HI5020 Corporate Accounting: Qualifications and Experiences That Employers Seek from Corporate Accountants
Assignment Specifications
Purpose:
This assignment aims at developing a clear understanding of students on what qualifications and experiences employers seek from Corporate Accountants. Students will have to search and collect a significant number of job advertisements posted by employers in the electronic or print media or in the job search portals throughput the first 8 weeks of their trimester. Based on the collected job advertisements, they will have answer a series of questions and evaluate the qualifications and experiences sought in those advertisements with the learnings objectives, outcomes and contents of the subject.
Assessment task:
Collect as many job advertisements as possible on the position of ‘corporate accountant’, ‘corporate and management accountant’ ‘senior accountant’, ‘tax accountant’, ‘corporate financial accountant’ ‘corporate financial and management accountant’, ‘accountant corporate finance’, ‘senior financial accountant’ ‘senior accountant: tax and corporate reporting’ or any other similar positions published by Australian employers in electronic or print media or in job search portals (such as seek, Jora, Indeed etc.) from the first week of the Trimester to the week 7 of the Trimester.
Based on your collected advertisements, do the following tasks:
- How many job advertisements you have collected in total? How many job advertisements you have collected from each sources.
- Lists the name of the organisations posting the job advertisements and show the industry breakdown of the organisations posting the job advertisements.
- List all the job titles mentioned in the advertisements that you have collected.
- List all the personal attributes required from a corporate accountant that have been mentioned in the job advertisements that you have collected.
- List all the personal attributes required from a corporate accountant that have been mentioned in the job advertisements that you have collected with your detailed understanding of each of the attributes.
- List all the academic and professional qualifications of a corporate accountant that have been listed in the advertisements that you have collected.
- Based on the key roles, tasks, responsibilities identified from your collected job advertisements, how those key roles, tasks or responsibilities are related to the topics that you have learned in your MPA unit HI5020 Corporate Accounting.
- What additional topics, attributes or learnings outcomes are missing from your MPA unit HI5020 Corporate Accounting that are listed on the job advertisement.
- Critically examine the skills, experience and attributes needed to become a corporate accountant.
Also critically evaluate how the topics that you have learned in your MPA unit HI5020 Corporate Accounting have helped you in gaining the skills, experience and attributes needed to become a corporate accountant.
Abstract:
After analysis of the 30 advertisements from across the industries in Australia, the requirement of the companies in terms of the job of the Corporate Accountant is shown in detail in this report. The report shows that having the general business knowledge, the specific expertise in the technology, effective communication skills, leadership abilities, specialized experience in the accounting field and customer service orientation are enough to make you attractive for the employers looking for the corporate accountants.
Introduction:
The report shows what the different industries and their companies are looking for in the corporate accountant. Around 30 job advertisements from various sectors and employers published within the last two months have been examined in detail. The report shows how companies require technical expertise as well as computer and software skills. The companies need 2 plus experience for this job, and a must have of CPA/CA. Other than this, the personal skills of communication, leadership, and accounting qualification are also highly regarded.
Detailed Analysis of the Advertisements for Corporate Accountants:
1. List of Job Advertisements
I have collected thirty job advertisements from various sources in total from the online job portals platforms of Australia. The specific job portals that I have used for the collection of these advertisements include the sources of Indeed.com, Seek.com, jora.com, and LinkedIn Australia. From each of the sources, I have collected these job advertisements. I have collected 10 advertisements from LinkedIn Australia, 5 advertisements from Seek.com, 5 advertisements from jora.com, and the remaining 10 advertisements from the job portal of Indeed.com.
| Job Portal Source | No. of Advertisements |
| Jora.com | 5 |
| Seek.com | 5 |
| Indeed.com | 10 |
| LinkedIn.com | 10 |
2. Industries
The list of the job advertisements which were selected for this report is shown below in terms of their industries, their sources of the job portals on which these were advertised and their employers’ names.
