The Staff Accountant Job Duty at a Firm - Essay Example

Maintaining the Accounts of the Company

Maintaining company accounts is often a statutory requirement for companies. The incumbent staff accountant will be required to maintain the accounts payable vendor files, issue check payments, and analyze accounts payables a responsibility that is well handled by a staff accountant. The officer will be handling international transactions as the company ships a lot of products to China. It is estimated that the company ships 250 times daily and contracts third party companies to handle its logistics. The system data shows that it shipped over 10,000 package in March 2016 that consisted of over 300 products with different weights. These transactions require a qualified a staff accountant that can review, calculate vendor costs and post them appropriately to the general ledger accounts of the company.

The logistic company engaged by Merrylife would be required to provide the billing invoice at the beginning of each month, which would, includes all the shipping cost and custom fee incurred as of the previous month. Merrylife estimates that the staff accountant would require 3 days at the beginning of each month to review and adjust the shipping cost. Custom fee is a special part of the business and it largely depends on the current regulations imposed by the Chinese authorities. However the current challenge is that the policy is not very clear on how it should be calculated. The staff accountant would therefore be required to summarize the packages on which custom fee was charged and then analyze the data to help the company management figure out the trend or the pattern of the custom fees charged by the Chinese Government.

Moreover, the nature of the transactions handed by Merrylife requires less bookkeeping since they have an online database that takes care of bookkeeping, which makes a bookkeeper an unsuitable option for this job. The company requires the services of a qualified accountant who can make relevant adjustments, reconciliations and an analysis of the transactions of an international business to help the management see the trend in the financial reports instead of trial balance at the end of each month.

Preparing Reports for the Management as and When They Require

Reporting is a serious responsibility that requires one to be properly acquainted with the international reporting standards and how the fluctuations affect the foreign exchange rates. This is because the company deals in foreign currency e.g. paying in Chinese Yuan in china that goes to the bank of China. Merrylife being a company that operates globally is likely to attract shareholders from across borders. That is true and as accurate as possible. This, therefore, makes it necessary for the company to hire an individual that is properly acquainted with financial reporting standards outlined in GAAP and FASB standards.

The data obtained from the system for March shows that Merrylife shipped 10,000 packages overseas. This kind of sales volume requires a staff accountant that is resilient, computer literate and effective in handling overseas transactions. Therefore, this makes a bookkeeper option unviable for the opening. The data obtained from the company also shows that the company has over 300 brands of products, which require careful handling in terms of contribution to company’s profits. To effectively report on the company’s transactions, the company requires a staff accountant that can accurately and actively update information on vendor and accounts payable as well as analyze vendor costs twice in every month on the 7th and 22nd) to facilitate reconciliation of company accounts and bank accounts. The officer will also be required to control the company’s accounts overseas and perform international wiring of money every week and, consequently update company cash accounts and reconcile them with bank accounts. Merrylife believes that the incumbent staff accountant would require 2 hours per day every week to analyze transactions considering the as the exchange rate fluctuations every day. The staff accountant will also be required to control the bank balance of the company to avoid overdraft.

Managing the Budgets of Each Department

Managing the budget of each department is a crucial function of management and this requires a competent management accountant that has ability to track the cost of inventories across all departments. The company is currently holding $200,000 in inventory and this will require someone with proper knowledge in inventory costs and management. Cost monitoring is a crucial function of managing a budget. The officer will therefore be required to review the cost allocations made, track inventory and prepare a cost analysis report that serves to guide the management decisions (Duke University Financial, 2012). This responsibility requires the input of a staff account in lieu of a bookkeeper. Since the inventory is a major asset of the company, the staff accountant will require 2 hours every day to manage the inventory and make sure the inventory shipping is under FIFO.

The officer should also be able to track the daily expenditures against the budgetary allocations and providing the training about financial management to the holders of the budget. Doing this will empower the budget holders to understand the implications of their budgets on the overall outcomes of Merrylife and remain accountable at all times. This officer, therefore, has to be someone with crucial financial skills, which renders a bookkeeper irrelevant for this job opening. Merrylife therefore, should be steadfast to hire a staff accountant who undoubtedly could be able to handle the above responsibilities.

