What is the difference between an economist and an accountant? Can the chief accountant report to the deputy head.

Natalia Kurbatova and Irina Sikacheva, independent HR consultants

CFO is the apogee of a career as a financier in a commercial company. Very often this position is occupied by a former chief accountant. What requirements must it meet?

Despite the belief that financial directors grow up somewhere around the age of 40-45, very different applicants apply for this position. The youngest age of the applicant, who managed to meet - 25 years. True, the vacancy of the financial director is one of the few where applicants over 50 years old are also found and valued. At the same time, salary claims also depend more on the candidate's ambitions than on real work experience and opportunities. The range of expectations is from 1500 to 6000 dollars.

The chief accountant who decides to become a financial director should take into account that applicants for this position can be divided into three categories.

The first is candidates with work experience who have worked as a CFO in several companies, usually small and medium-sized businesses, and are now applying for vacancies in larger companies. Such employees are most interesting for the employer. These are people who purposefully make a career, with a serious education, including additional education (MBA courses, seminars), who already have good work experience. They quickly adapt to unfamiliar situations, know well what they want, quickly learn.

The second category of applicants includes people who have worked in one company for a long time (sometimes up to 20 years), starting as an accountant. As a rule, they have extensive experience in accounting work. Such applicants leave their previous job, as a rule, due to the fact that they have difficulties in working with strategy, risks, etc. For example, the management has changed, and the requirements for the financial director have changed. Such applicants may often not fully understand the true reasons for their departure, believing that it's all about the attitude of the new leadership to the "old guard". But if it's really a matter of professionalism, it will be difficult for such applicants to find a job in the position of financial director.

And finally, the third category is “young and ambitious”. These are people with a good, often Western education, good personal data, fluent foreign languages. But they have little experience. Such applicants claim high salaries (from 3,000 to 6,000 dollars) and sometimes even get the desired vacancies (usually in medium or small businesses). But the lack of experience makes itself felt.

What a Candidate Should Know

The CFO is one of the key figures in the company. Therefore, employers place high demands on him. First of all, it is the ability to be a leader. The CFO must be able to determine the total amount of work, taking into account both strategic and routine, daily aspects of the activity, and distribute it among employees. At the same time, it often turns out that some employees were previously underemployed, while others, on the contrary, are overloaded. You need to be able to optimize business processes, since usually a company cannot afford to expand the staff. It is necessary to be able to work with a team, starting with the selection of competent specialists, ending with their motivation and control over them. The CFO must have the skills to communicate and negotiate at the highest levels - with representatives of investment funds, banks and other organizations.

In addition, it is expected high degree loyalty, personal commitment to the firm, and unconditional honesty. For most employers, this factor is so important that they often prefer "their own", proven employee, sacrificing his professionalism, "impeccable stranger".

Therefore, for a person making a career as a financial director, reputation and good recommendations(the ability to check these recommendations up to the university).

Also of great importance is the first meeting with a potential employer. Very often, even experienced applicants underestimate the role of their appearance wherein. This is especially true for clothing. There are some principles that it makes sense to guide the candidate:

The principle of proximity to a potential employer . The more similar you are to your employer, the better, since the principle of distribution operates, external similarity is unconsciously perceived as internal;

The principle of compliance with corporate standards of the company;

The principle of compliance with the business in which the employing company operates. So, for example, for construction business the coefficient of conservatism in clothes is much lower (the coefficient of conservatism is manifested in the severity of lines, shape, silhouette, color combination, woven pattern, fabric texture, etc.). In general, for a financial director, this ratio is quite high;

Clothing matching individual characteristics and age.

It is important not to forget about such simple tricks as a sincere smile, interest in a partner, the ability to hear and understand the interlocutor.

Regions and capital

It will be more difficult for a chief accountant who works in the regions to find a vacancy for a financial director. They rarely look for candidates for this position in free mode. Employers prefer to "grow" their employee themselves. Or they invite a financial director on the recommendation of reputable business partners or friends. Here, the former chief accountant often becomes the financial director. However, one must understand that a good chief accountant and a good financial director are different people. A good chief accountant will not always be a good financial director. IN major cities the situation in the personnel market is more tense, so a situation is possible here when the financial director is taken to the company from outside. But at the same time, as a rule, his recommendations and previous career path are carefully checked.

