No longer an accountant, but a strategist. The future of finance professions. The Ministry of Finance announced the lack of demand for the accountant profession in the future

What will the accounting of the future be like? I see her quite clearly. But before I present my visions, let's agree on the necessary conventions:

• firstly, it assumes exclusively non-cash money circulation. Does anyone have any doubts that cashless transactions will sooner or later replace cash?
• secondly, the widespread use of computer technology is assumed,
• thirdly, I omit the complexities of implementation and use, including technical, geographical and political, and consider only the methodological consequences of computer accounting.

What will she be like? What does the future hold for accountants?

Registration of transactions

Need I say that accounting will become completely computer-based?! Completely means in this case completely, and not a quarter or half, as now.

Fully computerized accounting is accounting:

• First of all, without paper documentation. Because – what kind of paper documentation does computer accounting require?! It's funny to even talk about it. Only electronic documents - in the form of records in databases - and no paper;
• accounting, in which a transaction is considered completed at the moment of its electronic registration.

Let us dwell on the second in more detail: the point is unusual, but extremely important for understanding the future accounting methodology.

If we abandon paper documentation, how should transactions be recorded? Using electronic documents, of course, which actually means: records in registration databases. In paper-based records management, a document is first drawn up indicating the transaction has been completed, then the document is registered in the database. With electronic records management, there is no paper document: the very fact of registration in the database - certified, of course, by the appropriate digital signatures - is evidence of the transaction. Now, if we want to receive a paper document in our hands, we can print it out, but the confirmation of the transaction will not be paper, as before, but the corresponding entry in the database. The difference is obvious and huge.

Just don’t say that a transaction cannot always be registered electronically: we agreed in advance about the abundance of technology, by which we mean:

• computers,
• where the use of computers is impractical, special terminals are used.

Firm employees make transactions using computers.

What is a deal? A transaction, if we ignore the legal side of the issue, is a certain economic action carried out by mutual agreement of the parties. Automated registration of a transaction requires identification of the parties and confirmation of their mutual consent. Another standard contract, of course, without it no automation is possible: it’s impossible to imagine an automatic machine with an unlimited set of functions?! This means that freedom of entrepreneurial activity will have to be forgotten: the list of possible business transactions will be as wide as possible, but limited.

There are many employees at the enterprise, each with their own rights and responsibilities. Obviously, within the framework of general office work, it will be necessary to establish the rights and obligations of each of the employees: in the aspects that interest us, this is just the opportunity to dispose of certain material assets. Thus, in addition to identification, when making a transaction, the rights of the enterprise employee to perform a particular business operation must be confirmed. This is not news for IT specialists, of course.

This concerns the functioning of enterprises. And ordinary citizens will be able, in addition to computers, to use terminals to make transactions. You enter the store, select purchases, after which the terminal identifies you, identifies the purchases and debits the appropriate amount from your account. Nothing beyond the capabilities of modern electronic technology - I'm afraid it's even too banal.

Collation

To complete a transaction, you must express your will, but there is no need to register anything, since only the act of registration - and not anything else, in particular not a paper document - indicates that the transaction has been completed.

Once again: the parties express their will, and the transaction is completed by registering a standard business transaction in the database. You don’t need to think about any kind of accounting entries any more than when using a modern ATM: the data structure and types of records are embedded in the computer program in which registration takes place, and users (not only individuals, but also enterprises) do not need to become familiar with the software delivered once and for all.

What does this lead to? There are two obvious consequences:

• first, since we agreed to ignore geographical and political factors, the software should be standard,
• second, for the same reasons, the database must be unified. Shouldn’t we maintain databases separately for each enterprise, really?!

Under these conditions, amazing collation possibilities emerge. This term, rarely used in accounting, refers to the simultaneous and consistent recording of a transaction by all parties involved. Currently, collation in accounting is not observed due to incompatible software and alternative accounting methods practiced by various individuals. It is not observed for nothing, but with significance: discrepancies in data in the accounting systems of the parties often cover up unseemly financial fraud. Everyone knows what fictitious companies – existing only in the imagination – are and what they are used for. So, the automatic registration of transactions inherent in computer accounting makes it possible to achieve one hundred percent collection, and this promises accounting departments unprecedented control functions, in relation to material assets in particular.

