Senior Accountant Jobs in the Middle East

Senior Accountant Job Description – Summary

Typical Roles & Responsibilities

Accounting is involved in all aspects finance, which in turn is fundamental to any business’s success.

A Senior Accountant will normally be employed either by a firm of accountants, or directly by a business in the public, private or not-for-profit sector.

In a professional practice firm, a Senior Accountant will often run a team which is responsible for auditing the books of client companies, or for offering accountancy services to the client. Alternatively they may provide specialist advice to clients, which may range from wealthy individuals to companies of all sizes and public sector bodies. This advice may be on topics such as tax, international business, corporate finance (such as restructures, flotations, mergers and acquisitions), forensic accounting (to uncover fraud or illegality), or insolvency and “turn-arounds” (business recovery).

A Senior Accountant employed directly by a company, government body or charity will be responsible for directing a team which manages the day-to-day financial records of the business, produces management information from that data for the use of the executives, and generates the regulatory and statutory financial reports for the organisation.

The Senior Accountant will typically be personally responsible for:

    • Ensuring that accepted accounting principles, standards and procedures are adopted in recording and reporting the financial activity of the business
    • Preparing and delivering accurate and timely management information reports to assist the executives to run the business
    • Analysing financial data to provide an intelligent interpretation of the information for management
    • Managing a team of Accountants, including setting objectives, monitoring performance, and carrying out personal appraisal interviews.
    • Taking responsibility for coaching and mentoring more junior staff and assisting them in their career development
    • Establishing and monitoring appropriate accounting control systems, to guard against error, or the opportunity for fraud
    • Meeting all financial reporting deadlines
    • Being involved in the creation and monitoring of financial budgets and forecasts
    • Overseeing the payment of taxes
    • Working with the firm of external auditors and responding to recommendations made by them or dealing with any irregularities uncovered.
    • Providing expert financial advice to the senior executives to help them make good decisions about the future of the business.

Typical Lines of Reporting for Senior Accountants

A Senior Accountant in a practice will probably have a number of junior Accountants reporting to him or her, and report in turn to a Partner of the practice.

In industry and commerce, the Senior Accountant may also manage a small team of Accountants, and is likely to report to the Chief Financial Officer, or Finance Director.

Typical Qualifications for a Senior Accountant

A Senior Accountant will be expected to hold a degree (in accountancy, business or finance) and have an in-depth knowledge of accounting principles and practices, the law as it relates to accounting, and the use of computers in financial record keeping and analysis.

He or she will probably be a Chartered Accountant, holding a qualification from one of the main accounting bodies (ACCA, CIMA, ACA, or for public sector work CIPFA).

Career Progression for a Senior Accountant

The logical career progression for a Senior Accountant is to Finance Director of a company, or to become a Partner in an accounting practice.