Corporate Accounting Manager Job Description, Duties, and Responsibilities

This post provides detailed information on the corporate accounting manager job description, including the key duties, tasks, and responsibilities they commonly perform.

It also highlights the major requirements that you may be expected to meet to be hired for the corporate accounting manager role by most recruiters/employers.

What Does a Corporate Accounting Manager Do?

The core duties of a corporate accounting manager in a firm or an organization are to ensure accurate and timely financial reporting, oversee general accounting functions, review current accounting processes, and make recommendations and improvements.

The corporate accounting manager job description entails assisting management in financial budgeting and all forecasting processes, as well as advising the staff on how to handle non-routine accounting transactions.

They are responsible for daily accounting or audit-related activities and operations in the organization

Their work description also involves supervising the senior accountant and making sure they adhere to stringent deadlines while performing a lot of accounting activities.

Corporate Accounting Manager Job Description Example/Sample/Template

The functions of a corporate accounting manager vary from organization to organization, depending on the requirements of the firm they work for and the tasks assigned.

However, the following job description example shows the major corporate accounting manager tasks, duties, and responsibilities:

• Review the firm’s balance sheet reconciliations and major accounts which are inventory and stock, taxes, accruals, shipments, prepayments, and intercompany accounts
• Assess high volume fixed asset register – book and tax
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting of all financial accounting across the firm
• Lead the implementation and development of new procedures and features to improve the workflow of the department and provide training to new or existing staff if necessary
• Prepare a monthly consolidated management account and report to senior management and all relevant stakeholders
• Approve weekly and monthly payroll
• Provide monthly report and commentary of financial results with detailed analysis
• Assess cash flow statements and forecast
• Forecast the company’s working capital and cash flow statement
• Analyze and report the variance between budget and actual result
• Analyze and review overhead costs and approve all invoices and journals
• Prepare annual statutory accounts for all relevant stakeholders in the company
• Proactively improve the accounting and automation process by customizing the ERP systems
• Appraise and update the firm’s accounting policies as per the IFRS standard and process internal controls
• Liaise with internal auditors for operational audits and SOX compliance reporting
• Liaise with external auditors for filing of income tax returns and statutory audits
• Manage and maintain an active team of talented senior and staff accountants
• Cultivate a deep business partner relationship across the organization, including but not limited to finance and strategy, accounting, legal, tax, SEC reporting, treasury, and operations and all relevant stakeholder of the company
• Perform any other special duties, projects or analyses as directed by the company.

Requirements – Skills, Abilities, and Knowledge – for the Role of a Corporate Accounting Manager

Most organizations will prefer work experience over a graduate degree for the role of the corporate accounting manager.

However, a graduate degree in accounting, finance or business management with specialization in accounting is usually required.

Postgraduate degree in accounting or an additional certification such as ACCA, CPA, ACA can help prospective job seekers interested in this career path advance quickly.

Here are major requirements and qualifications you may be expected to fulfil by most employers if you are seeking the job of a corporate accounting manager:

• Minimum of six years experience as a corporate accounting manager, financial manager or similar role; experience working with the BIG 4 is a plus
• Graduate degree in Accounting, finance or any related field
• ACA, ACCA, CPA or CA certified
• Great communication, presentation, negotiation, and customer service skills – both verbal and oral
• Ability to analyze and present financial results
• Good IT skills – proficiency in MS Excel, Power-Point, Access, Hyperion Financial management and any other accounting software
• Strong analytical, interpersonal, and supervisory skills
• Detail oriented, self-motivated and organized with good understanding of financial and operational controls
• Well-grounded knowledge and comprehensive understanding of financial accounting and reporting according to international accounting standards (GAAP)
• Ability to handle multiple projects, work under pressure, meet tight deadlines and strive well in a fast-paced work environment
• Postgraduate degree in Accounting or MBA and Oracle experienced is an added advantage
• Part of the hiring stages for this job may include taking and passing a pre-employment assessment test.

Conclusion

Corporate accounting managers are the backbone of any organization, especially the audit and financial unit of a company, in making sound decisions.

If you are an employer, hiring manager, or human resources officer having the responsibility to hire for the corporate accounting manager position in your organization, you can apply the sample job description given in this post in creating an effective description for the role.

With a comprehensive description of the accounting manager that you are looking to hire, your chances of attracting the best candidates for the job become brighter.

Also, Individuals interested in the accounting career will find this post useful in learning about the duties and responsibilities of a corporate accounting manager and will be able to make the best decisions about the career.