From a specialist who has already passed this path
Yuri Yanovsky, financial director of CJSC "TECHMODUL":
“Today, a mandatory attribute for a candidate for financial director is a higher education: accounting, economics or finance, preferably obtained at a well-known state university. Not bad, to have another higher education, usually technical, received in the full-time department. An additional plus will be advanced training courses, knowledge of Western accounting standards (GAAP or IAS). Tomorrow knowledge of IFRS will also be required. A master's degree in management is also a good addition, but, as practice shows, it is not always required. It is much more important to already have some experience as a financial director, or at least an entry in the work book.
Should be paid Special attention to prepare a resume. It should be directed towards the desired position. You can always include tasks that you are familiar with, but the practical experience of solving them is quite modest. But then, if the employer chooses you, you will have to thoroughly prepare for solving such problems. And this should be taken into account when preparing a resume and passing an interview.

Problems facing the financial director

1. You lack knowledge. There are issues in which you are incompetent or insufficiently competent.

What to do? Do not panic and systematically collect information. Many CFOs started this way.

2. You face a lot of multi-level tasks - management requires strategies, subordinates drown in routine. Both are running.

What to do? Allocate time. Experienced CFOs recommend spending up to 50 percent of time on "churn" (such as which account to pay first), 30 percent on tactics (planning and managing receivables), and 20 percent on strategic issues.

3. Your status and responsibility is vague and uncertain. This happens especially often in small companies, as well as regions.

What to do? Collect information about what the situation is in other companies, determine what exactly you should do and what you are responsible for. And then negotiate on these issues with the CEO.

Is it enough for a chief accountant to master the aspects of budgeting, learn how to manage financial assets, deal with the features of a loan portfolio and other financial issues in order to take the post of financial director?

According to many TOPs, even an artist can become an accountant with a great desire and hard work on himself. But he most likely will not receive satisfaction from such a reincarnation.

Career ambitions for accountants

For most people, career growth is not a natural result of high-quality intensive work, but some kind of super-idea. Specialists dream of taking the post of director in a year or two and sitting on comfortable chair all life. However, they do not understand the full extent of the responsibility that will fall on them after such a rapid career advancement. It is better to calm down your career ambitions a bit and gradually but surely rise up.

First of all, it is worth taking the assigned duties as responsibly as possible. You need to do business not formally, but with interest. Then career growth will not be far off. The desire to become the biggest boss should not be an end in itself, but a global perspective.

It is much more interesting and useful for yourself and your career, including improving your skills, improving your skills, learning new things in your profession.

This will be discussed in this article.

Doctor - commodity manager - financial director: what is the connection?

Anna Ivanova, director of a consulting and outsourcing company, wanted to become a doctor as a child and studied biology, chemistry and physics intensively. After graduating from school, she changed her mind about the profession and received the education of a merchandiser. The girl thought that she would do this business until old age. However, at the age of 34, Anna opened a consulting company that provides outstaffing, accounting, personnel, tax, and legal outsourcing services. She went all the way from a merchandising accountant to a financial director. It was the findir, in whose company Anna initially worked, that gave her right direction in professional development, which served as a good impetus for starting your own business.

According to Anna, a good chief accountant makes about $2,000. There are specialists who can work in one place with such a salary all their lives. But there are those who want to grow further and become a financial director. The professions of an accountant and a strategist are fundamentally different, and from the point of view of human physiology, the performance of duties in these positions affects different hemispheres of the brain.

There are various ways to achieve the position of financial director, but to begin with, a specialist must have an economic education and know management accounting. And even better if the future findir crosses the chief accountant inside himself.

Who is strong in what?

How long will it take to rebuild? Take the Financial Management Quiz to find out if you are a born CFO or Chief Accountant.

What is permissible for a findir and forbidden for a chief accountant?

The main skill of the profession of a financial director is his speed and competence in making decisions. Moreover, the financial condition of the company and its future as a whole depend on these decisions. Sometimes drastic steps lead to financial losses, and sometimes big wins.

The main task of the financial director is to try, experiment, develop and not be afraid of mistakes. Because negative experiences are valuable experiences. And it is not the mistakes made when trying to improve something that should be punished, but inaction, indifference and negligence.

However, many Findirs, reading this article, mentally disagree. Because there is a statement that even the best chief accountant cannot replace the financial director. Indeed, in the actions of the findir, ingenuity and creative thinking can be traced. For the chief accountant, such an approach is taboo.

What is the strength and prospects of the chief accountant?

