What are the Different Types of Staff Accountant Jobs?

Staff accountant jobs are commonly available in many industries with a myriad of responsibilities. These positions often perform such tasks as maintaining purchase order systems and managing petty cash. While some functions, such as processing and reconciling receivable, are likely to be similar, other tasks may be quite different depending upon the exact nature of the job. Staff accountants in accounting control departments, for example, may employ methods to ensure financial statements are accurate, while those in more traditional environments may be responsible for validating and reviewing expense accuracies. In business consulting firms, staff accountants may prepare client financial statements and conduct audits, and senior staff accountants may oversee the functions of department personnel.

Many companies maintain accounting departments to oversee finances, monitor cash flow and manage payroll. Such departments may employ multiple positions, including staff accountant jobs. Often considered entry-level positions, these employees typically support the chief financial officer or senior accountant in conducting daily responsibilities, such as maintaining purchase order systems, preparing correspondence and managing petty cash. This, in turn, typically allows senior accountants to prepare and analyze financial statements, investigate budget and various issues and forecast revenue.

Although different types of staff accountant jobs exist, these positions often perform similar functions. For example, many entry level staff accountant jobs are likely responsible for processing and reconciling receivables, managing accounts payable and submitting billing forms to customers. Such positions also routinely conduct research to reconcile general ledger accounts, generate reports for the controller and conduct billed and unbilled receivables analyses.

In addition to traditional accounting offices, staff accountant jobs may be available in accounting control departments, such as those found at large corporations or four-year universities. Staff members in such offices often employ methods to ensure the validity and accuracy of the company’s financial statements. These methods routinely help a company comply with local or national reporting laws as well as record accurate profit and loss margins. Imposing a limit on who can access financial records to preserve the integrity of data is one example of an accounting control practice.

Moderately complex accounting activities are sometimes performed by staff accountants as well. This may include active participation in the period close process, daily review of accounting entries and validation of expense accuracies. Specific responsibilities may include identifying budget or prior-year variances, preparing and entering journal entries as needed and assisting in the periodic audit of monthly revenue invoices. Such staff accountant jobs may also assist with business analysis, communicate accounting policy changes with other departments and assist with accounting training for non-financial managers.

Business consulting firms often provide accounting and financial services to client organizations of various sizes. These services may help companies control costs and grow their core services or products. Staff accountant jobs in such capacities may provide auditable financial statements for client companies to analyze. They may also support monthly account reconciliation and conduct compliance audits. Additional responsibilities may include managing multiple client deliverables and schedules, addressing client issues and complying with local or national accounting regulations.

Accounting analysis may be another area in which businesses employ highly-skilled individuals. Monthly operating results, for example, often need to be monitored and reviewed to ensure a company meets profit goals. Staff accountant jobs in this capacity may also review financial schedules as submitted by various department personnel, such as information technology, human resources or production. After reports are analyzed, these accountants often prepare fluctuation analyses of monthly operating results, adjust and evaluate various accruals to ensure their accuracy and update monthly account reconciliations in support of month-ending asset and liability balances.

In an accounting department with multiple employees, the senior staff accountant often coordinates monthly close efforts and oversees functions of department personnel. This position may also ensure all company financial transactions are properly recorded, interpret the company’s financial position and monitor compliance with generally accepted accounting principles. The senior member may further identify process flow errors and make corrections, review and investigate inconsistencies in financial entries and analyze such data as sales trends and company expenditures.