Lection 1

The Work of the Accountant

1. The work of the accountant is said to be divers in nature but basically it deals with recording, summarizing, analyzing and verifying business transactions in books of accounts. The task of examining and analyzing accounts is one of great significance because it makes it possible to provide information necessary for economic management. There is usually an unlimited supply of data available in an enterprise. The key problem facing accounts is the selection for presenting to the management only meaningful information. And the accountant is effective if the supplies information promptly and in a clear language.

2. Great and momentous changes are known to have taken place over recent years and the accountancy profession has gained an important status. The role of the accountant has changed and his functions have not only deepened but widened as well. The modern accountant is not like the old book-keeper – now a legend – who was often described as a dried –up narrow-minded person ignorant of everything but tedious operations with figures. The modern accountant begins to play an increasingly important role in business activity. He is now expected to perform various duties and his tasks are wider than they were a decade or two back. He act as an adviser to management and helps the latter in decision-making.

Under modern conditions only accountants can analyze business situations and minimize the degree of uncertainty inherent in every business decisions. By providing vital information to the management the accountant enables them to assess their own performance and what is more important it helps them devise ways to improve their efficiency and performance.

3. In many countries of the world accountants are also believed to make a valuable contribution towards promoting economic grows of a country. Economic thinking is considered to be moulded by proper accounting information as well.

What should modern accountant be like?

1. In all countries of the world the complexity of economic activity is gradually growing. And this, in its turn, leads to an increasingly important role of accounting as a function of economic management. At present the necessity of improving accounting through raising its operational utility and quality is regarded as one of the most important tasks.

2. The main condition for the solution of this task is improving the quality of accounting personnel. To attract able young people to the study of accounting, to raise its prestige and demonstrate its importance is an urgent task in many countries of the world.

3. In a word, it is not easy to put the qualities of a good accountant in a nutshell. Some of them are inborn, others must be acquired by education and experience. Among the most important of that sort of qualities are the following: a good knowledge of accounting and the ability to apply its principles in practical life; a broad general outlook and understanding of economic trends and events; responsibility, decision-making ability, the knowledge of accounting techniques; the ability to get on with colleagues, personnel people in general.