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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Operational Accountant

💰 $ - $

AccountingFinanceOperations

🎯 Role Definition

The Operational Accountant is responsible for the day-to-day accounting operations that ensure accurate, timely and compliant financial records. This role focuses on transaction processing, reconciliations, month-end close activities, cash and treasury coordination, operational controls, and partner-facing reporting. The Operational Accountant works closely with Finance Business Partners, Operations, Treasury and external auditors to maintain robust accounting processes and to drive continuous improvement across accounting operations.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Accounts Assistant / Accounting Clerk
  • Junior Accountant / Staff Accountant
  • Bookkeeper / AP-AR Specialist

Advancement To:

  • Senior Operational Accountant / Senior Accountant
  • Accounting Manager or Finance Business Partner
  • Financial Controller or Head of Accounting

Lateral Moves:

  • Treasury Analyst
  • FP&A Analyst
  • Credit & Collections Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Own and execute the full month-end close cycle for assigned entities or business units, including preparing and posting accruals, prepayments, and month-end journal entries, ensuring deadlines are met and variances are explained to stakeholders.
  • Prepare, review and maintain detailed balance sheet reconciliations (bank, intercompany, fixed assets, inventory, accruals and other control accounts) on a monthly basis, identifying and resolving reconciling items promptly.
  • Process and control high-volume transactional activity including accounts payable, accounts receivable, expense processing and general ledger postings while ensuring appropriate approvals and policy compliance.
  • Perform detailed variance analysis on P&L and balance sheet line items versus budget and prior periods, producing explanations and actionable insights for Finance Business Partners and operational managers.
  • Manage intercompany accounting and reconciliation processes, including intercompany billing, settlement, eliminations, and reconciliations, to ensure accurate consolidated reporting.
  • Maintain and update the fixed asset register, perform capital expenditure accounting, calculate and post depreciation and impairment entries in accordance with company policy and GAAP/IFRS.
  • Lead or support statutory and internal audit requests by preparing schedules, supporting documentation and reconciliations; respond to auditor queries and implement audit recommendations to strengthen controls.
  • Prepare and file transactional tax returns or assist with VAT/GST reporting (where applicable), ensuring tax treatments are applied correctly and supporting tax teams with audit documentation.
  • Monitor and manage cash and banking activities: perform daily/weekly bank reconciliations, investigate and resolve unidentified cash receipts, and support short-term cash forecasting efforts.
  • Implement and monitor internal controls over financial reporting, execute SOX control activities where applicable, and drive remediation of control deficiencies working with control owners.
  • Maintain the chart of accounts and accounting policies for assigned modules or entities; propose and document changes to accounting treatment to ensure consistent application across operations.
  • Support ERP system accounting configuration, master data maintenance (vendors/customers/GL accounts), and transactional troubleshooting; partner with IT/ERP teams on fixes and upgrades.
  • Process month-end payroll-related accounting entries, payroll reconciliations and liaise with payroll providers to resolve discrepancies impacting financial statements.
  • Execute accounts receivable collections support: reconcile customer accounts, resolve disputes with Sales and Customer Service, and escalate delinquent accounts following collection policy.
  • Drive continuous process improvement and automation initiatives for accounting processes (templates, workflows, RPA, Excel to ERPs), reducing manual effort and improving accuracy.
  • Prepare management information (MI) packs and KPI dashboards for Operations and Finance leadership, highlighting trends, risks and opportunities to improve operational efficiency.
  • Reconcile and account for inventory movements and stock adjustments in partnership with Supply Chain/Operations, ensuring physical inventory counts tie to accounting records.
  • Review and approve employee expense reports, ensure compliance with corporate travel and expense policies and manage expense accruals for periodic reporting.
  • Support financial close project workstreams such as system implementations, chart of accounts redesigns, process standardization programs and post-merger accounting integration tasks.
  • Investigate complex or unusual accounting transactions and provide timely technical guidance and practical accounting solutions to business stakeholders.
  • Coordinate with procurement and Purchase-to-Pay teams to reconcile PO commitments, supplier statements and to ensure accurate cut-off and expense recognition.
  • Develop and deliver training and documentation for junior accounting staff and cross-functional partners on accounting processes, policies and system usage.
  • Maintain compliance with external reporting requirements by preparing supporting schedules for statutory financial statements and regulatory filings, working closely with regional finance teams.
  • Monitor and enforce corporate policy adherence for expense capitalization, revenue recognition and delegated authority levels to mitigate operational and financial risk.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc financial analysis requests from business units and senior management, turning operational data into concise recommendations.
  • Participate in cross-functional projects to integrate accounting controls into new business initiatives or product launches.
  • Assist in the preparation of quarterly and annual internal financial reviews and provide continuity documentation for handovers or role changes.
  • Collaborate with Treasury to refine cash forecasting models and contribute insights about working capital drivers and improvement opportunities.
  • Act as a financial liaison to operations sites, providing day-to-day support to non-finance colleagues to improve transactional accuracy and timeliness.
  • Conduct periodic process control self-assessments and coordinate corrective action plans with process owners to ensure continuous control effectiveness.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Strong knowledge of accounting fundamentals, journal entries, balance sheet reconciliations and accrual accounting (GAAP / IFRS exposure preferred).
  • Month-end and quarter-end close execution experience with demonstrated ability to meet tight deadlines.
  • Advanced Excel skills including pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, conditional logic and structured templates.
  • Experience with ERP and financial systems such as SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics or similar; familiarity with ERP master data and configuration is a plus.
  • Practical knowledge of accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets accounting and intercompany processes.
  • Experience preparing supporting schedules for external and internal audits and familiarity with SOX or internal control frameworks.
  • Hands-on experience with bank reconciliation processes, treasury interactions and cash management best practices.
  • Familiarity with tax (VAT/GST/sales tax) accounting implications at the transactional level and supporting tax filings and audits.
  • Basic data querying and reporting skills (SQL, Power Query, or similar) or exposure to BI tools (Power BI/Tableau) to build operational reports.
  • Proven experience with process improvement, automation (RPA, macros) and standardized template creation to improve accounting throughput.

Soft Skills

  • Strong analytical mindset with attention to detail and an ability to identify root causes and recommend practical solutions.
  • Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; able to explain accounting concepts to non-finance colleagues and escalate issues clearly.
  • High level of ownership and reliability; able to prioritize tasks in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
  • Problem-solving orientation and adaptability when dealing with changing business requirements or accounting standards.
  • Collaborative team player who can train, mentor and uplift junior accountants and foster consistent accounting practices.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Professional qualification (ACCA, CPA, CA, CMA) or part-qualified candidates with active progress toward certification.
  • Master’s in Accounting / Finance or MBA (preferred for senior-role progression).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Business Administration
  • Economics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–5 years of progressive accounting experience in a corporate or shared services environment.

Preferred:

  • 3–7 years experience in operational accounting roles, ideally within multinational companies or high-volume transactional environments.
  • Prior exposure to ERP implementations, multi-entity consolidation support, or experience supporting SOX-compliant processes is highly desirable.
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