Accounting Intern Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

This post presents complete information on the job description of an accounting intern, to boost your knowledge of what they do.

It highlights the key duties, tasks, and responsibilities that commonly make up the accounting intern work description.

It also presents the requirements you may be asked to fulfill to be hired for the accounting intern role.

Please, keep reading:

What Does an Accounting Intern Do?

An accounting intern is an entry-level, non-permanent accounting position with a firm or company sponsor.

The sponsor may either be a company in industry, Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firm, or a government agency.

The job description of the student intern would involve performing a specific set of duties, and working as an employee.

The sponsoring employer in most cases provides a wide variety of experiences so the intern would learn firsthand the professional responsibilities of an accountant and gain an understanding of the work environment.

The internship program can be a good place for the student to receive academic credit for the job experience.

An academic internship normally involves completion of assignments related to the job and frequent meetings with a faculty coordinator.

Students may work full time, while in some internship, they would only work part time, where they generally do not attend classes.

Depending on the size of the sponsoring company and industry, the intern may take part in a variety of responsibilities and roles.

For example, the intern may work in the auditing or tax department in a large public accounting firm.

The role of an internship in a tax department includes preparing reports that highlight the expected results of tax returns, assembling and organizing clients’ information, reconciling final tax returns with the expected results, entering client data into the tax computer software, and assembling tax returns for delivery to such clients.

Depending on the intern’s experience and level of knowledge, he/she may conduct research relating to proper preparation of tax return and tax planning issues.

As with many entry-level positions, the intern would work on basic assembly of tax returns and client information, as well as on other clerical duties.

However, Internship duties in the auditing department in an accounting firm will mostly involve working as an entry-level in-house accountant.

In that case, the intern works under the supervision of an experienced auditor and prepares work papers.

This work may be completed in the office of the accounting firm or at the client’s place of business.

Other tasks accounting interns may perform include preparing and mailing confirmations of the balances owed by the client’s customers, observing the physical inventory count, and preparing bank reconciliations.

The internship will generally involve client contact; therefore the intern is expected to have good oral communication skills.

Accounting Intern Job Description Example/Sample/Template

Given below is an example of job description, showing a list of specific duties, tasks, and responsibilities an accounting intern will be expected to carry out for his or her employer.

• Help with month-end financial reports
• Work under supervision of other accountants
• Help with bank statements reconciliation, as well as accounts payable and receivable
• Perform balance sheet reconciliation
• Assist with the preparation of ad hoc and other internal reports
• Ensure the completion of assigned tasks in line with established deadline
• Assist with the semi-annual physical inventory
• Study the accounting policies and processes of the organization and abide by them
• Compose and input journal entries into Oracle
• Take part in royalty revenue project
• File and scan journal entries
• Assist the coordinator with month-end financial reports
• Manage monthly tracking of physical inventory
• Support the payment processing team
• Do data entry and credit checks.

Preparing Resumes for Accounting Positions

The preparation of a resume for an accounting position after internship program can be aided by using information from the job description sample shown above in writing the employment history part of the resume.

This information includes the functions and responsibilities of the accounting intern, which proves to employers that you are competent for the position, having successfully performed as an intern.

Accounting Intern Requirements – Knowledge, Abilities, and Skills for Career Success

The Accounting Intern desiring to have a place in an organization is usually required to meet the following requirements:

• Be a student majoring in accounting in senior or junior level
• Work full-time in the summer and 15-20 hours per week while school is in session
• Proficient in MS Excel and Word
• Willingness to work effectively both independently and on a team.