The Role of a Staff Accountant - Fitch Ratings Company - Essay Example

The Role of a Staff Accountant - Fitch Ratings CompanyIn the role of staff accountant, special attention will be paid to providing contributions to the company’s continued growth. The position requires proficiency in operating within a global firm, as Fitch Ratings is currently operating offices in over 50 locations, including New York and London (UK). The staff accountant assists in the process of internal auditing, performs adequate record-keeping including daily and month-end journal entries, and must be available for participation in special team projects as mandated by the current company environment.

This position reports directly to Marvin Goodells (Junior Vice President) and is operated by division leader Thelma Brackly (Division Superintendent). All matters of business or personal matters should be brought to Mr. Goodells as part of Fitch Ratings management hierarchy.Responsibilities:Outside of the aforementioned, the staff accountant will:Perform analyses and reconciliations of different corporate balance sheets and profit/lossaccounts such as payroll and general ledger maintenanceParticipate in month-end close-outsMaintain flexibility and multi-tasking in a difficult accounting environmentSpecific Functions Outlined:Because staff accountancy involves knowledge within a wide field of finance, it is important to understand how to perform well in this new position.

Internal auditing, specifically, involves extensive review of ledger histories. These are located in the left hand file cabinet under the “reconciliation” tab. All copies of your daily logs must be posted in chronological order at the end of the closing accountancy day. Auditing consists of comparing the electronic records with that of the staff general ledgers. All proposed discrepancies, if any, will be highlighted in green and distributed by Marvin Goodells on the 24th of each month. When discrepancies can be explained, with appropriate documentation, a commentary section is appended to the report where definitions or scenarios must be discussed for the inconsistency.

This report, when reconciled, must be delivered to Mr. Goodells’ exterior office mailbox by the last reporting day of the month. Once monthly, you will meet with Thelma Brackley to discuss your role in various customer accounting. She will ask to see all of your balance sheets for a specific date or time period, and it is required by policy that you are able to produce those records instantaneously. As such, it is important to understand the filing system of the office. All general ledger notifications are to be tabbed red, payroll information is labeled green, and balance sheets are labeled with blue tabs.

These tabs are located in the copy office, merely ask Tina (the office manager) for replacements if you can find none. Affix these tabs to each day’s records, place their photocopy in the file drawer with the appropriate colored tab, and file the records in descending dates facing away from you. As the draw fills, place them in a storage box and Tina will archive them to the vault. By understanding the processes of tabular record-keeping, you will be able to satisfy corporate expectations for performance and records maintenance and impress the divisional leadership.