The chief accountant is the company's chief specialist in numbers. BUT good specialist must know the features of accounting and tax accounting at a high level, be able to correctly draw up financial statements and rebuff the tax authorities in time so that they do not encroach on the profit honestly earned by the enterprise. According to many company executives, a good accountant saves up to 40% of the company's profits. Because he adheres to two rules of the famous billionaire Warren Buffett:

“Rule one: never lose money. Rule two: never forget the first rule.

The chief accountant has a phenomenal memory, speed reading, stress resistance and can always give an answer about the extra penny spent. An accountant who is interested and hungry for professional development and growth will find it quite easy to learn new knowledge and acquire new skills to become a financial director. The future findir will be able to abstract himself in order to painlessly change his own psychology and methods of conducting the financial affairs of the enterprise. But if necessary, he activates his professional qualities as a chief accountant.

What is the power of financial management?

The head of the financial service, in addition to virtuoso knowledge in the field of accounting, must also be a good manager. The financial director should not manage the process of preparing financial documents for external users, since this responsibility remains with the chief accountant. However, the head of the financial directorate must be able to manage subordinates and actively participate in the processes of financial and economic administration of the company, in particular in matters of budgeting.

A newly minted head of the financial department may declare that he does not manage the business processes of the enterprise, since this function lies with the line divisions of the company. This statement is worth taking into account, as it may indicate an erroneous appointment to the post. For the benefit of the company, specialists should not occupy positions that are not suitable for them in terms of their level of competence.

In any case, this employee is a valuable specialist who brings value by performing analytical functions, but he may not be able to cope with the work of a financial director. How can an employer objectively assess the level of influence of a findir on certain financial and economic processes and indicators? These opportunities are few, but they exist.

Check to what extent the competence of the financial director meets the requirements of the company? Offer to get tested.

What controls the findir?

Almost all stages of budgeting are in the area of responsibility of the financial director:

collection and analysis of information;
coordination and approval of both operating and general budgets;
validity of the contents of budgets;
compliance of indicators with the system of restrictions, etc.

One of the main functions of the financial director is to control the execution. What does this function imply? This means that all payment requests, approval agreements and other internal documentation must be scrupulously reviewed for compliance with approved plans and budgets.

The stage of control and analysis implies the search for and identification of the causes of significant plan-factual deviations. But the most important thing is the generation of solutions to improve this situation.

The regulation stage is usually considered to be a generalization of the experience gained and the expression of projects to improve the current budgeting concept.

Other key responsibilities of the CFO include:

corporate strategy and planning aimed at maximizing the value of the company;
financial management (cash flows, receivables and payables, ensuring the fulfillment of all obligations, safety of assets, etc.);
tax planning.

In general, the goal of the work of the financial director is a qualitative result at any stage of the financial and economic functioning of the enterprise to ensure prosperity and long-term activity.

The chief accountant is responsible only for the digital reflection of the life of the company. Management of people falls on the shoulders of the findir.

Summary

The natural desire of many chief accountants is to take the post of financial director. However, there are many differences between these two professions, and most of them do not directly relate to the features of the professions themselves. Approach to work, thinking of a specialist and ways out of difficult situations- main differences.

Findir is a key person in the life of every company. The chief representative of the financial directorate must be a master of accounting and tax knowledge, as well as be a structural, functional and project manager. Therefore, if you currently hold the position of chief accountant and want to grow to the head of the financial department, start with yourself. Delve into all the financial affairs of the enterprise, try to solve several at the same time challenging tasks. Show management your desire for professional growth, not for the sake of a high position, but for the sake of the prosperity of the company. Learn to think creatively, to solve difficult issues outside the box, using an approach from different angles.

You also need to be a leader and lead a team of specialists. In addition to being an accountant, you should be a coach, mentor and manager. Since you are responsible for managing not only numbers, but also people.

Many companies have positions of financial director and chief accountant. What is the reason for the need to form appropriate positions in the company's management structure?

Facts about the CFO position

The financial director, as a rule, is a member of the company's top managers. Reports directly to the head of the firm. May be a member of the board of directors of the organization. Its main features include:

development of a management strategy cash flows companies;
financial planning;
building the financial policy of the company;
ensuring the stability of the company in terms of capitalization;
participation in the preparation of reports, control over the relevant procedure.

The position in question may also sound like:

vice president of finance;
deputy CEO on finance.

The competence of the person holding the position, about which in question, there is usually an analysis of the situation not only within the firm, but also in those socio-economic and political environments that surround it.