Deciding the Discounts Offered by the Company

Merylife biggest vendor is the Costco Wholesale. Costco and maintains a book that specifies discounts offered on Merrylife products every month for a given period. The officer will be required to decide on the best discounts to offer by reconciling costs of production and selling prices of goods. This responsibility involves an analysis of financial accounts to determine costs of producing the company’s products in relation to selling prices to determine profit margins that can provide a basis for determining discounts to be offered. The staff accountant, in this case, will be responsible for making such analysis to enable him to determine the amount of discounts that are ideal for the company's customers. A bookkeeper has basic accounting knowledge that renders him or her incapable of performing this analysis. Therefore, this makes a staff account an ideal person who can determine the ideal level of discounts by calculating the current margin, break-even and mark up points of the company (Victoria, 2015). The accountant will be able to access the discount book available online around 20th of each month. The company estimates that the staff accountant will need 2 days to analysis and generate a summary report to management every month.

Conversely, a staff accountant would be suitable to liaise with the marketing department to find out the level of discount competitors in the same market are offering to make informed discount decisions. This officer would also be responsible for regular review of the accounts to determine the effect of the discount. This would enable the company to know whether the sales are taking a nosedive (Anum, 2011).

• Coordinating with the Management and give Suggestions for Company Strategies

Merrylife does everyday purchases that are decided based on the previous day sales done online in China. The company has 6 sales representatives in China to promote the business and deal with product questions from online customers. The ideal candidate will also be responsible in preparing the sales commissions list and sharing it as well to the sales representatives to aid management in in determining the best selling prices of products and discounting strategies that be offered to retain and attract new customers. To do these, the staff accountant will be required to use one hour daily.

• Calculating the Correct Profit and Losses of the Company

The ideal candidate for Merrylife should be able to effectively reconcile the accounts receivable and accounts payable two times on a monthly basis to enable the company avoid major variances that may affect company profits. The officer will also be required to review timesheet and accurately prepare payroll to avoid incurring cost that is unjust to the company. In April 2016, the company’s contracted logistic company gave a feedback that their web system had technical problems which resulted in inaccurate total shipping fee paid to them. They stated that the system recorded the cost of one pound per package instead of the total package weight. Since the company’s packages were weighed after shipping by the logistics company, the staff accountant would be required to record the accrued expenses daily at the time the packages are handed to the logistic company. Therefore, the ideal is a staff account who can prepare the income statement of the company by transferring all revenues from sales and gains realized from international exchange rates to the account, and deducting all expenses and losses realized from exchange rates due to international transactions. These statements are very crucial for the management and the shareholders (Victoria, 2014) and can only be prepared by a staff account and not a bookkeeper that does bookkeeping only.

Conversely, the ideal candidate for the position should be able to track company sales and appraise them against its expenses by considering all elements such as the impact of discounts offered on the company’s products. Simple bookkeeping does not go to this extent, and only an accountant can have a better overview of the company's profits and losses. Thus, Merrylife would be better thinking about hiring a staff accountant instead of a bookkeeper.

• Working Closely with the Legal Department During the Preparation of Taxes

Working closely with the legal department, especially when preparing the taxes is vital as the department offers the direction regarding the same. As the company is doing a resale business, the staff accountant would need to correctly record the gross sales and report sales tax on time. Also, Costco Wholesale, the company’s vendor has a membership record drawn from the members’ cards. The staff accountant will therefore be required to request the data of purchase cost from Costco if needed. The department also requires the filing of all tax returns made as evidence of compliance. The officer to fill this position will be responsible for calculating the tax and must liaise with the legal department to understand the legal requirements about tax payment. Calculation of tax is not a bookkeeping function, and it requires an expert in tax a course that most accountants accomplish easily.

Payment of tax is a statutory obligation in many countries and Merrylife being a global company will need a staff account to coordinate with legal department to provide the needed advice concerning tax obligations available in other countries where Merrylife operates. Therefore, the company will need to fill the position with a staff account with great detail of tax knowledge to enable it in determining its net profits after tax and the tax obligations of the company. Consequently, this makes a staff account a viable option lieu a bookkeeping person.