| No | Job Designation | Employer | Job Portal Source | Industry |
| 1 | Financial Accountant | TwoScots Recruitment | Jora.com | Recruitment Services |
| 2 | Senior Accountant- Financial Services | Quinn Allan | Jora.com | Recruitment Services |
| 3 | Senior Financial Accountant | The Star Entertainment Group | Jora.com | Gaming and Entertainment Services |
| 4 | International SOS Financial Accountant | International SOS | Jora.com | medical and travel security risk services company |
| 5 | Corporate Accountant | Hays Recruitment | Jora.com | Recruitment Services |
| 6 | COMPANY MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT/SENIOR BOOK-KEEPER | ALINK | Seek.com | IT Managed Services and Telecommunications provider |
| 7 | Company Accountant | JNC Group Australia | Seek.com | specialty sports construction and contracting business |
| 8 | Senior Management Accountant | Marshall McAdam | Seek.com | Recruitment Services |
| 9 | Senior tax & business services accountant | Myssy + Co Accountants Pty Ltd | Seek.com | Accounting, Taxation services |
| 10 | Tax Accountant | Private Advertiser | Seek.com | small accounting firm |
| 11 | Senior Business Analyst / Business Reporting / Management Accountant | UGL Pty Limited | Indeeed.com | end-to-end engineering, construction and maintenance services |
| 12 | Senior Management Accountant | Thales Group | Indeeed.com | Aerospace, Defense, Transport, Security |
| 13 | Senior Management Accountant PFBA Central Team | EY | Indeeed.com | Advisory, assurance, tax and transaction services |
| 14 | Senior Financial Accountant | Village Road show Limited | Indeeed.com | international media and entertainment company |
| 15 | Business Services – Senior Accountant | BDO | Indeeed.com | audit, tax, and advisory firm |
| 16 | ASSISTANT MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT | University of Melbourne/Melbourne School of Engineering (MSE) | Indeeed.com | Education |
| 17 | Senior Accountant | Sydney Living Museums | Indeeed.com | NSW Government agency |
| 18 | Management Accountant | BAE Systems Applied Intelligence | Indeeed.com | cyber defense industry |
| 19 | Senior Taxation Accountant | Queensland Rail | Indeeed.com | rail infrastructure and passenger service business |
| 20 | Senior Accountant – Financial Services | Pwc | Indeeed.com | Financial Services |
| 21 | Corporate Accountant | Racing.com | racing media organization | |
| 22 | Management Accountant | Hanrob Pet Hotels | pet services organization | |
| 23 | Corporate Finance & Business Services Accountant | FutureYou | Management Consulting Financial Services Accounting | |
| 24 | Management Accountant | Amana Living | not-for-profit providers of care, accommodation, and support for older people | |
| 25 | Management Accountant | efm Logistics Services Group | logistics solutions | |
| 26 | Accountant Treasury, Tax & Banking. | Transport for NSW | agency of the NSW Transport cluster | |
| 27 | Group Corporate Accountant | Reo Group | multi-national corporate | |
| 28 | Management Accountant | FP&A | Commercial Analyst | TDR Group | Telecommunication and Industrial Automation | |
| 29 | Corporate Accountant | Robert Half | Recruitment Services | |
| 30 | Financial Accountant | RSL (The Returned & Services League of Australia) | Sports Organization |
In terms of the job advertisements for specific industries, the following table shows that six of these job advertisements have been selected from the financial services company, 2 from the It and Telecommunications Industry, while six others belong to the Recruitment Services companies. The selection of the advertisements is made by ensuring that most of the industries are chosen for greater exposure to these advertisements and their job requirements.
