Accountant / Chief Accountant

An accountant checks and records a company's transactions to produce reliable accounts. They process supporting documents, monitor accounts and contribute to the closing process. The chief accountant supervises this work, organises the accounting team and checks the preparation of financial statements. Both provide information that supports management decisions and compliance with applicable obligations.

The role varies by organisation. In a microbusiness or SME, a sole accountant may cover a range of activities and report directly to the business leader. In a larger organisation, an accountant may focus on some transactions under the supervision of a chief accountant. The chief accountant may report to the finance and administration department.

Preparing tax returns, monitoring cash flow and handling payroll are not always assigned to the same person. The activities carried out internally, those assigned to other parties and the work requiring approval must be specified. The job title alone therefore does not describe the role's level of autonomy.

Accountant, chief accountant and management controller: who does what?

• An accountant's autonomy can range from processing transactions with support to taking responsibility for a broad range of accounting activities.
• The chief accountant coordinates the closing process.
• The management controller analyses results, costs and variances, then prepares forecasts to inform decisions. There is some overlap with cost accounting.

Financial leadership covers a broader range of activities, which may include accounting, cash management, financing and management control. This profile covers the preparation and supervision of accounting work, without equating a chief accountant with a finance director.

Reliable accounts give the business leader a basis for understanding the company's position. Incomplete information or a poorly explained discrepancy can undermine their interpretation of the results. Recruitment therefore involves matching the role holder's autonomy to the work they will actually take on and the checks in place to review their work.

Allowing time for checks within deadlines

Closing the accounts requires work to be organised within tight deadlines. For the chief accountant, allocating tasks is not enough: they must also monitor progress and check the work completed. Unclear allocation can leave a transaction without anyone responsible for it or delay the detection of an error until the accounts are being prepared.

To define the role, identify the work that requires approval and the person able to provide it. Also specify who obtains missing documents from internal contacts. This organisation helps distinguish a need for additional accounting capacity from a need for supervision.

Hypothetical example: a company recruits an accountant to process invoices and prepare bank reconciliations. It then expects them to organise the closing process independently and check their colleagues' work. The mismatch stems from the level of responsibility expected, which the initial role description did not set out. Clarifying preparation, review and team management would help target recruitment more accurately.

Maintaining an understanding of transactions

Proficiency with a tool does not replace knowledge of the applicable accounting rules. When data is exchanged through an integrated system, the role holder must remain able to explain the transactions processed and the checks performed. For the business leader or HR professional, the risk is confusing software proficiency with technical autonomy.

Accounts also contain sensitive information. Discretion and clear communication matter both when sharing data and when explaining a discrepancy to a non-specialist.

• Check supporting documents before recording accounting transactions.
• Process invoices and match entries in customer and supplier accounts.
• Carry out bank reconciliations to identify and explain differences.
• Prepare the work needed to close the accounts, including provisions and fixed asset monitoring, according to the responsibilities assigned.
• Contribute to the preparation of the balance sheet, income statement and notes to the financial statements.
• Prepare the tax returns included in the role, particularly VAT and corporation tax returns.
• Handle payroll, social security declarations or cash management when the organisation assigns them to the role.
• For the chief accountant: allocate and check the team's work.
• For the chief accountant: update accounting procedures and support the team in applying them.
• Coordinate accounting communications with internal departments, the expert-comptable and auditors according to the agreed division of responsibilities.

Possible routes include the BTS comptabilité et gestion, the diplôme de comptabilité et gestion (DCG) and the BUT gestion des entreprises et des administrations, parcours gestion comptable, fiscale et financière. These qualification names provide an indication of a candidate's educational background. When recruiting, relate what the candidate has learnt to the transactions they will be responsible for.

For a role focused on preparing accounts, relevant learning includes understanding supporting documents, recording transactions, reconciliations and the applicable rules. A relevant educational background should also provide an understanding of the link between daily transactions and the preparation of accounts. Familiarity with software matters, but it must be accompanied by an understanding of the accounting treatments applied.

For a chief accountant, possible routes include the diplôme supérieur de comptabilité et gestion (DSCG), the master comptabilité, contrôle, audit (CCA) or a business school programme specialising in accounting or audit. None of these qualifications removes the need to examine supervisory experience. Previous responsibilities shed light on the ability to organise a closing process, check other people's work and support the team as practices change.

Distinguish experience of carrying out work from experience of reviewing it. Having prepared accounts with a manager available for support is not equivalent to having organised a department's work. Conversely, a background focused on one area of accounting may suit a specialist role. Suitability is assessed through the activities carried out, the degree of autonomy and the environment in which the candidate has worked, without imposing a universal experience threshold for moving into supervision.

GetPro structures assessment around a framework that distinguishes criteria verifiable from a candidate's background from those to explore in an interview. An assessment method is planned for each criterion. Open questions and concrete examples allow key skills to be explored in greater depth. Reference checks help clarify the responsibilities held and substantiate both strengths and areas requiring attention.

For an accountant or chief accountant, the stages below are suggestions to adapt to the responsibilities assigned. They propose an application of this framework to the role, without describing exercises used by GetPro.

1. Define the criteria before interviews

Separate the work to be prepared, the work to be checked and team management responsibilities. For each activity, specify whether you expect the candidate to carry it out with support, handle it independently or be able to supervise it.

Select criteria relevant to the role: transaction processing, reconciliations, closing, application of rules and proficiency with tools. Add payroll or cash management only if they are among the activities assigned.

Appoint an assessor able to judge the technical answers. If this expertise is unavailable internally, involve an accounting professional competent in the work concerned. The business leader or person responsible for recruitment remains responsible for defining the role's responsibilities and level of autonomy.

2. Establish what the candidate has done previously

Ask the candidate to describe a closing process or a set of accounts they worked on. Have them specify what they prepared, what they checked and what a manager approved.

Then ask how they obtained missing supporting documents and explained differences. Look for a precise description of the transactions and people involved. An answer limited to « nous faisions la clôture » warrants further exploration.

To protect sensitive information, favour an anonymised explanation. Assess the ability to describe the approach without disclosing the former employer's data.

3. Examine a case relevant to the work assigned

Hypothetical example: you give the candidate a simplified bank statement and the corresponding accounting entries. A payment appears on the statement without an immediately matching entry in the accounts.

Ask how they would investigate the cause of the difference, which documents they would request and how they would document their check. Adapt the information available to the expected level of autonomy.

For a role focused on closing, add a question about provisions or fixed assets. For a specialist role, keep the focus on the transactions actually planned.

A positive sign is a clearly explained approach, with identifiable checks and relevant questions. A conclusion without justification or an adjustment intended solely to make the difference disappear calls for further examination.

4. Assess supervision and communication

For a chief accountant, ask how they would allocate work as the closing date approaches. Have them specify the checks they would retain and the difficulties they would escalate to management.

Ask about supporting a team member who repeats an error. Look for an explanation of the rule, an appropriate check and a way to monitor the team member's progress.

Also ask the candidate to explain a discrepancy to a business leader without an accounting background. Observe whether they distinguish the finding, its possible consequences and the information still needed.

5. Cross-check the evidence before deciding

Compare the answers and practical case with the criteria established at the outset. Distinguish a gap in knowledge of a particular tool from a difficulty understanding accounting transactions.

If you obtain references, focus the discussions on the responsibilities actually held and the degree of autonomy. For a chief accountant, seek to clarify the actual extent of team management and review work.

Record the skills observed and any further checks to carry out before deciding. A skill that has not been observed should not be assumed on the basis of the previous job title alone.