Career Guidance – Accounts Assistant

What is an Accounts Assistant?

Accounts Assistants perform the necessary role of administrative and clerical support in a financial or accounting firm or indeed any company. Accounts Assistants perform the necessary role of administrative and clerical support in a financial or accounting firm or indeed any company.
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What does an Accounts Assistant do?

This position oversees a wide variety of duties that essentially maintains the functioning of the financial firm and are incredibly valuable.

An Accounts Assistant may fulfil several duties daily, including:

• Bookkeeping
• Drafting, and sending invoices
• Accounts receivable
• Accounts payable
• Tracking payments
• Reconciling employment hours and bank statements

On the other side of this coin, Accounts Assistants also oversee:

• Monitoring communication
• Communicating with clients and suppliers

Accounts Assistant duties simultaneously are the administrative work necessary for the functioning of any company, with a special focus in accounts and financial management.

These careers are a great start to entering the financial world, and provide experience for accountancy work, and a stable accounts assistant salary. Accounts Assistant duties tend to follow in the role of accountancy, and one can be expected to gain knowledge and experience on the necessary tasks of the financial world.

Accounts Assistants relate directly to accounts administration. The administrative aspect to a career as an Accounts Assistant is necessary and its important to understand the role taken on in part as accounts administrator. Generally, as accounts administrator duties will focus more heavily on the managerial and financial aspects to the role. That is, in working with reconciling financial statements, invoices, bank deposits, and tax forms. Accounts administrators work heavily with bookkeeping and clerical work, utilizing key organisational skills and software, database spreadsheets. Administrators generally ensure that the regular financial workings of a business are in order, and that there are no errors or discrepancies in the accounts.

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What is the salary for an Accounts Assistant?

Moreover, careers as Accounts Assistants are stable, and tend to be quite well-paying. Glassdoor.ie averages the Accounts Assistant salary with very high confidence as €33,816 per year as the base pay based on 237 salaries. Oftentimes, larger companies will employ accounting assistants with the ability to move and grow in their career, working up to management positions.

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What skills does an accounts assistant require?

The field of accountancy and thereby Accounts Assistant is undergoing changes. The technological age is changing some of the needs that accounting firms require.
On top of skills that one already needs such as:

• Analytical thinking
• Administrative and organisational skills
• Ability to handle confidential information,
• Comfort and competence in computer software like Excel are also necessary.

Accounts Assistants generally require education specific to the field itself. Understanding the principles of financial management and financial accounting are crucial to a successful career. We are also noticing a trend amongst our candidates to develop their managerial abilities and computer competencies in order to progress in their accounting careers.  

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Do I need a degree to become an account assistant?

While it is not necessary to have a bachelors or advanced degree to become an Accounts Assistant, these are generally beneficial as they demonstrate a greater understanding of the field. However, specific training either through a job, apprenticeship program, or an Accounts Assistant course are necessary to enter the field.

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What qualifications does an accounts assistant require?

There are several Accounts Assistant courses in Dublin that serve to provide individuals with the training necessary to enter the finance and accounting field.

Corporate training.ie lists 24 accounting and accounting assistant courses in Dublin alone, through career centres as well as financial training centres. A Level 5 or 6 certification in bookkeeping, finance, and Business Administration is critical to entering this field. Higher level education lends itself to further career progression within an organisation as well as increasing your base Accounts Assistant salary.

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How to write a CV for an Accounts Assistant position?

Once you have decided to become an Accounts Assistant, it is essential to have a strong CV for your application. Be sure to list all your contact information correctly at the top, including your name, address, phone number, and email address. These should be the first thing the person reviewing your CV will see. Indeed.com recommends having a strong personal statement as the next item on your CV. This way, you can illustrate skills and practical experience that will directly inform and aid your duties as an Accounts Assistant. However, a top CV Tip of ours is to lead with your accomplishments. For example, if you have graduated first in your class, or were nominated as a class representative, these are huge selling points. It’s important to remember when you are applying for a job that your CV is your way of selling yourself to potential employers, so when your writing it remember to ask yourself, “why should they hire me?”

 As previously mentioned, education is a necessary aspect to the role. Be sure to list all your academic achievements, whether they be a degree from a university, or an account assistant course taken in accounting, accounting assistance, or accounting technician. This also includes the Level 5 or 6 qualifications in a financial field, related to accounting. It is also good to note the course and the level or quality of the degree obtained, as well as the start and end dates, and any special involvements, achievements, or skills developed through this educational experience. On top of your education, any other skills that will be applicable are great to add. Abilities with spreadsheets and data, bookkeeping, and administrative skills that may not have been learned in a classroom should still have firm place on an Accounts Assistant CV.

The most important aspect, however, to creating a strong Accounts Assistant CV, is the experience. While, of course, you might not have specific account assistant experience when applying for jobs in this field, be sure to list other experiences and the skills there that apply. Keep in mind that the necessary skills for an Accounts Assistant include administration and managerial skills that prioritize organisation, competence with numbers, and bookkeeping, as well as computer abilities. If you fulfilled any of the Accounts Assistant duties in another role, be sure to highlight them on your CV.  In the account assistant CV, make sure to stress any experience with financial reporting, working with ledgers, managing accounts, and invoicing. Even if these skills are not from a specific accountancy setting, they are necessary to the role, and will be something a hiring manager will look for specifically.

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Conclusion:

Ultimately, an Accounts Assistant is an incredibly important job that utilises strong organisational and financial skills, and requires competence across a range of fields, especially in the financial sector. If you excel in managerial and administrative fields, Accounts Assistant is a great way to enter the financial world, with a strong base salary, and room for upwards mobility within the field of accounting!