| Industry | Count of Employer |
| Aerospace, Defense, Transport, Security | 1 |
| Cyber defense industry | 1 |
| Education Services | 1 |
| Engineering, construction and maintenance services | 1 |
| Financial Services | 6 |
| Gaming and Entertainment Services | 1 |
| Government agency | 1 |
| IT &Telecommunications provider | 2 |
| Logistics solutions | 1 |
| Media and entertainment company | 1 |
| Medical and travel security risk services company | 1 |
| Not-for-profit, Healthcare | 1 |
| Pet services organization | 1 |
| Racing media organization | 1 |
| Rail infrastructure and passenger service business | 1 |
| Recruitment Services | 6 |
| Specialty sports construction and contracting business | 1 |
| Sports Organization | 1 |
| Transport | 1 |
| Grand Total | 30 |
3. Job Titles
In terms of the Job titles, the following table shows the names of the Job Titles that have been used for the purpose of advertising of these jobs. The Most used Job title is that of the “Management Accountant”, “Corporate Accountant”, “Financial Accountant”, “Senior Financial Accountant”, “Senior Accountant-financial Services” and “Senior Management Accountant”. Other than these, all the other job titles are different as per the specific requirement of the jobs or employers.
| Job Titles | Count Of Employer |
| ASSISTANT MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT | 1 |
| Business Services – Senior Accountant | 1 |
| Company Accountant | 1 |
| COMPANY MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT/SENIOR BOOK-KEEPER | 1 |
| Corporate Accountant | 3 |
| Corporate Finance & Business Services Accountant | 1 |
| Financial Accountant | 3 |
| Group Corporate Accountant | 1 |
| Management Accountant | 4 |
| Senior Accountant | 1 |
| Senior Accountant – Financial Services | 2 |
| Senior Business Analyst / Business Reporting / Management Accountant | 1 |
| Senior Financial Accountant | 2 |
| Senior Management Accountant | 2 |
| Senior Management Accountant PFBA Central Team | 1 |
| Senior Tax & Business Services Accountant | 1 |
| Senior Taxation Accountant | 1 |
| Tax Accountant | 1 |
| Accountant Treasury, Tax & Banking | 1 |
| Management Accountant/ Commercial Analyst | 1 |
| Grand Total | 30 |
(Indeed.com, 2019) (LinkedIn, 2019) (Jora.com, 2019)
4. Personal Attributes
The personal attributes which were mostly advertised by the employers for the job requirement of Corporate Accountant for all the jobs selected includes.
- Computers Skills of Advanced MS Excel, TMI, Oracle, Outlook, PowerPoint, MS Word,
- Knowledge of Apple MAC OS and IOS, SharePoint’s, MS Teams, Sage Software Products, ERP Systems (BPCS), Hyperion Planning Tool and Power BI, OLAP technology, Accounting software of Great Plains, Accounting ERPs and Budgeting Tools, Net Suite, Dynamix AX and TM1
- Team-Oriented Approach
- Hands-on Approach
- Strong attributes of Interpersonal and Communication Skills
- Outgoing Personality
- Professional Engagement Skills
- Strong Awareness of financial concepts, corporate accounting, accounting principles, and reporting
- Ability to work unsupervised, think independently, initiative-taking, self-motivated, goal-oriented, attention to detail, ability to prioritize, and self-manage timeframes
- Persuasive verbal skills of communication
- Professional skills for engagement of clients, Client Relationship Management skills, Dedication to Customer Service principles,
- Ability to work under pressure
- Maintaining a high degree of accuracy
- Understanding of the Contract Law, Australian Accounting Standards, Public Finance and Audit Act 1983 and Treasury Directions, taxation knowledge of GST, and income tax, Fuel tax credits, taxable payments, fringe benefits tax, grants
- Excellent written communication and reporting skills practiced in presentations and documentation for several audiences
- Organizational and Coordination Skills
- Problem-solving skills, system change, and process improvements skills, leadership skills, stakeholder management skills
- Maintaining of Work Health & Safety legislative requirements
- Drivers License, willingness to work on multiple locations, or travel
- Good analytical skills, forecasting, and scenario-based planning, financial modeling, good accounting skills
- Understanding of pricing strategies, driving cost savings, making improvements in margin and cost recovery models, and financial controls
- Ability to work in diverse cultures and time zones
- Have possession of strong work ethics and has a high level of resilience and accountability
- Commitment to company values
- Strong Data Entry Skills
- Ability to Multi-Task
- Aid in administrative support
- Ability to communicate advanced accounting concepts to audiences with any prior knowledge of these concepts
- Experienced in dealing with bankers and auditors
- The exceptional deduction, quantitative and statistical skills
5. My Understanding of Personal Attributes
My interpretation and understanding of the personal attributes and skills that are advertised and required by the employers for the position of Corporate Accountant are explained in detail for each of the listed attributes individually.