Facts about the position of chief accountant

The chief accountant is the head of the accounting department itself, that is, the structure of the company responsible for working with various business transactions. Reports, as a rule, to the head of the company. Its functions include:

control over accounting policy companies;
bookkeeping;
reporting;
ensuring compliance of business operations with legal requirements;
accounting of property, liabilities of the company, movement of assets;
control over the payment of salaries to employees;
ensuring timely transfer by the company of taxes, fees, contributions to the state;
work with debts;
participation in internal control;
ensuring the safety of documents.

The competence of the chief accountant is the issuance of orders relating to the documentation of business transactions. Providing the chief accountant with relevant sources may be part of the job responsibilities of certain employees of the company.

The chief accountant signs many accounting, banking and cash documents - along with the head of the company. Without his signature, the relevant sources may be invalidated.

Comparison

What is the key difference between a financial director and a chief accountant? It lies, first of all, in the difference in competencies associated with the right to dispose of funds.

The financial director has the right to direct the capital belonging to the company for one purpose or another, while the chief accountant in most cases does not accept similar decisions. However, he ensures their correct implementation, compliance with the law, and reports on them so that the available figures can be used already by the financial director in order to optimize the investment strategy.

Above, we noted that the financial director, due to the characteristics of his official functions there may be a need to study not only internal corporate business processes, but also external factors affecting the financial stability of the company. In turn, the competence of the chief accountant usually does not include such activities.

Thus, the financial director is responsible for the compliance of the business with market realities, for the efficiency of the allocation of capital, for increasing the profitability of the company. The tasks of the chief accountant are to ensure the legitimacy of financial transactions carried out by the company by preparing supporting documents, as well as forming the necessary basis for financial analysis conducted within the organization.

The work of a financial director is mainly related to interaction with business entities - company executives, representatives of partner organizations, investors, banks, etc. The chief accountant, in turn, is not very actively involved in such communications. However, he regularly interacts with government bodies- in the process of transferring reports there or during inspections. The financial director is not always connected to this direction.

The activities of the company's employees in both positions under consideration involve the mutual complementation of the relevant activities. The functions of the financial director and the chief accountant, as a rule, are effectively separated and do not form contradictions in the course of intra-corporate interaction of these subjects. At the same time, in the company's management structure, the financial director and the chief accountant are basically on the same level. They do not report to each other - with the exception of those cases when the chief accountant may need certain documents and he requests them from the financial director, who, by virtue of official duties you will need to provide the necessary sources.

table

So, we found out what is the difference between a financial director and a chief accountant. Let's display the criteria we have identified in the table.

CFO	Chief Accountant
Can make spending decisions Money	As a rule, does not make decisions on spending funds, but ensures the correctness of the corresponding operations, reporting on them
Explores external factors that affect business success	Deals mainly internal affairs companies in terms of finance
Responsible for developing solutions aimed at increasing the profitability of the company, improving the efficiency of the business model	Responsible for compliance with the law of activities to ensure the growth of the company's profitability and improve the efficiency of the business model
He mainly communicates with people related to business - managers, partners, investors, interacts to a limited extent with government agencies	Not too actively involved in negotiations on business issues, often interacts with government agencies - the Federal Tax Service, funds

Details

There is a big difference between an economist and an accountant. But still, the profession of an economist and an accountant is often confused, because they, associated with the financial calculations of the specialty, stand side by side. What is the difference between an economist and an accountant and how strong is this difference? Let's figure it out.

Despite the fact that there is a significant difference between an economist and an accountant, these professions are similar in that they are applicable in those areas where special calculations need to be made. But what distinguishes an economist from an accountant is everything else. And this despite the fact that the profile in both cases is economic.

What is the difference between an economist and an accountant?

An accountant differs from an economist in the performance of official duties. The most important responsibility of an accountant is to maintain accounting records in an enterprise. The responsibilities of an accountant also include:

Carrying out the movement financial capital enterprises;
accrual wages workers;
Preparation of necessary financial documents, contracts;
Conducting inventory and timely reporting.

The accountant must pay taxes in a timely manner, make transfers to repay the company's loans, which affects the financial strength of the enterprise.

An economist differs from an accountant in that his component issues are planning and managing all the activities of an enterprise. The responsibilities of an economist are:

Drawing up plans to improve the efficiency of the enterprise;
Drawing up plans and distribution of the budget of the organization and monitoring its implementation.

