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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Chief Accountant

💰 $ - $

FinanceAccountingControllershipLeadership

🎯 Role Definition

The Chief Accountant is a senior accounting professional responsible for overseeing the daily accounting operations, ensuring accurate and timely financial reporting, maintaining strong internal controls, and supporting strategic finance initiatives. This role leads the preparation of monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements in compliance with applicable accounting standards (IFRS/GAAP), coordinates statutory and internal audits, manages tax compliance and filings, and mentors a team of accountants to deliver reliable financial information to executive leadership and stakeholders.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Accountant with strong technical reporting and supervisory experience.
  • Accounting Supervisor or Assistant Controller responsible for month‑end close.
  • Finance Officer/Analyst with progressive accounting responsibilities and ERP exposure.

Advancement To:

  • Financial Controller
  • Head of Finance / Finance Manager
  • Director of Finance
  • Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Lateral Moves:

  • Internal Audit Manager
  • Financial Reporting Manager
  • Tax Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead and execute the full month‑end and year‑end close process, ensuring all journal entries, accruals, intercompany eliminations and reconciliations are completed accurately and within established deadlines to produce timely management accounts and statutory financial statements.
  • Prepare, review and deliver consolidated monthly, quarterly and annual financial statements in accordance with IFRS or local GAAP, including footnote disclosures, schedules and management commentary for executive management and external stakeholders.
  • Manage general ledger activities, chart of accounts maintenance, account reconciliations and balance sheet substantiation, ensuring variance explanations and supporting documentation are complete for audit trails and senior review.
  • Own the statutory reporting calendar and coordinate preparation and submission of statutory accounts, tax returns (corporate income tax, VAT/GST), regulatory reports and other compliance filings to local authorities within required deadlines.
  • Coordinate and lead external audits and tax audits, acting as primary liaison with auditors and tax advisors; prepare audit schedules, respond to auditor queries, implement post‑audit recommendations and ensure timely resolution of audit findings.
  • Implement and maintain robust internal control systems and SOX/compliance controls (where applicable), perform risk assessments, document processes, and recommend process improvements to reduce financial risk and strengthen control environment.
  • Supervise, coach and develop a high‑performing accounting team (accounts payable, receivable, payroll, fixed assets, general ledger), set objectives, conduct performance reviews and ensure continuous training and compliance with best practices.
  • Manage accounts payable and accounts receivable processes, approve high‑value payments, ensure timely collections, oversee credit control, aging analysis and disputes resolution to optimize working capital.
  • Oversee fixed assets accounting lifecycle — capitalization, depreciation, impairment testing, disposals and reconciliation of asset registers to the general ledger, ensuring policy compliance and accurate reporting.
  • Prepare and analyze cash flow forecasts, short‑term treasury management, bank covenant monitoring and bank reconciliations to support liquidity planning and corporate treasury decisions.
  • Lead budgeting and forecasting cycles: prepare rolling forecasts, variance analysis, sensitized scenarios and management reporting to support strategy, cost control and decision making.
  • Perform financial analysis and KPI reporting, delivering actionable insights on profitability, margins, cost drivers and operational performance to management and functional leaders.
  • Manage intercompany accounting and reconciliations, ensure accurate intercompany billing and elimination entries for consolidated reporting, and support transfer pricing documentation as required.
  • Drive ERP/accounting system implementations, upgrades or optimizations (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite), define accounting requirements, map processes, test transactions and provide post‑implementation stabilization and training.
  • Ensure compliance with payroll accounting, benefits accruals and related payroll tax obligations in coordination with HR or external payroll providers to guarantee accurate payroll reporting.
  • Develop, document and enforce accounting policies, procedures and month‑end checklists to ensure consistency, compliance and scalability, and to support quick onboarding of new staff.
  • Prepare board packs, financial presentations and ad‑hoc analysis for the executive team and board of directors, translating complex accounting information into clear, decision‑ready insights.
  • Lead special projects such as integration of acquisitions, carve‑outs, divestitures, accounting policy conversions or transition to new reporting standards (e.g., IFRS 16 lease accounting), providing technical accounting guidance and implementation oversight.
  • Conduct variance and trend analysis, investigate unusual items or fluctuations, and present root‑cause explanations and remediation plans to management.
  • Maintain tax provisioning processes and deferred tax accounting, liaise with tax advisors to ensure correct application of tax laws and optimization of tax positions while maintaining compliance.
  • Ensure accurate cost accounting and inventory valuation (FIFO/LIFO/weighted average as applicable), coordinate physical inventory counts and reconcile inventory balances to the ledger, supporting COGS and margin analysis.
  • Monitor and manage vendor relationships for accounting services (payroll, tax, statutory filings), negotiate contracts and performance standards, and ensure service level compliance.
  • Provide accounting guidance and training to cross‑functional teams (operations, sales, procurement) to embed accounting controls and improve transaction quality at the source.

