Management Accountant
What the work is
Provides services relating to performance-based financial reporting, asset valuation, budgetary systems, cost management, pricing, forecasting and the strategic governance of organisations. Provides advice on financial planning and risk management, and provides management with reports to assist in decision-making. Establishes continuous reporting and feedback mechanisms by using data source management, analysis and visualisation. May provide insight into cost performance and support the implementation of benchmarking and quality improvement initiatives.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Prepares financial statements and reports for presentation to boards of directors, governing and statutory bodies, management and shareholders
- Analyses financial and non-financial data to inform business strategies and monitor risk
- Provides assurance about the accuracy contained in financial reports and their compliance with statutory requirements
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 211134, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.