Zahra Asaad- 201000357

Market Yourself- GSP5203

GSP5203

Report on Analyzing Accountant job

By: Zahra Asaad

ID: 201000358
Tutor: Ms. Rhea

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Contents
Interview: ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Independent Research: ................................................................................................................... 6
What is an Accountant? .............................................................................................................. 6
Duties and responsibilities: ......................................................................................................... 6
Qualifications:.............................................................................................................................. 7
Skills and Employability Skills: ..................................................................................................... 7
The job Nature and environment: ............................................................................................... 8
Salary and benefits: ..................................................................................................................... 8
How you get an accountant job?................................................................................................. 8
Analysis: ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Differences and Similarities: ........................................................................................................ 9
Conclusion: .................................................................................................................................... 10
References: .................................................................................................................................... 11

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Interview:
This is the findings of my interview with Ms. Zainab Alqarooni a general accountant employee at
Atkins Company. The interview was held in the company in 20/10/13 at 10:00 am:
1- What are your tasks and responsibilities for this job?

Prepare a part of management accounts on a monthly basis.

Review and manage supplier invoices.

Analyze all debtor accounts and maintain vendor files and data.

Undertake debt analysis and reconciliations, billing procedures and allocation of

receipts.

Appraise operating results in terms of performance and profitability against budget.

Manage project accounting databases

Maintain cash flows and reported variances.

Generate MIS reports such as productivity report, project cost reports, overhead
reports, variance analysis report and so on.

Help in the procedures of the companys internal control.

2- What are the required qualifications for this job?

My qualifications are:

Certified Management Account (CMA), USA

Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF)

Bachelor's Degree in Accounting & Finance ( Ahlia University- Bahrain)

Diploma in Accounting (University of Bahrain)

3- What kind of training or background is necessary for this type of work?

For any job it is important to have a background about the company you apply for like
what are their mission, vision and objectives and strategies. Also you have to search and

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read about the accountant job in order to have clear idea about it like the kinds of
accounting systems that are used in the Bahraini companies.
Regarding the trainings, any accounting/ finance trainings are good. For example, the
trainings provided by banks are very useful.
4- What are the benefits that you receive? Insurance? Bonuses? Holidays?

One bonus per year

Life insurance

30 days paid leave per year

15 days sick leave per year

5- Do you receive self-development workshops? & training courses in your job?

Yes, I received time- management workshop and workshop about coping with work and
family stress. Also I am currently attending workshops to get ICDL certificate.
No, I did not receive training from Atkins Company.
6- How you get employed? And what kinds of experience and preparation helped you
most?
I get employed by applying in company website. The perpetrations that help me most
are my qualification in accounting and finance (my degree); English language, IT skills
and the training I received form BBK. I did not have previous experience.
7- How much is the range of general accountant salary? ( ranges)
Between 450 BD to 700 BD
8- Do you work in group or individually?
I work individually as each of us has specific tasks to complete. I work in back office
9- Do you work inside the company or outside?
Inside the company only, I cannot work at home since the accounting system is applied
only in the companys BCs.
10- Do the company offer you retirement plan?
Yes, it is required by the General Organization for Social Insurance-GOSI
How many working hours required from you?
9 hours per day/ 45 hours per week
11- What are the required skills?
The most required skills are decision making, time- management, and problem solving
and computer skills.
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12- What kind of stress do you deal with?

Complete closing by the end of each month before deadline is very stressful for me as
the work double and I have to work for longer hours to finish it.
13- What do you like most and least in your job?
I like the rules inside the organization and the quite back office environment but I dont
like the routine of the job.
14- What do you recommend a person like me to get similar job?
I advise you to complete your academic education for any business certificate and take
training courses during your study. Then take experience to be unique and to have a
reason to be chosen between all the graduates. Also try to build relationships with
business people though attending conferences. As well as this attend jobs fair and net
working events because there you have big chance to find what you are seeking for. In
the future I recommend you to complete your study and take professional accounting
certifies like (CPA) an (ACCA).

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Independent Research:
This research focuses on the required competencies for an accountant job. The research findings
is based on secondary research and using reliable and updated online recourses. It will be
discussed in different areas which are the definition of an accountant, his duties and
responsibilities, the required qualifications, the required skills, the job nature and environment,
the salary plus benefits, and the way to get the job.

What is an Accountant?
An accountant is the person who provides financial information to the companies management
by researching and analyzing the figures and accounting data of the company in order to
prepare reliable, updated and well classified financial reports. The well qualified accountant is
the individual who maximize the profitability of an organization and work to improve its
efficiency.