- Computer Skills of Advanced MS Excel, TMI, Oracle, Outlook, PowerPoint, MS Word
The role of the Corporate Accountant needs not only to have a bachelor’s degree in the relevant discipline or the possession of being CPA/CA qualified. It needs much more than that to get hired for this position. The basic computer skills of using MS Office, including MS Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel are crucial for this job. Furthermore, expertise in the area of TMI and Oracle are also highly regarded.
- Knowledge of Apple MAC OS and IOS, SharePoint’s, MS Teams, Sage Software Products, ERP Systems (BPCS), Hyperion Planning Tool and Power BI, OLAP technology, Accounting software of Great Plains, Accounting ERPs and Budgeting Tools, Net Suite, Dynamic AX
Similarly, like computer skills, there are also other specific and relevant technical skills as well which are highly demanded by employers for the position of Corporate Accountant. Corporate accountants are now required to have technical knowledge of operating the various specific ERP systems, planning tools, budgeting tools, Software, accounting tools, and software.
- Team-Oriented Approach
- Hands-on Approach
- Strong attributes of Interpersonal and Communication Skills
- Outgoing Personality
- Professional Engagement Skills
All the above-listed attributes show how the companies are looking for personalities who have strong communication skills that aid in their incorporation to the team, engagement with the clients and the stakeholders and the team. Therefore, individuals need to work tirelessly on improving their communication and interpersonal skills.
- Strong Awareness of financial concepts, corporate accounting, accounting principles, and reporting
This attribute shows that employers are looking for individuals who not only hold a degree in this discipline but also possess a strong hold on the financial concepts of corporate accounting, accounting principles, and reporting as well.
- Ability to work unsupervised, think independently, initiative-taking, self-motivated, goal-oriented, attention to detail, ability to prioritize, and self-manage timeframes
- Persuasive verbal skills of communication
- Professional skills for engagement of clients, Client Relationship Management skills, Dedication to Customer Service principles
The above attributes show how the employers are looking for individuals who are self-motivated, who strive for their own growth, and work independently. The employers want to have employees who can take the initiative to engage with the clients and have knowledge of the principles of customer service. Here, as well, strong verbal communication skills are emphasized.
- Ability to work under pressure
- Maintaining a high degree of accuracy
These two attributes show the major requirement of the employers that they need individuals who have the ability to work in high-pressure situations and still deliver accurate results.
- Understanding of the Contract Law, Australian Accounting Standards, Public Finance and Audit Act 1983 and Treasury Directions, taxation knowledge of GST, and income tax, Fuel tax credits, taxable payments, fringe benefits tax, grants
Employers are looking for individuals who have knowledge on the AASB, Contract law, tax laws, and the Audit Act.
- Excellent written communication and reporting skills practiced in presentations and documentation for several audiences
- Organizational and Coordination Skills
- Problem-solving skills, system change, and process improvements skills, leadership skills, stakeholder management skills
These are the attributes which are also highly regarded by the employers as they look for individuals who have excellent written and reporting skills. They need individuals who are well versed to present their written reports as well. Furthermore, the skills for leadership, problem solving, and stakeholder management are also instrumental which are usually gained during the experience of working in teams.
- Maintaining of Work Health & Safety legislative requirements
- Drivers License, willingness to work in multiple locations, or travel
These are some requirements which are only advertised by some of the employers as per their specific nature of the job.
