Accountant is a popular and widespread profession.. Without such a specialist, not a single business enterprise can fully function. However, not everyone knows that in the professional community of accountants it is customary to divide into several categories. Today in our article we will talk about which categories of accountants exist and how they differ from each other.
What is classification for?
Large enterprises have full-fledged accounting departments, consisting of a large number of employees. Moreover, each accountant is responsible for a specific sector of work and specialize in performing clearly defined functions. Obviously, these functions belong to a certain level of complexity, respectively, they require one or another qualification level of the staff. In addition, the level of salary of a specialist depends on the tasks performed.
In this regard, all accountants are usually divided into several categories. For example, in budgetary state organizations, a detailed separation is mandatory and is carried out based on the decree of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation of 08.21.1998 No. 37 and Art. 144 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
As for commercial private firms, they are not obliged to be guided by these documents, however, many managers still prefer to carry out their activities on the basis of the regulatory framework (primarily, this is due to convenience).
What does it depend on?
The specific category to which the accountant is assigned depends on his professionalism and competence.And it doesn’t matter if a specialist works in a budgetary institution or a commercial organization. A category is assigned to a specialist, if it meets clearly defined requirements. These requirements can be divided into formal and additional.
The formal requirements that apply to accountants include the level of education (secondary or higher) and seniority. Moreover, the higher these indicators, the higher rank you can count on. Additional requirements include the real qualifications and competencies of a specialist - they can be identified through special examinations, standardized testing, or a personal interview. Besides, An important role is played by experience in a particular field.
Job Categories
According to a special document, namely, the accounting professional standard, all accountants can be divided into 5 main groups. Let's consider each of them in more detail.
- Representatives who relate to group “A”, are considered ordinary (for example, they include novice accountants who have just graduated from an educational institution). At the same time, the qualification level of such specialists is estimated by the number 5.
- Professionals who, in the course of their work, are involved in the preparation of accounting and financial statements, include to category "B". Specialists of this group may hold the position of chief accountant or even the head of a department. Their skill level is 6.
- The main specialists who prepare reporting documents for separate enterprises, as well as work with companies that have branches, belong to to group "C". They are characterized by skill level 7.
- Accountants group "D" on a daily basis engaged in the preparation of consolidated financial statements. They are inherent in the 8th level of qualification.
- Those involved in consulting services belong to to group "E".
Intra-duty instruction subdivides specialists into several categories.
- Accountants without a category - these are specialists who have specialized secondary education or have completed retraining courses, after which they began to work in the financial sector.
- 2nd category specialists have the same level of education as accountants without a category, but have at least 1 year experience.
- In order to get the 1st category, need to work in the 2nd category for 1 year.
Qualification requirements
Every specialist working in the accounting department wants to get the highest category and be assigned to the most prestigious group. This not only raises the status of a person inside and outside the company, but also affects his earnings. In the process of assigning a category, certain qualification requirements are taken into account, which a specialist must meet.
So, first of all, the presence of education and its level are taken into account. A special commission analyzes the place of training, as well as evaluations of a specialist during training. However, not only a diploma and similar formal features matter. Also important is how successfully a specialist can put the acquired theoretical knowledge into practice. Professional skills are also considered.
Work experience is also key. In this case, not only the time period can be analyzed, but the specific nature of the work, namely, the scope of the accountant (for example, work in a government agency or in a commercial organization).
It should be borne in mind that despite the fact that some characteristics are clearly defined by the regulatory documents of our country, some factors are taken into account at the discretion of a particular employer.
Increase principle
The process of advanced training and categories is carried out not in random order, but is clearly regulated. Thus, the equality of all applicants is ensured, since each person goes through the same process in the process of increasing the category. So, graduates of universities, institutes, colleges and technical schools in the process of employment for their first job can only become accountants without any category. This is primarily due to the lack of any work experience, respectively, of practical skills.
At the same time, it should be borne in mind that such strict rules are inherent exclusively to budgetary state institutions that carry out their activities, strictly observing all regulatory documents, as well as charters, orders and decrees. If you find a job in a private company, the situation may be different. For example, some heads of commercial companies immediately award a young specialist a particular category (especially if the specialist does not have a secondary professional, but a higher education, and also has high marks in the diploma).
If you want to upgrade your category and move to another group, then you have to go through a special certification procedure. Moreover, this procedure is characteristic of both budgetary and commercial organizations. Accordingly, before upgrading your category, you need to prepare - The employer will test your competence both theoretically and in practice. After you successfully pass the certification, this fact will be necessarily displayed in the organizational documents. No special certificates or diplomas are issued to a specialist. In addition, after that you can apply for a higher position in the company and, accordingly, increased salary. Thus, the profession of an accountant is comprehensive and diverse. A person who has received the appropriate education can perform a wide variety of functions.
Based on his immediate work tasks, an accountant can get one or another category, respectively, increase his position in the company and eventually grow to the head of the department or even the director of the organization.
