Accountant (General)
What the work is
Provides services relating to compliance-based financial, non-financial and sustainability-related reporting, auditing, insolvency and accounting information systems, and advises on association record-keeping requirements.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Provides advice regarding business plans, structures and accounting systems
- Examines the income and expenditure of individuals and organisations
- Conducts financial investigations, prepares reports, and manages insolvency
- Assists in the formulation of budgetary and accounting policies
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a fictional accounting firm in a regional city, in the weeks before small business tax returns are due. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A nervous small business owner finally understands their own numbers and relaxes
- You spot an error that would have caused a real problem and fix it before anyone notices
- A client who started with a shoebox of receipts now sends tidy records every month
Hard days
- A deadline week with too many returns and too little time
- A client who wants you to treat something in a way that you know is not right
- A set of figures that will not add up, however many times you check them
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 211131, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.