- Good analytical skills, forecasting, and scenario-based planning, financial modeling, good accounting skills
- Understanding of pricing strategies, driving cost savings, making improvements in margin and cost recovery models, and financial controls
- Experienced in dealing with bankers and auditors
- The exceptional deduction, quantitative and statistical skills
- Ability to communicate advanced accounting concepts to audiences with any prior knowledge of these concepts
These are the skills which the students gain during their studies and their job experience. Companies need a proven experience record of these skills, which means these are usually gained while working.
- Ability to work in diverse cultures and time zones
- Have possession of strong work ethics and has a high level of resilience and accountability
- Commitment to company values
- Strong Data Entry Skills
- Ability to Multi-Task
- Aid in administrative support
These skills attributes are needed by employers, which does not seem very important but plays an important role in the workplace.
All in all, I think, as per my understanding, some of the personal attributes can only be gained through work experience, which is why the companies are asking for 3+ work experience. However, there are also many attributes which individuals can learn and gain through practice and learning.
6. Academic and Professional Qualifications:
The professional and academic qualifications which were mostly advertised by the employers for the job requirement of Corporate Accountant for all the jobs selected include.
- Have 2 to 5 years of proven work experience in a similar role in the same field.
- Needed to be CA/CPA qualified
- Bachelors degree in Accounting or Finance or Commerce Accounting or Computer Accounting,
- Demonstrated experience in financial accounting role, fixed assets and corporate accounting role, forecasting, financial analysis, budgeting role, Auditing role, company accountant role, financial statements reporting, bank reconciliations, data entry role, data reporting role, Company cash flow reporting, Management accounting, public practice role, tax accountant role, optimizing of business processes role, cost accounting role for Government, business advisory role, Australian taxation role, role on analysis and reporting of variances, financial performance monitoring, internal and external audit role, statuary reporting,
- Experience in working with ERP Software, Oracle, SAP, XERO Accounting software, Payrolls Systems, and ATO Requirements, STP, VBA Databases, Power BI, OBIEE, Tableau, Microsoft
- Coming from the big 4 or financial services or tier 2 companies.
- Experience in the manufacturing industry, aged care industry, Broker, or Freight environment.
7. Key Responsibilities, Tasks, and Duties:
- Aiding in the preparation of the financial report
- Reporting of CAPEX
- Cash Flow Management and Reporting
- Process Improvements
- Creating Monthly, Quarterly and Annual Reports for management
- Regulatory reports preparation for ASX
- Corporate Tax Return preparation
- BAS, income tax, and FBT reporting
- Variance analysis, sensitivity analysis, and company performance analysis reporting
- Forecasting and budgeting
- Maintaining of the Company journal and Ledgers
- Working with key stakeholders and compliance.
- Aiding in cost analysis preparation
- Taking responsibility for fulfillment of the statuary reporting requirements
- Reviewing the internal control processes
- Supporting with the internal and external auditing process
- Aiding with payroll process
- Making the monthly end GL closing, conducting reconciliations with banks, preparing the journals
- Complying with the contractual and regulatory requirements
- Administration and implementation of the corporate procedures and financial policies
- Providing suggestions for the changes in accounting, taxation, legislation and other related standards
- Updating the capital asset register for the company
- Supporting and guiding the team
- Coordinating with departments
- Providing financial support and analytical reports to the management, clients, and the departments
- Office Risk mitigation strategies implementation, including certifications, insurances, and renewals.
- Professional and written documentation
- Daily data entry, company credit accounts, and bank reconciliations
- Making payments to the statuary organizations and suppliers and creditors
- Managing of the SAGE
- Providing the divisional performance results
- Consolidating of the performance results and reporting to the parent company
- Ensuring effective resource allocation
- Providing the lead as a financial analyst to meetings with clients
- BAS, IAS, Payroll tax.
- Ad-hoc accounting duties
- Aiding with the software and ERP systems
- Helping in preparation of the KPIs
- Supporting in conducting the financial analysis of industry and companies
- Reviewing the cash availability and projections for the company
Most of these financial concepts have been already covered in our studies of corporate accounting. The journal entries, payroll management, cash flow management, sensitivity analysis, variance analysis, taxation requirements, compliance and regulatory requirements, asset management, CAPEX reporting, General ledger closing, financial reports, balance sheet, cash flow statement development, bank reconciliations, monthly, quarterly and management reporting, KPI analysis and company performance analysis are covered in the topic unit of corporate accounting.