Duties and responsibilities:

The main responsibility as it is mentioned above is providing financial information to
management. However, there are other tasks or duties that are required from an accountant
but it differs from a company to another or even from an employee to another within the same
organization. Here is a list of the common tasks required from a general accountant (Recruiting
and Hiring Advice, 2014):

Prepares asset, liability, and capital account entries by compiling and analyzing account
information.

Recommends financial actions by analyzing accounting options.

Substantiates financial transactions by auditing documents.

Maintains accounting controls by preparing and recommending policies and procedures.

Secures financial information by completing data base backups.

Maintains financial security by following internal controls.

Prepares payments by verifying documentation, and requesting disbursements.

Prepares special financial reports by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing account

information and trends.

Maintains customer confidence and protects operations by keeping financial information

confidential.

Accomplishes the result by performing the duty.

Contributes to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed.

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Qualifications:
There are several qualifications that are required from the accountant. The main one is a degree
or bachelor certificate in accounting major or in any business major from recognized university.
Some organizations need nothing more, as the accountant will be responsible of basic
accountant activities plus if he/she needs more qualifications, training courses will be provided
to him. However, most of the organizations prefer the individual with good background, training
courses and at least 2 years experience within the same field. Here the competition arises,
where the fresh graduate will have to work in small companies even if it offers low salaries in
order to gain experience or even have to work as a trainee to strengthen their qualification
which will open the door for them to speedy career progression.
Internationally, companies required several qualifications for instance professional accountancy
qualification provided by professional bodies like ( ACCA, CPA), the ability to use Peachtree
accounting software , having Reporting skills, General Math knowledge, Reporting Research
Results, SFAS Rules and Data Entry knowledge. These qualifications will allow the graduate to
identify themselves as professional accountants and practice in a wide range of areas.
(Accountant job description)

Skills and Employability Skills:

The accountant personality also matters, as the companies required some skills so he/she
performs the tasks to the fullest .Confidentiality is one of them, as some the companys financial
information or the companys financial situation cannot be shared with the externals. Another
skill is Deadline-Oriented as the accountant should finish the required task within the timeframe
given to him and delays may affect his employability skills. As well as this, time management is
an important skill that makes it easier for the accountant to finish all the tasks given to him with
fine quantity and high quality and within the given time. Moreover, as the accountant always
deals with figures he/she should be very accurate in his/her work and should give attention to
details. Self-motivation, problem solving, Interpersonal, negotiation, Integrity, computer skills,
communication skills, numerical skills, creativity and analytical ability are other examples of the
required skills.

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The job Nature and environment:

The nature of the accountants work depends on the size organization they work in. If in small
business, the accounting team will be small and consist of 2-3 persons who are responsible of
the whole accounting system. This makes the work simpler and less complicated. However, in
medium and large businesses the accounting unit is consist of several departments categorized
per field and the work is divided on different individuals or teams as each one has specific job
description but it can be more complex. This is done to ensure that there is proper segregation
of duties and internal controls.
Most accountants work individually in a typical office setting and finish their required tasks in
the work. However, some of them may do a part of their work at home. Also, there are some
situations when the accountant is required to work or travel to different locations to perform his
job in the organizations branches or facilities.
The accountants average working hours is 40 hours per week which is 8 hours a day with 2 days
off, but they work on longer hours in specific periods, especially during reporting period, such as
in the end of the financial year or tax season. (MissCPA, 2011)

Salary and benefits:

In the United States of America the average annual salary of an accountant is $40,000 to
$80,000 per year which equals to 15,082 BD to 30,164 BD per year which means the average of
the monthly salary is 1,257 BD to 2,512 BD. The average standard benefits of an accountant
includes a retirement plan, meal allowances, health and medical insurance, travel expense
benefit, and paid annual leaves and many more. (MissCPA, 2011)

How you get an accountant job?

To get a job and work as an accountant the person should first get the required qualifications
especially the degree and get the skills required. Good understanding of the job is required as
well. The first step is to research for job opportunities by asking friends and family for job-leads,
in newspapers, websites, visit job fair, networking events and go to private employment
agencies and so on. (Bolles, 2014)

