In times of crisis, the accounting of the company and its correct management is one of the main priorities if you want to find a good way to save and obtain benefits at the end of each of the financial years. For this reason, having a good financial team and trained accountants is absolutely essential.
It is the responsibility of the human resources department to choose the necessary personnel, but for this reason, the desire and atmosphere in the accounting team also count. For this reason, the motivation of accounting assistants play a fundamental role for the correct course of the company.
What is an accounting assistant?
An accounting assistant is a compound word that helps us to decipher from the etymological meaning of each of the words, which come from Latin, what is the function of a person who is working in this position. On the one hand, there are many different positions in a company, and even in the medical sector that have assistants. Basically, what this word means is to assist in the functions they play. For example, a nurse could also be considered a medical assistant, since she is in charge of providing a type of help to the doctor in any type of situation, be it a surgical operation or a routine consultation.
If we take it to the accounting field, it is exactly the same. An accounting assistant has the function of providing assistance to accounting professionals, who handle both company accounts and economic and financial data. Although, be careful, the fact of saying that you are an assistant can end up signifying a certain contempt for your position. In the accounting department, any type of assistant can be equal to or more qualified than his boss to perform this function. Therefore, the training to be an accounting assistant is the same as that of any member of an accounting department.
In fact, many of the people who work as accountants may have come to explain that while studying their university career they combined it with the job of accounting assistant. You get double profit. On the one hand, you gain experience and learn in a completely real environment at the business level to begin to value your resume. Well, the position that these university students develop is that of accounting assistant. They support the accounting department by assisting in administrative tasks that are equally of enormous importance. As we saw previously, this professional must be perfectly trained to deal with concepts related to accounting and be able to make decisions and offer recommendations to their superiors.
The main concepts are related to the ability to read any type of accounting balance and understand the reflected content, and that serves to interpret the current state of the company. Let”s not forget that having good accounting professionals will have an impact on the rest of the financial departments. If the analysis of the situation of the company itself is not done perfectly, the general management will not be able to know the current state. It is similar to a doctor. If you do not make a good diagnosis, you cannot find the remedy that allows you to cure to the person who is ill. However, it should not be generalized either, since accounting assistants perform different functions depending on the company in which they work. In some cases, they can act as collectors or even messengers despite receiving the name of their position that they end up receiving.
Benefits of working as an accounting assistant.
However, working as an accounting assistant has enormous benefits for all those who decide for a position of this type. Some of the most prominent are:
- A formative job. As we have said before, you are going to train and you will be able to learn from real professionals in a business environment that you can find yourself in the future. Therefore, it is an excellent opportunity as a starting point.
- Move up in an accounting department. It is the top of the iceberg. Where you start and you can go up until you get positions of greater responsibility that allow you to show what you are worth and opt for a more competitive salary.
- Gain experience. Professional experience is a degree and, therefore, if you want to achieve this type of experience, starting from studies is essential. When you get to the real job you are already able to handle all the different tasks that you have to face.
- To be able to combine it with studies. The job of an accounting clerk is fundamentally for learning. Obviously, you are working and therefore they will pay you part time. While you combine it with your studies, it can surely help you earn extra money
How to work as an accounting clerk?
Today, there are many ways to start an experience as an accountant. If you are developing a university career or studies related to accounting, the training center itself can surely help you. Ask the department dedicated to employability and careers if they have any openings available for this type of position. Many companies seek to sign university agreements to obtain a tax return and a benefit when it comes to paying taxes. In addition, it helps you to gain experience and continue training before directly facing the real professional world with full guarantees.
On the job portals, if you are studying but the university itself does not have a specific offer of employment assistant, you can search for it on your own. Use LinkedIn as the main tool since they can help you to get those positions that interest you the most. If you pass the selection process and finally they want to make you an internship contract, do not forget that the university itself will not oppose you to sign an agreement so that you can work as a trainee and start gaining experience in the accounting world, before starting your career as an accountant .
However, as we have said before, the criteria vary depending on the company we are referring to. Obviously, all of them can be used to earn money. The functions, on the other hand, are totally different. On the one hand, you can take care of filing and controlling all those accounting documents that are of vital importance to the company. They can also prepare the balance sheets, either the income or expense items that finally mark the final result of the exercise itself.
Although inventories can be the work of auditors, especially in those companies that by income level are required to carry out an audit, an accounting assistant can also count the goods and services sold and the stock that remains in the warehouse. One of the most common elements that is usually found in each of the companies is the need to be controlled by their superiors. For this reason, any type of setback or anomaly must be reported to the senior staff, in charge of the responsibility of the trainee or the junior worker, in that case. Without a doubt, the role of accounting assistant is one of the best ways to fully enter the accounting world.