So, to the question: what is the difference between an economist and an accountant? the following answer can be given.

The accountant, relying on legislative acts, takes care of the financial condition of the enterprise. The economist is not so attached to the laws because he plans activities.
An accountant is a person who specializes in accounting. Large enterprises require specialists with higher education, as the range of activities of an accountant is expanding.
An economist is also a specialist with education, but there are two varieties of this profession - theoretical and practical.
For losses caused to the company, the accountant may bear both administrative and criminal liability.
An economist, relying on calculations made personally, as a result of which the process turned out to be inefficient, may incur a penalty.

Economist and accountant:point difference

The difference between an economist and an accountant lies in the following points:

activity problem. An accountant is a representative of a particular profession, an economist can have a variety of activities.
Competence problem. The main professional duties of an accountant are accounting of the company's finances. It is up to the economist to create a plan for the functioning of the organization.
Employment problem. The need for economists is determined by the company itself, including a representative of this industry in its staff. An accountant can work in any institution where there is a need for financial transactions, as well as be invited to perform certain processes.
The problem of responsibility. An accountant is a more serious profession, as it is associated with the financial capabilities of an enterprise. For financial violations, the accountant may be held liable. For violations or incorrect calculations, the economist will confine himself to a penalty.

There is also a difference between an economist and an accountant in terms of duties.

The accountant manages the accounting of documents. The economist analyzes the activities of the enterprise, looking for ways to improve the efficiency of work. But the beginning of the work of an economist is associated with the activities of an accountant: an economist needs initial figures for calculations.
In his work, the accountant is shackled by standard accounting provisions, while the economist has access to creativity.
The accountant works with real finances, counts each ruble, looks for a penny so that the reporting figures agree. The economist is engaged in forecasts and assumptions.
There are accountants wherever there is finance. What distinguishes an economist from an accountant is that economic departments exist mainly on large enterprises.
The accountant controls the financial expenses of the organization, draws up reports on demand, fixes the company's cash flow. The economist presents his tasks on a grand scale: he develops economic strategies, develops financial plans.

This is not all that distinguishes an economist from an accountant, but one thing is obvious - the differences are significant and the activities of each specialist are aimed at solving their own problems.

I have the following situation: 1. I am the chief accountant Management company(subordinate to 22 organizations - Construction).2. I submit to the financial director - directly.3. There are only two signatures on the bank card (1st General Director, 2nd Mine)4. Payments are sent by an employee who does not report to me, but at the same time uses my electronic signature.5. I coordinate all payments, but there are times when payment occurs first, and then I find out and have to agree. When I was on vacation, my electronic signature was used. This is the first time in my life I will face such a situation.6. In fact, my electronic signature is used by Fin. director.7. And I also sign all financial and tax reporting (by proxy from the General Director).8. In fact, I am exposed to serious risks (responsibility). Employees directly reporting to the General Director do not perceive my requirements. They say that you have a leader, contact him, and we will decide everything with him. The financial director does not know the requirements of accounting and tax legislation. It is written in my duties that I do not have the right to demand anything from the employees of the organization. I can only ask. Fin Dir does not delve into accounting and tax accounting. Very often I have to resolve the problems of concluded contracts that I did not agree on (information hunger). With all this, the General Director appreciates me very much and very often sets tasks directly for me. Please to assist in the selection of legal documents for the validity of the withdrawal from the subordination of the financial director to the subordination of the general director. Thank you.

If there are several general directors, the organization needs to independently determine on which issues which of the leaders the chief accountant should report. . In practice, two variants of the structure are common, within each of which potentially conflict situations may arise:

In this case, the chief accountant reports to the financial director.

The chief accountant in this case reports directly to the general director.

For more details on the relationship of the parties, see below in Article No. 2.

It should also be borne in mind that when using electronic signatures, participants in electronic interaction are obliged to ensure the confidentiality of electronic signature keys, in particular, not to allow the use of their electronic signature keys without their consent (in other words, just as in the case of a simple signature, to prevent key in the wrong hands).

You can't formally use someone else's electronic signature.

Rationale
(Colour highlights information that will help you make the right decision)

What will change in your work in connection with large-scale amendments to the Civil Code

Two CEOs in one company

Benefits of Dual Power: one director can sign financial documents without a power of attorney when the other is absent.

Important detail

From September 1, any company can have two general directors, three, etc. (clause 3 of article 65.3 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). They can act jointly or independently of each other. At the same time, the charter should clearly state how many directors there are in the organization and what competence each of them has.