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Analysis:
Differences and Similarities:
From my primary and secondary researched I have understood the accountant job very clearly
and I have found out that there are some similarities and differences between the international
competencies for an accountant job and the Bahrainis one.
The general tasks and duties that are required from the accountant are the same. But as I
mentioned before it differ from a company to another because of differentiation in the size and
nature of the company. If the company is large and have large capital and income, it require to
make very detailed work to know each (Fils) or (Pence) goes where, otherwise everything will
be complicated and there will be no internal control in the company. However, in small
companies they require simple and basic tasks to create simple financial statements.
Regarding the qualifications, all of the businesses whether international or Bahraini, require
degree or bachelor certificate in the business major, they are similar because kingdom of
Bahrain has educated and literate society and most of the unemployed people who are
searching for jobs are degree holders, therefore the expectation of the business are high.
However, in low literate countries, high schools certificate might be the required qualification.
So here the factor of citizens educational level matters in specifying the required qualifications.
Most of countries including Bahrain require or prefer an employee with experience, but on one
hand, here in Bahrain it is very hard to find a good job in the first place, so it hard to have
experience specially for the fresh graduated students and that due to the high demand on the
accountant jobs and the huge number of graduates. So what the student has to do is to work as
a trainee in order to impress the employer with the work and get employed. This is because the
competition factor takes a place.
On the other hand, there are some jobs that hire graduates but for long working hours (from
8am - 6pm) and with low salaries so, this is a chance to get experience. However, most of
student refuses and this is due to the nature of the population of Bahrain.
The salary differs dramatically as the average salary of an accountant in Bahrain is 400 BD 700
BD which is much lower that the international (US) average which is 1200 BD to 2500 BD that is
more than the double. The reason is that this Bahraini average reflects the salaries of the
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accountants who work in small companies like the company that Ms. Alqarooni work in, and the
employees who have less than 10 years experience. Another reason could be the Standard of
living in Bahrain is low comparing with the international stander.
Regarding the benefits, the Bahrain regulations stats that any employee who work in the
governmental or privet field should have to has retirement plan and 30 days paid leave per year.
Other benefits are depending on the institution its-self. Here the governmental regulation factor
affects.

Conclusion:
After analyzing the research, now I have clear idea about who is the right person for the general
accountant position. Because I am a final year accounting student at Bahrain Polytechnic, I have
good academic qualifications that qualify me to work as an accountant. Starting with the
accounting courses that I had took from the first year to the last.
The introduction to accounting course was the foundation to my accounting knowledge as I
learned the basic and the most important information and concepts that the accountant should
realize.

Then I gained deeper knowledge when I took managerial accounting, financial

accounting for companies, financial reporting, auditing, cost accounting and accounting system
courses. Each course had an effect on me, for example when I took the auditing course I realized
that this area of accounting does not suit my personality because I knew that each position need
a specific character and the auditor is not my type of character. Also, the accounting system
course was very useful as I learned how to use a professional international accounting system
which is (Peachtree) that gives me the opportunity to be on training job.
I am happy that I will be graduated student from Bahrain Polytechnic because it is a recognized
university that consider as one of the strongest universities in Bahrain and because it is very
special as it is the only one that focuses on the practical education that strengthen the student
abilities and make them ready for the market. As well as this BP contribute in building the
students personalities though self-development workshops that strengthen my employability
skills like communication, problem solving and self management skills, and through opening
opportunities for us to attend real business conferences. For example, before three weeks I
attended Takaful insurance and Islamic banking conference.

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No doubt, my educational qualifications and skills are strong but there are some gaps that may
encountered my way in my job searching journey, which are the lack of job experience, the need
of training background and the lack of professional accounting certificates.
To fill these gaps, I will work as a trainee in a well- known institution like HSBC bank after
graduation. As they open opportunities for limited number of people to work as a trainee in
their company in the summer. I will try to prove by self through hard work and punctuality to
gain the employers interest to get the job. Even if I get the opportunity to work with a low
salary I will accept as a temporary job in order to gain experience. But one thing I might face a
problem in, which is the long hours work that it is hard for a women to accept due to the
responsibility she has specially for me since I will be mom soon. This consider as gap for me, but
I will try to find a job with the normal range of hours (8 hours) or manage myself to have perfect
and fair work-life-balance.
I like to improve myself continually to have self satisfaction, therefore after two years of work I
will study ACCA certificate that will give me the chance to get a higher position in my job.
I am the suitable person for this job since I have the right skills, qualifications, personality to this
job and I have the courage to fight any challenges I face.

References:
Accountant job description. (n.d.). Retrieved 11 4, 2014, from TargetJobs:
http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/job-descriptions/275785-accountant-certified-jobdescription
Bolles, R. N. (2014). The 14 Ways to Look for A Job. Retrieved 11 4, 2014, from Jod Hunters Bible:
http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/articles/article.php?art_item=024
MissCPA. (2011). Accountant Job Description. Retrieved 11 4, 2014, from misscpa:
http://misscpa.com/accountant-job-description/
Recruiting and Hiring Advice. (2014). Retrieved 11 4, 2014, from Monster:
http://hiring.monster.com/hr/hr-best-practices/recruiting-hiring-advice/jobdescriptions/accountant-job-description-sample.aspx
Summary Report forAccountats. (2014, 1 13). Retrieved 11 9, 2014, from O*Net:
http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/13-2011.01

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