary of forty-one thousand dollars. An accounting technician can earn a salary between forty-five thousand and fifty thousand dollars for a year. A CPA accountant can expect a salary between sixty thousand and seventy thousand dollars. Finally, a chartered accountant can earn between ninety thousand and one hundred thousand dollars for one year.
To stay up-to-date, accountants can attend conferences or take classes. When software changes, or to learn more, a course is needed. When laws or ways of doing things changes, conferences are used to update themselves. When the company is part of a prevention mutual, there are conferences each years that the person in charge of human resources or the accountant must attend.
Sometimes an accountant can have some troubles to sleep at night. Spending your day in front of a screen and watching numbers scroll can make it harder to sleep. Short deadlines requirements can cause depressions. The joints and muscles of the hands, wrists, forearms and back are strained. Accountants are prone to tendinitis and sometimes even arthritis. If a business manager can be guilty of mismanagement and fraud, the accountant can be considered to be an accomplice and will have the same criminal liability.
I believe it would be difficult for a robot to do all the tasks of an accountant. Even if the tasks are computerized, the fact remains that human decisions must be made at every step of the accounting process.
In a way, accountants can retire at a fairly advanced age. It's not a very physical job. On the other hand, we must keep in mind that the next generation is waiting for its turn to enter the labor market. It would also be nice to be healthy to enjoy retirement.
I worked around ten years as an accountant. I did not have a diploma, so I never got the salary I deserved. I am about to complete my education and finally get a diploma in 2024. With all my work experiences, I guess I will have a nice job with a good salary.