On the one hand, it's convenient. After all, when one director is on vacation, another can sign an urgent document without a power of attorney. In addition, in large companies, in which, for example, there are several projects, each of them can be supervised by its own director.

On the other hand, this is the risk of abuse, when, for example, in the absence of one director, another will conclude some deal in his favor. In addition, the presence of dual power can confuse workers whose orders they carry out. Take, for example, the chief accountant. With many general directors, there can still be only one chief accountant in the company. It turns out that the company needs to determine on what issues which of the leaders it should report to.

CFO and chief accountant: how to resolve conflicts

IGOR BASOV, Managing Partner of Financial Standard

Usually, in practice, both the financial director and the chief accountant have a great influence on the business processes of their company, so their interaction with each other is quite often associated with certain difficulties. However, if two specialists manage to successfully bypass sharp corners, then from this undeniable advantages received by the company as a whole. Let us consider in detail what are the most frequent problems in the relationship of these key figures and how you can really minimize the causes of their occurrence.

How the structure of the financial service affects relationships

Not only the microclimate in the department, but also the successful functioning of the organization itself often depends on the place of the financial director and chief accountant in the hierarchical structure of the company. But if the financial director always heads the financial service, then the role of the chief accountant may vary in different companies. In practice, two variants of the structure are common, within each of which potentially conflict situations may arise.

Option 1. Accounting is part of the financial service. In this case, the chief accountant reports to the financial director, and the level of tension in the relationship between them is usually quite high. I will highlight two key sharp points within this structure from the point of view of the chief accountant:

he is forced to coordinate with the financial director all his fundamental initiatives regarding the main job responsibilities;
he actually has dual subordination and is forced to maneuver between the general and financial directors.

From the position of the financial director, a situation can become a ground for conflict when, bypassing him, senior management will bring new information and give instructions directly to the chief accountant (see also table). In the eyes of the CEO, both specialists represent the financial service, so any financial questions can be addressed to each of them. And since he sometimes has to communicate with the chief accountant more often (when preparing tax reports, agreeing contracts, confirming current payments, etc.), he accepts more orders and new inputs. Such a position cannot suit the financial director: having less necessary information, he becomes a less valuable employee for the company, and the significance of his decisions decreases. He is forced to request data from the chief accountant, thereby receiving it in a distorted form and placing himself in a dependent position. A situation is possible when the presence of the financial director is no longer necessary: he can be fired, and the chief accountant will take over his functions. To avoid this, it is important to accurately describe the duties of the chief accountant and clearly delineate areas of responsibility with him, as well as convey this to the general director.

TABLE. Potentially conflicting issues between the financial director and the chief accountant

Potentially conflicting issues	CFO position	Position of chief accountant
Adoption management decisions within the unit	In the last resort, it solves all personnel and organizational issues in an independent and functional block of accounting	There is not enough authority to fire a subordinate, send him on vacation, allocate a bonus as part of the motivational plan of the financial service, etc.
Adoption normative documents accounting nature (regulations on document flow, accounting policies, regulations on business trips and accountable documents, etc.)	Acting as the final authority, the financial director can make changes that are inconvenient for the chief accountant, exclude certain provisions, suspend the approval of the document
Submission of accounting and tax reporting	Formally not involved in this process	The reporting is completely formed in the accounting department, signed by the chief accountant and submitted for approval to the general director
Accounting for current payments based on primary documents	When the function of payments is assigned to the treasury, subordinate to the financial director, and the accounting department checks the primary documents that serve as the basis for the payment, there may be a misunderstanding regarding the completeness of the submitted documents, as well as the urgency of the payment
Submission of primary accounting documents for previously made advance payments	Manages receivables, so timely reflection of advances in costs is also important	It is critically important to have all primary documentation in a timely manner before reporting to regulatory authorities
Carrying out advance reports and accountable amounts	Takes into account the essence of the expenses incurred, the procedure for their registration is secondary	There may be questions about the preparation of primary documentation

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Gayane Asatryan, financial director CSI Vostok

Accounting should be part of the financial service. In my opinion, in this case, conflict situations should be less. Conflicts can arise when the financial director interferes excessively in the work of the chief accountant. It is necessary to set a general vector for the development of accounting and leave the solution of operational issues at the level of the chief accountant.

