Types of accountants and their functions

The rational organization of accounting largely depends on the correct definition of the structure of accounting and the accounting apparatus.

Accounting is an independent structural unit of the organization, and its quantitative composition depends on the size of the organization, types of business activities, organization and production technology, the presence of structural units and their territorial location, and the qualifications of the accounting staff.

The structure of the accounting apparatus depends on the characteristics of each organization, production technology, the volume of accounting work, and forms of accounting.

Type of accounting structures

Currently, there are three types of structure of the accounting apparatus:

  • linear (hierarchical) – all employees of the accounting department are subordinate to the chief accountant;
  • line-headquarters (vertical) – accounting is carried out in the context of intermediate links (departments, groups, sectors) headed by senior accountants subordinate to the chief accountant;
  • combined (functional), i.e., special departments are allocated that perform a closed cycle of work (independent balance sheets).

Linear structure

With a linear organization of the accounting apparatus, all accounting employees report directly to the chief accountant. This structure provides for the centralization of accounting, which involves the generalization of accounting data in the main accounting department, which:

  • allows rationally organize the work of accounting personnel. This accounting structure is used in small organizations (Fig. 5) with a small accounting apparatus of up to 8-10 people. If there are more than two accountants, the accounting service should be formalized as a structural
  • division of the organization, headed by the chief accountant, who manages the accounting department. The management staff in this apparatus occupies approximately 30%. The structure of the accounting apparatus of this type is acceptable and justifies itself both in terms of the management and management of the apparatus, and in terms of the efficiency of using the working time of accounting
  • workers. In such enterprises, there are more employees per worker than in other enterprises; the share of the wages of accounting employees of these enterprises in the total wage fund of all employees is approximately 1%.

Linear staff structure

With a linear staff structure in the accounting department, intermediate management links (departments, sectors, groups) are created, headed by senior accountants. Accounting personnel reports directly to senior accountants of the relevant departments (management units). And senior accountants report to the chief accountant. In the accounting services themselves, the following groups can be distinguished according to the areas of accounting work:

  • Material, keeping records of inventories, their receipt and disposal, storage and use;
  • Settlements for wages, accounting for settlements with employees, the budget, with state extra-budgetary funds, etc.;
  • Production and costing, which keeps records of costs, calculates the cost of production and prepares a production report;
  • Accounting for finished products, accounting for finished products in warehouses and their implementation;
  • Accounting for capital investments;
  • General, keeping records of other operations.

This model of the accounting structure is used in medium and large organizations.

The number of accounting employees can also be 8-10 people. Despite the small apparatus, it consists of groups. In such accounting apparatus, executives occupy 40-60% of the entire composition of the apparatus. The labor productivity of accounting workers is lower and their maintenance is more expensive than in accounting apparatuses of the first type.

Combined organization

With a combined organization, structural divisions of accounting are created according to areas of accounting work that perform a closed cycle of work, in addition, sectors of internal audit, management and tax accounting or by personnel functions in the process of data processing and reporting can be included in its structure.

This structure of the accounting apparatus is used in large organizations. The number of accounting employees and the number of jobs are determined by the scale of the organization, the number of types of business activities carried out simultaneously and the volume of accounting information for each direction.

If the amount of work on the site is significant, instead of the 1st workplace, a group is created in which 2 or more employees are employed. If an organization carries out foreign exchange transactions, it is advisable to organize a separate workplace for an accountant who will deal exclusively with these operations. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that a separate cash desk cannot be created for conducting cash transactions – all cash transactions must be carried out in one cash desk.