Secondary Functions

  • Support cross‑functional ad‑hoc financial analysis requests and produce exploratory analysis to answer business questions, evaluate investment proposals and assess profitability of products, projects or customers.
  • Contribute to the organization’s accounting strategy and roadmap, recommending system improvements, automation opportunities (RPA, process automation) and organizational design changes to improve efficiency.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate operational needs into accounting requirements, ensuring new initiatives are compliant with accounting policies and reporting frameworks.
  • Participate in project governance, sprint planning and agile ceremonies when working with finance transformation, systems implementation or automation teams to ensure accounting requirements are addressed.
  • Mentor junior accounting staff by providing on‑the‑job training, career guidance and structured accounting education to build bench strength and succession.
  • Assist the CFO/Controller with strategic initiatives such as cost optimization, pricing strategy support and financial due diligence for potential M&A activity.
  • Maintain up‑to‑date knowledge of accounting and tax legislation changes and best practices; proactively update policies and train staff as necessary.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Advanced financial reporting expertise with deep knowledge of IFRS and/or US GAAP and practical experience preparing consolidated financial statements and disclosures.
  • Proven month‑end and year‑end close skills, including journal entries, accruals, account reconciliations, consolidation and balance sheet substantiation.
  • Strong ERP proficiency (experience with SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, QuickBooks Online or similar), including configuration for accounting modules and transaction flow mapping.
  • Expert Excel skills (pivot tables, advanced formulas, Power Query, data modeling) and experience with financial reporting tools (Power BI, Tableau, Hyperion, OneStream).
  • Tax compliance and provisioning experience: corporate tax returns, VAT/GST, withholding tax, transfer pricing basics and deferred tax accounting.
  • Audit management and external auditor liaison experience, including preparing audit schedules, supporting workpapers and implementing audit recommendations.
  • Cash flow forecasting, treasury basics and bank relationship management skills, including bank reconciliations and covenant monitoring.
  • Budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis experience with proven ability to build rolling forecasts and scenario models.
  • Fixed assets accounting expertise (capitalization policies, depreciation, impairment testing) and inventory/COGS accounting experience.
  • Internal control design and compliance (SOX experience where applicable), risk assessment and process improvement capability.
  • Consolidation, intercompany accounting and eliminations experience for multi‑entity/multi‑currency groups.
  • Experience leading ERP implementations, upgrades or financial system integrations, including testing and documentation.

Soft Skills

  • Strong leadership and team management skills with demonstrated experience coaching and developing accounting professionals.
  • Excellent communication and stakeholder management: able to present complex accounting topics in clear, business‑focused language to executives, auditors and non‑financial managers.
  • Critical thinking and analytical mindset with attention to detail and a commitment to data accuracy.
  • High ethical standards, integrity and confidentiality when handling financial information.
  • Project management capability and comfort working on cross‑functional transformation initiatives.
  • Time management and prioritization skills to meet tight month‑end deadlines while managing multiple deliverables.
  • Problem‑solving orientation and continuous improvement mindset to streamline processes and introduce automation where beneficial.
  • Adaptability and resilience in fast‑paced or evolving regulatory environments.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Commerce or Business Administration.

Preferred Education:

  • Professional accounting qualification (ACCA, CPA, CA, CIMA) or Master's degree (MSc/MBA) in Finance/Accounting.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Business Administration
  • Economics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 5–10+ years of progressive accounting experience, with at least 2–4 years in a senior accounting role or supervising a small team.

Preferred:

  • 8+ years of accounting experience, including exposure to multi‑entity consolidations, external audit coordination, ERP implementations and hands‑on experience with IFRS/GAAP reporting. Experience in your industry (manufacturing, services, tech, retail, non‑profit) and with international tax/reporting environments is a strong plus.
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