Imagine that a company has received contraband goods and wants to sell it. But as? To receive money for a product, you must officially own the product (provided that the buyer wants to receive the product legally): the accounting system will not be able to register the sale of a product that, according to official data, is not available. But it will not be possible to issue a fictitious invoice, supposedly the goods were received from a company that in reality does not exist, if the principle of collation is observed. You can register a company specifically for this purpose, but where will the fictitious company get its goods? Obviously, it can only be obtained from the seller who actually possesses this product: he produced it himself or purchased it from a real seller. Ultimately, everything comes down to the manufacturer of the goods, with whom it will not be possible to agree on a non-existent purchase of goods, which are actually smuggled, for the reason that the manufacturer purchases a certain number of materials from which he produces the goods: the manufacturer, even if he wants, cannot sell more goods, what materials you purchased - the accounting system will not allow it. In this sense, only extractive enterprises have some possibilities of manipulation, which, without purchasing extracted resources from anyone, can “extract” any amount of them “from nature.” But this is unlikely to help our original enterprise, the seller of smuggled goods: a transaction for the sale of smuggled goods will not be able to be registered, just as it will not be possible to register a transaction for its purchase. Collation - and, more broadly, universal and unified computer accounting - destroys smuggling in the bud.

Yes, I know that you can transfer smuggled goods from hand to hand, and receive money, let’s say, for consulting or intermediary services. To stop this possibility, it is necessary to improve civil legislation, which allows you to pay any amount for literally nothing, without any “material” justification. However, I remind you: the conditions of the problem assumed that the buyer of the goods wants to receive a legal product, with an accompanying registration record, and not just a material shell.

The control capabilities of collation are far from exhausted by this: with proper accounting setup, unsecured transactions are simply not registered!

By unsecured I mean obligations that are not based on anything. For example, you promise to give a million rubles in a week, but you don’t have any money and don’t expect it in the near future. How to check that there is no money at the moment, it is clear - by the balance in the bank account - but how to check that the money is not expected in the near future? For other obligations. What does "expected within a week" mean? Only that you are a creditor of a person or business who has committed to transfer you a certain amount by the end of the week. If the named amount is a million rubles, that is, by the end of the week a million rubles must be transferred to you, then after a week - but not earlier - you have the right to promise this million to someone, otherwise the transaction will not be registered. Transactions involving the occurrence of obligations are registered depending on whether the debtor will have the required amount at the time of the expected payment.

I understand that for IT specialists my reasoning sounds alien and unconvincing, but I assure you that we are talking - neither more nor less - about automatic bankruptcy prevention. No one will be able to undertake an obligation if, at the expected moment of fulfillment of the obligation, he does not have (should not have) the required amount or necessary things. However, the system cannot provide for emergencies and natural disasters that lead to the loss of valuables. The company had something material and owed it, but due to the earthquake the valuables were destroyed, as a result of which the debt was not repaid. But malicious obligations - the possibility of promising something obviously impossible - will be completely excluded.

Consequences

The consequences of true computerization of accounting are easy to calculate. The main one is that the need for accountants in their current understanding will disappear due to the disappearance of the following accounting functions:

• write out paper documents and register documents in computer databases. This has been said;
• prepare accounting reports. What other reports are there when records are kept in a single database?! Go to the database and, if you have the appropriate rights, generate a request. Asking someone to create an accounting report is as illogical as hiring a special person to Google. Even if someone came up with such an idea, drawing up an accounting report will take exactly one second, required to press a button - the entries in the database are standard, and accordingly the algorithm for drawing up an accounting report is also standard;
• understand accounting regulations. Actually, there will be no standard left: who needs it with universal computer accounting - the few developers of standard accounting software and specialists in setting up terminals?

That's right: computer accounting denies accountants, just as automatic turnstiles deny ticket takers. In a fully computerized society, there will be no accountants, as well as auditors and tax specialists associated with their existence. Due to the extinction of accountants, auditors will have no one to audit; representatives of tax services will also find themselves out of work due to the fact that taxes will be calculated and collected automatically when conducting monetary transactions. Which, I note, is the only correct and possible solution when automatically entering registration records: the parties agree on a transaction, and accordingly they are collected in favor of the state - automatically, on the basis of algorithms built into the program! – taxes. It will be technically impossible for the taxpayer to make a mistake in calculating the tax or maliciously fail to transfer what is due.

This is what the accounting department of the future will be like – deserted and safe.

If modern accounting is not yet like this, it is not because of the lack of technical capabilities - not because of this anymore! - but because of the presence of a huge number of people who are vitally interested in using outdated methods, and more specifically, in their personal participation in it. Accountants, auditors, tax specialists - all of them will be left without work after the implementation of real computer accounting.