• Managing the Daily Petty Cash Account of the Company

Daily petty cash accounts help the company to have a picture of its petty cash flows and Merrylife requires an individual who will be able to deliver on this. A bookkeeper can easily handle this function, but the job vacancy entails more than just this. Hiring a staff accountant will be the best option for the company since the officer will easily handle this task together with other technical tasks such as tax calculations, preparing financial reports, etc.

Moreover, the officer to fill this position requires strong accounting knowledge to understand how petty cash flows can affect the business. Well-managed petty cash helps the company to easily deal with the operational emergencies and other trivial things that require quick spending. The need to manage this account arises because the company wants to track its daily operational costs and make appropriate decisions on the same. Since spending using the business bank card has a limitation every day. The purchases depend on the total sales from the prior day in China. The company will need the staff accountant to manage the petty cash and give proper amount to the buyer(s) when doing large order.

The officer will also be required to handle the normal business transactions cash book by reviewing all the cash receipts and payments in preparation to compile the daily bank deposits. This therefore calls for a qualified accountant.

• Keeping A Close Watch on all the Expenses Occurring in each Department and Tallying them with the Inventory

Tallying expenses with the inventory is a good cost management practice that helps the company check on its inventory costs and track departmental costs for the purpose of control. This role requires someone with a strong knowledge of management accounting to help the management put in place the required inventory and cost controls. The company utilizes a well known Chinese inventory management system called “WDGJ”, as company’s ERP system which will help the staff accountant to achieve this.

The individual should also have a good grasp of cost accounting as this will be very crucial in determining and monitoring the expenditures of each department and trace them back to the final product. This helps the company to decide on the best pricing models that will ensure the business is operating on profit. This task involves more than bookkeeping, and this offers a better reason for hiring a staff accountant.

• Detecting any Frauds that are Taking place in the Company and Reporting them to the Proper Authorities

Detecting fraud is a major role of an accountant with competent auditing and tracking capabilities (Account, 2004). A simple bookkeeping person is cannot track sales revenues and other gains generated by the company for calculating profit. Therefore, this requires a person who can tell a deviation and track it to the ledger accounts of the company by closely analyzing them to find the misappropriation. The ideal candidate for this position, therefore, is one who can audit his work and detect areas that may pose a risk to the business. Therefore, this makes a staff account a better option for the option of the company instead of a bookkeeper since they possess good auditing skills that will help them crack down on possible areas that are risky (Account, 2004).

Making the Final Accounts of the Company and balancing all the Books as it reflects upon the Company

The final accounts are the final financial statements of the company such as stamen of financial position, the income statement and statement of cash flows. The accounts include the payables and the receivables and the bank reconciliation. These key accounts are crucial to all the stakeholders including the shareholders, employees, legal authorities and as well as the competitors. The final accounts reflect the position of the company regarding finances and liquidity of the company and this makes them crucial for strategic planning by the management and the shareholders’ decision about their investment in the company. This is also not a function of bookkeeping but a staff accountant responsibility (McCamy, 2014).

Preparation of an income statement requires calculation of expenses and revenues to determine profits after tax and dividends that, consequently are posted testament of financial position as retained earnings. This function is best accomplished by a staff account and not a bookkeeper with basic accounting skills of posting entries. Moreover, determination of cash available after investing, operation and financing activities in the statement of cash flows requires a great detail of accounting knowledge, which is possessed by a staff accountant. Therefore, a fast growing company like Merrylife with a monthly revenue turnover of $300,000, they need a qualified staff accountant to maintain and balance its accounts payables and receivables before posting them to the balance sheet.

Conclusion

Merrylife would be better off hiring a staff accountant than a bookkeeper because an accountant is a professional who can perform a variety of accounting tasks from the simple bookkeeping to complex financial reporting tasks. Thus hiring a staff accountant will be the best advice for a company that is growing fast like Merrylife.