Accountant for primary documentation: responsibilities, requirements, career growth

An accountant is a well-known, popular, and most importantly, a sought-after profession. No company can do without such a specialist. At the same time, large organizations with a large number of divisions hire not one specialist, but an entire accounting department. In such a department, there is always a professional who works with primary documentation. Today in our material we will analyze the features of the accountant according to the primary documentation, as well as the job responsibilities that a specialist fulfills, requirements, and career growth.

In fact, the accountant for the primary documentation - it is a specialist who processes documents such as invoices, sales receipts and transport documents. Such professionals are involved in enterprises that specialize in a wide variety of fields (for example, trade, construction, transportation, and so on). Workers who occupy this position should have detailed knowledge regarding workflow, have a diploma of education, as well as be responsible, attentive, punctual, have an analytical mindset. The profession is popular among young people and brings good income.

Before finally choosing this career path, it is important to evaluate all the features of the profession. First of all, consider the main advantages of this profession.

• Comfortable working conditions. The primary accountant usually works in the office space. Accordingly, he has his own workplace. In addition, the work schedule itself is quite convenient: the specialist has weekends and holidays, as well as a full social package.
• Career. A person who holds the position of an accountant for primary documentation does not remain at this place throughout his career. He receives promotions and over time can become a chief accountant, department head or even director of an enterprise.
• Decent earnings. A highly qualified, experienced and interested specialist receives a decent financial reward for his work. It is no secret that each of us is looking for not only interesting and fascinating, but also a profession that will bring us a decent income.
• Demand. If you have a diploma in bookkeeping, then you will never be left without a job. As mentioned above, not a single enterprise can do without such a specialist.

However, in addition to the advantages, there are a number of negative characteristics of the profession.

1. High workload. Any enterprise has a large number of primary documentation with which this professional deals with during his work activities. Accordingly, during the working day, the specialist performs a large number of functions and is constantly busy.
2. Meticulousness. In order for an accountant to efficiently and competently fulfill his job duties, he must be as attentive as possible, even in relation to, at first glance, insignificant details. Accordingly, such work is not suitable for everyone.
3. Routine. The work of a specialist who is involved in the processing of primary documentation is associated with the performance of the same tasks every day. Thus, in order to be a successful specialist, you must be prone to this kind of activity. Creativity and creativity at work will not work.

However, before receiving the appropriate education and applying for this position, you need to carefully evaluate all the characteristics of the profession, and also relate them with your abilities, desires and personality traits. Only with their full coincidence will you be able to fulfill your functional duties as efficiently and competently as possible - accordingly, be respected among colleagues and be in demand among employers.

The functional responsibilities that a specialist in the processing of primary documentation deals with on a daily basis are included in a special document - it is called a “job description”. It is on its basis that the accountant does his work and carries out all his professional functions. Thus, the job description is a kind of regulation.

The main responsibilities of an accountant for primary documentation include the following:

• filling in primary securities for accounting;
• statement of necessary documents;
• accounting of documents governing and regulating the economic activities of the enterprise;
• control over the implementation of the workflow process;
• checking the correctness of the compilation of primary documentation by other employees;
• generation of summary reports;
• preparation of complete sets of documentation and so on.

At the same time, it’s worth bearing in mind that, although the job description itself is a standardized document, many employers modify or supplement the list of job responsibilities of the employee.

When writing a vacancy about finding an employee for an accountant position on primary documentation, employers strictly prescribe what a specialist should know and what needs to be done.

The specialist should know the following:

• all regulatory documents of the Russian Federation that govern the workflow process, as well as related to archiving;
• tax and financial laws;
• internal documentation of the enterprise, namely - the charter, orders and so on;
• rules for filling and compiling primary documentation;
• labor legislation of the Russian Federation;
• rules for working with a computer and specialized accounting programs and databases.

The specialist should be able to:

• draw up primary documents in paper and electronic (on a computer) formats;
• be able to carry out a comprehensive and detailed verification of the primary documentation received at the enterprise;
• be able to work in the 1C program;
• properly store documents.

It is worth noting that these requirements are basic, but not final.

To take the position of accountant for primary documentation, You need to undergo appropriate training. This can be done both in the secondary vocational and in higher education. Many specialists first graduate from a technical school, and then, at the same time as working, study at the correspondence department of the university.

When choosing a school give preference to the most status and prestigious educational organizations. To date, there are several areas of training, having graduated from which, you can get the position of an accountant for primary documentation. For example, one of the most popular specialties is the direction “Accounting, analysis and audit”. After you have decided on a particular educational institution, you need to visit its admissions office and clarify which exams you need to pass.

The training process lasts at least 3 years. Moreover, if you decide to get higher educational degrees, then this period can increase by 2 or even 3 times. In addition, in order to advance on the career ladder, you need to regularly take advanced training courses, attend specialized seminars and conferences. Only in this way will you remain a relevant and sought-after employee in the personnel market.

Young specialists after graduation and without work experience can apply for an accountant position on primary documentation. However, be prepared for the fact that the employer can check not only the availability of formal professional qualifications (for example, a diploma of education), but also factual knowledge. For this, certification tests or interviews may be conducted.

This is especially true for those who are serious about practice and have proven themselves from the best side. After working for several years at the starting position, you can claim a promotion. Gradually, an accountant who specializes in primary documentation can reach the position of department head or even director of an enterprise, especially if a person manifests himself as an active and proactive employee.