Essay on the topic: “My future profession is an accountant”

Every person wants to be happy. One of the components of happiness is work. And if a person receives a decent reward for the work he loves, then this is already a great happiness! This, of course, is a joke, but choosing a future profession is a very serious and responsible matter.

Each of us has to make a choice, and we don’t always clearly know what we want to become in the future. There are so many interesting and necessary professions. How to make a choice so that you don’t regret it later and have a profession that would provide job security and a stable source of income for the family.

“If a family’s budget does not receive a steady flow of money every week, every month, and every year, then such a family will be fed up with life, even if it consists entirely of saints. "(P. Samuelson)

After consulting with my parents and friends, I decided that I wanted to make a practical choice. As a result, I chose for myself a practical, highly paid profession as an accountant.
. Today, “accountant” is one of the most common and sought-after specialties, both throughout the world and in Russia.

Not a single enterprise, firm, company can do without accounting, be it a kindergarten or a giant machine-building plant. This specialty is one of the most in demand. For a smart, meticulous and experienced accountant, the head of any company is ready to give, as they say, half a kingdom. An accountant performs work on various types of accounting (accounting for fixed assets, material assets, production costs; settlements with suppliers and customers, payroll, taxes, etc.). Receives and controls primary documentation for relevant types of accounting and prepares it for accounting processing. Accountants work in enterprises, organizations and institutions of various forms of ownership: state, joint-stock, cooperative, private, performing work on various types of accounting. Accountants record fixed assets, material assets, and production costs. To carry out the financial activities of the enterprise, they make settlements with suppliers and customers, payroll, taxes. Since all financial activities of the enterprise are recorded in documents, the accountant compiles, accepts from other organizations and controls primary documentation for various types of accounting and prepares it for accounting processing . Taking into account the financial activities of the enterprise, the accountant controls all its most important functions. The accountant conducts an economic analysis of production processes, as a result of which reserves are identified, losses and non-production expenses are eliminated.

Accountant is a profession that is always required. As long as the state exists, and with it the tax system and financial reporting, there will remain a demand for the accounting profession. Over the past 5 - 7 years, the demand for accounting workers has been quite stable. Its nature, volume, and requirements for specialists are changing, but the demand remains, which is natural
The priority of the accounting profession is now determined by the interests of the state and the needs of the owner, and the requirements for accountants and economists are constantly increasing. The development of the accounting profession is carried out by increasing the intellectual and educational level.

Issues of professionalism in any field of activity are issues of quality of work. In market conditions, professionalism at work is the main criterion that determines the usefulness of each employee and his value to the enterprise.
And how does the accounting profession differ from many other professions? And why did I choose her?
Everyone knows that the chief accountant at an enterprise is the second person after the manager in making all decisions relating to financial and economic activities, since it is he, along with the director, who puts his signature on almost all documents. And this is not only responsibility, but also authority.

Paid profession. We are talking not only about the amount of payment, but also about the order of payment. Even if the enterprise does not have enough money to pay salaries to all employees, the accounting department, as a rule, receives salaries first. “He who sits on money will not be left without money.” (Folk wisdom)

For myself, I decided to highlight the positive aspects that this specialty gives me:
Authority in the team and among colleagues.
Relatively high pay.
Opportunity to improve your skills and earn knowledge.
Also, an accountant can earn money, in addition to his main job, this makes it even more beautiful. The first thing that comes to mind is accounting for small companies. As a rule, such companies have few operations, and sometimes none at all. In this case, the accountant’s task comes down to keeping records, drawing up and submitting reports to the tax office, statistics, funds, etc. This can be done outside of working hours, and it is not necessary to deliver the reports in person. To do this, you can hire a courier, or agree with the management of the company whose records are kept by the accountant that the company will submit the reports independently. Recently, given the shortage of qualified accounting personnel, this is increasingly being agreed to, since it would be unreasonable to use a highly paid employee to stand in line to submit reports. That is, in this case, the role of the accountant is reduced solely to accounting and reporting (without submitting it to reporting users).

