What is an accountant and their role in a SME?

Good accounting practices keep your business running smoothly, but do you know what is an accountant or what their activities are? Accounting may appear to be simple at first glance—after all, it’s just numbers crunching. But, while working with financial data is an essential component of the job, accounting is a vital company function that involves far more problem solving than you may imagine.

So, what exactly does an accountant perform on a day-to-day basis? Today, you will learn more about accountants’ tasks and responsibilities and Accounts Payable Automation.

What Is an Accountant?

An accountant is in charge of maintaining and interpreting financial records, managing bookkeeping, and preparing financial papers such as profit-and-loss statements, balance sheets, and other financial paperwork.

They conduct audits of your books, create tax reports, and handle all the financial data that comes with running a business. To put it another way, they’re the finance nerd for you.

Most accounts analysts are in charge of various financial activities, whether for individual clients or for more significant enterprises and organizations that hire them.

What Does an Accountant Do?

 Although an accountant’s daily responsibilities and tasks vary by position and organization, the following are some of the most typical jobs and responsibilities:

• Ensure the accuracy and compliance of financial documentation with applicable laws and regulations.
• Prepare critical financial reports and regularly update them.
• Preparing tax forms, and coordinating with tax consultants to ensure taxes are paid on time and correctly.
• Evaluating financial processes to promote best practices, uncover difficulties and develop solutions, and assist organizations in running more efficiently.
• Providing cost-cutting, revenue-boosting, and profit-maximizing advice.
• Performing forecasting and risk analysis evaluations.
• Keeping you informed about new and changing tax laws; and calculating payroll taxes for your employees.
• Managing payroll of your employees.
• An accounts analyst can track accounts receivable.

For example, you know you’ve issued invoices to each of your customers, but have they been paid? Your accounts analyst can track who has settled financials (and who hasn’t) so you know how much cash you have in hand—and if late reminders are necessary.

What Kinds of Accountants Are There?

 Accountant responsibilities exist in a variety of sizes and shapes, but there are three key profiles to remember:

Bookkeeper

Bookkeepers are not all accountants, but accountants can be bookkeepers. Bookkeepers handle everything from bill payments to weekly reports for your company. While bookkeepers can perform a wide range of financial tasks, they aren’t obliged to have licenses to represent you before the IRS or file your taxes.

CPA (Chartered Public Accountant) (CPA)

CPAs are certified by the state after passing specified exams and meeting licensure standards. They can draught and sign tax returns for individuals and corporations and represent taxpayers in IRS audits.

Enrolled Agent

Enrolled agents must pass a comprehensive exam that includes personal and corporate tax rules. They must also maintain their licenses by completing continuing education requirements and can represent you in front of the IRS if you face an audit. They cannot sign your tax returns, though they can prepare them.

Accounts Payable Automation

 You may be amazed to hear this. According to ACCA, 50% of the accounting executives believe that automation will significantly impact the accounting business over the next 30 years.

 Automated accounting software is gaining traction in the sector. In fact, according to a recent poll, bookkeepers and accountants spend about 86 percent of their time on jobs that can get automated.

However, this does not imply that machines will replace accountants. Instead, accountants will spend less time on manual chores like data entry and more time on relevant analysis due to growing automation.

Accounting automation can help accountants streamline their processes and increase their efficiency. Current invoice automation software downloads invoices automatically from many portals. They automatically scan emails for the defined inboxes and identify invoices saving time and resources. Labor-intensive tasks like tax preparation, payroll, and audits can be automated with these emerging technologies, reducing the time and resources required to move forward.

Aspiring and present accounting professionals should stay updated on these accounts payable automation advancements to keep their skills relevant and preserve a competitive advantage in the workplace.

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