8. Missing Attributes
The specific attributes of having the knowledge of SharePoint’s, MS Teams, Sage Software Products, ERP Systems (BPCS), Hyperion Planning Tool and Power BI, OLAP technology, accounting software of Great Plains, Accounting ERPs and Budgeting Tools, Net Suite, Dynamix AX and TM1 is missing. Other than this, working in ERP software, working, and supervising of the teams also needs to be looked into. Furthermore, the tax regulations and knowledge on the filing of the income tax, Good and services tax and other grants are very limited. The internal and external auditing requirements and the support needed from the corporate accountant are also not covered in this unit. It is also evident that we do not possess any knowledge on Contract Law, Australian Accounting Standards, Public Finance and Audit Act 1983 and Treasury Directions, taxation knowledge of GST, and income tax, Fuel tax credits, taxable payments, fringe benefits tax, grants. These specific details of the jobs can be made strong by working on it.
9. Needed Skills and Attributes
As per my knowledge and research, the corporate accountant needs to have expertise in six different skillets to become a successful corporate accountant. Firstly, he or she needs to have a basic general knowledge of the business and how accounting plays its role in the big picture of the business. Understanding the business is key to working effectively at the job. Secondly, it is imperative to have up-to-date expertise in technology. Having skills in Advanced excel, experience with ERP like Oracle or SAP, knowing the business intelligence software knowledge of QuickBooks, and Visual Basic skills are crucial for individuals to have. Thirdly, communication skills are very important to have as well. The accountant needs to have a strong proficiency in verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills. Leadership abilities are other major attributes which companies are mostly looking for in the professionals. Therefore, it is important to gain experience to grow your expertise in leadership skills. Having customer service orientation is also very instrumental as client engagement and stakeholder management is one of the primary attributes needed. Furthermore, in addition, having a specialized experience lie working for a specific sector or in specific areas pays off as well (RobertHalf.com, 2018).
Summary/Conclusion:
The report has shown how and what the companies are looking for in the corporate accountant. The report has examined 30 job advertisements from various sectors and employers published within the last two months, who are looking for Corporate Accountants. The report shows how the companies advertise their jobs and what attributes qualifications, and professional experience these employers require in these jobs. The report shows how the companies require technical expertise as well as computer and software skills other than the personal skills of communication, leadership, and accounting qualification. The report shows that having the general business knowledge, the specific expertise in the technology, strong communication skills, leadership abilities, specialized experience in accounting field and customer service orientation are enough to make you attractive for the employers looking for the corporate accountants.
List of References:
Indeed.com, 2019. Senior Management Accountant. [Online] Available at: https://au.indeed.com/jobs?q=Senior%20Management%20Accountant&start=20&vjk=cf15fc64824a013a [Accessed 18 September 2019].
Jora.com, 2019. Corporate Accountant. [Online] Available at: https://au.jora.com/job/Corporate-Accountant-224fef205c2e997809e4d61f7ef84ce6?from_url=https%3A%2F%2Fau.jora.com%2Fj%3Fl%3D%26q%
3Dcorporate%2Bfinancial%2Baccountant%26sp%3Dhomepage&sl=&sol_srt=c7b71e13-6d84-4fb7-bea3-
d3d15334731f&sp=serp&sponsored=false&s [Accessed 18 September 2019].
LinkedIn, 2019. Financial Accountant. [Online] Available at: https://au.linkedin.com/jobs/corporate-accountant-jobs?position=18&pageNum=0¤tJobId=1477103485 [Accessed 18 September 2019].
RobertHalf.com, 2018. Accounting Skills You Need to Succeed On the Job. [Online] Available at: https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/salaries-and-skills/the-accounting-job-skills-you-need-to-succeed [Accessed 18 September 2019].
