Working as a part-time accountant involves performing the same fundamental tasks as a full-time accountant, except that this individual typically works only 20 to 25 hours per week. Being successful in this career usually requires a person with excellent mathematical skills, computer knowledge and an eye for detail. In most cases, it takes at least a bachelor's degree in accounting or financial management to obtain a position. Some primary responsibilities of a part-time accountant include maintaining records of financial transactions, investigating discrepancies, sending customer invoices, creating reports and communicating with auditors.
One of the most important duties of a part-time accountant is maintaining records of all financial transactions. This includes recording all expenses that a company has and all of its earnings. Being accurate is extremely important for this job, so an individual should be highly organized and able to spot discrepancies or errors. Since this information is usually entered into a computer program, a part-time accountant must have reasonable computer skills and be knowledgeable about the specific programs his company uses. He must also be sure to maintain confidentiality and not disclose financial information with unauthorized individuals.
Whenever discrepancies are found on financial transactions, it's up to a part-time accountant to investigate them. This usually involves looking into relevant accounts and performing calculations until he finds where errors have been made. After pinpointing these errors, he will typically report the information to a supervisor or a company's primary accountant.
Another large part of this job involves sending out customer invoices. After a customer has purchased either goods or services from a company, it's usually the responsibility of a part-time accountant to send out an accurate bill. In some cases, this may be done by sending out a paper bill through the mail. Other times, this may be done electronically via online payment. Along with this, a part-time accountant must keep records of all invoices that are sent.
Besides this, it is also necessary to create reports in this position. In most cases, a company will want to keep track of expenses and earnings to determine how well or poorly it's performing. To achieve this, a part-time accountant will print out charts that make it easy to determine a company's positioning and financial situation.
Additionally, an individual will communicate with auditors once a year. For most companies, an auditor will come by once a year to examine financial records for accuracy. It's the job of a part-time accountant to assist an auditor with locating the necessary information and answering any questions that arise.