Option 2. Accounting is separated into a separate department. The chief accountant in this case reports directly to the general director. The financial service retains the functions of planning and financial analysis. Financial responsibility in the company is distributed and eroded. Sometimes it is difficult to determine in whose area of responsibility the solution of a particular problem falls. This is especially true for issues of management accounting, automation of the financial function, the formation of a long-term accounting policy and budgeting policy. In matters requiring the mutual participation of financiers and accounting departments, there may be a conflict of interest and a misunderstanding of the importance of processes. The head of the company assumes most of the control and interaction between the financial departments and is forced to independently decide which of the specialists to give the appropriate financial order. Of course, the authority and weight of the financial director in such a structure is reduced.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Gayane Asatryan, financial director CSI Vostok

With the direct subordination of the chief accountant to the general director, there is no proper control of the work of the accounting department, since no one understands anything in her work. The CFO is exactly the person who can provide this control. I will give an example from practice. The chief accountant did not use income tax benefits and did not apply multiplying factors to the depreciation rate, so as not to have differences between accounting and tax accounting and not to consider deferred taxes. Another example: the chief accountant preferred the advance scheme for calculating income tax, since in this case tax reporting had to be submitted to the tax office once a quarter, and not every month. This led to significant overpayments of tax to the budget.

I also note this important point: The CFO does not bear any legal responsibility for decisions made, although often according to his position in the company he is higher than the chief accountant. But the chief accountant is legally responsible for the correctness of accounting and the timely submission of accounting and tax reporting. At the same time, his powers are often limited only to tax and accounting, and responsibility for the formation of management reporting and IFRS lies with the financial director. But even in this case, it is the chief accountant who controls the correctness of accounting for primary documentation in accounting systems. It also determines the accounting policy, reporting forms, necessary analytics and principles for entering primary documentation. Although the legislation accounting is gradually brought into line with IFRS and, as a result, all large quantity evaluative and predictive judgments, which makes the chief accountant gradually move away from an exclusively accounting and reporting function towards forecasting indicators. And this has traditionally been the function of the financial director. Now, this functionality increases the value of the chief accountant in the eyes of the top management of the company, since now, based on accurate accounting information, he will be able to generate more accurate forecasts and budgets. This cannot but introduce disagreements into their relationship.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

The author proceeds from the fact that the relationship between the financial director and the chief accountant is always based on competition, which gives rise to conflict. However, often the chief accountant is satisfied with his specialization and he does not rush into the territory of the financial director. If both specialists understand the limits of their powers, they will interact constructively. The chief accountant, even if he is subordinate to the financial director, must be left with a certain autonomy, create comfort for him to work, because he is also a leader and bears great responsibility.

Conclusions. In my experience, the most effective model is one in which the accounting department is included in the financial service, but the chief accountant is included in the structure of the board of directors in parallel with the financial director, has the right of independent opinion and vote on this board on an equal footing. In this case, subordination will be observed in solving working moments. The Financial Director will speak single leader, will bear full authority and responsibility within the financial service. At the same time, the chief accountant will not lose the opportunity to express his own dissenting opinion on critical issues within the board of directors. He will act as the main accounting ideologist in the company, thinking much broader than fiscal legislative restrictions and guided in his decisions not only by letters from the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service, but primarily by the interests of the company itself. To minimize conflict situations, it is necessary to clearly describe the responsibilities and delimitation of powers between the financial director and the chief accountant. This decision is becoming more and more relevant as the accounting legislation develops towards convergence with IFRS and, as a result, the expansion of the functionality of the chief accountant. In a situation where he has to give estimates and forecasts more and more often, his role is seriously increasing. This is especially noticeable in large companies that prepare reports in accordance with international standards.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Gayane Asatryan, financial director CSI Vostok

I consider it superfluous to include the chief accountant on the board of directors: the presence of two department representatives on the board looks strange, especially when its representatives express diametrically opposed views on the same issue. In companies where this is practiced, there is likely to be some degree of distrust of the CFO on the part of the CEO and shareholders. It is necessary to motivate and express respect for the work of the chief accountant in other ways.

Oleg Khoroshiy, Head of the Department for Taxation of Profits of Organizations of the Department of Tax and Customs Tariff Policy of the Ministry of Finance of Russia

To whom can an electronic signature key be issued?

An electronic signature key can be issued to an entrepreneur or a specific employee who has the right to sign paper documents on behalf of the organization (paragraph 4 of clause 3.3. for the right to sign reports electronically.