Accounting is a very modern occupation. And that’s why educated and successful people do it. They are erudite, have a wide range of knowledge: in law, economics, and working with computers. Accountants in successful companies must know foreign languages ​​too. Accountants are needed everywhere: in production, in institutions, in our state, in private companies. Such specialists will never be left without work.
I would also like to talk about who can become an accountant. People in this profession must, first of all, be patient, honest, accurate, emotionally and mentally stable, fair, purposeful, responsible and organized because untimely submission of a report or the loss of a document can be costly to the company. In addition, he must love numbers; he will have to deal with them every day, and a mistake can be fatal. High concentration, scrupulousness and perseverance are also required. It’s good to have a good memory and, most importantly, you need to be able to remain silent, since often an accountant has to keep trade secrets. An accountant must also have logical thinking and the ability to defend and argue his point of view. And the most important quality for any specialist is love for the chosen business!

I don't understand how anyone can consider work boring if it requires concentration and mental effort! Thinking is never boring. Accounting develops a person's mathematical abilities. Accountants can calculate large numbers quickly and accurately.
The profession of an accountant also accustoms a person to accuracy and perfect order. After all, such work requires great responsibility for material assets.
I would like to note that a modern accountant must be legally literate: know the laws, orders, regulations, and must timely monitor any changes in legislation. Today, all accounting is automated. Using the 1C program, specially created to help in such a difficult task as accounting and analysis of the economic activities of an enterprise, you can quickly obtain any report of interest for any specified period.

When selecting a specialist, the employer pays most attention to work experience, especially in a similar field. Theoretically, a graduate of a financial college or special courses can work as an accountant. However, those with higher education have a better chance.

An accountant must have knowledge in the following areas:
- Accounting
- tax accounting
- the financial analysis
- basics of auditing
- accounting legislation
- information about IFRS
- basic computer knowledge
- 1C
- Excel.
An accountant can work in any organization and hold positions:
- tax consultant;
- financial analyst;
- accountant of an investment company;
- accountant of the management company;
- investment consultant;
- financial controller;
- accountant.
With such a profession, a person will be able to make a good career - grow to the position of chief accountant or financial director of an organization. But only those who have composure and perseverance can count on advancement, because the profession is associated with numbers, calculations and analysis.
For an accountant at any level, there is always the prospect of growth. The presence of this stimulating factor, of course, has a beneficial effect on increasing the number of competent specialists.
Many accounting experts agree that their profession does not require any supernatural abilities. The main thing is that you like her. Accounting education is required in financial institutions, insurance companies, fiscal and government agencies, industrial enterprises, joint ventures and trading companies.

So, why did I choose to become an accountant?
I realized that being an accountant is my calling, which is inherent in me by nature. And accounting is a whole system that has been built for more than a hundred years, which has undergone many changes in its “lifetime” and has accumulated invaluable world experience. And to understand this system, you need to immerse yourself in accounting life, benefit people, share your knowledge and experience. Now I’m just studying, but I’m sure that I can get a job in a prestigious company with a good, stable salary. Now I am trying to study as much as possible the subjects necessary to obtain my profession. I believe that I made the right choice by choosing the accounting profession.

Judging by my texts on “Clerk,” you might think that I don’t like accountants, I think they are narrow-minded and lazy. In fact, it's quite the opposite: I consider accounting to be the most important office activity. It is the accounting system that supplies data for analysis to economists, financiers and other employees with beautiful titles on business cards.

It is difficult to imagine a more important and responsible job than that of an accountant - he forms the information basis for managing an organization. Without an accountant, the decision-making process is like searching for a long-lost black cat in a dark room. If he did his job poorly, then the decisions could be fatal for the organization.

Therefore, no matter what I write about the professional qualities of individual representatives of the profession, I am in love with the profession itself, and I am very upset when I hear from high stands.

The robot is cheaper, it doesn’t get sick, doesn’t make mistakes, and doesn’t leak information to competitors. However, there are reasons to doubt such forecasts. I regularly monitor the state of affairs in the industry. And I see no real reason for the sweet dreams of the guys from Skolkovo to become true for two reasons.

First reason- increasingly complex accounting standards, which are increasingly based on .

The second reason is that the current level of robotization of accounting is very far from the day of the rise of machines. The most technologically advanced development in the industry is recognizing the client’s scanned “primary” document and putting it into folders for further processing by an accountant. That is, the robot is an assistant to the least qualified accounting employee, whose functionality is easily algorithmized.

In addition to the above reasons not to believe in the total robotization of accounting, there is one more. Serious studies based on in-depth analysis of the labor market do not predict a decrease in the number of accountants in the foreseeable future. For example, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Statistics publishes the Occupational Outlook Manual every two years, which projects absolute and relative employment growth in 325 occupations in 25 economic sectors for the 10 years ahead. The latest such study was released last year. The accounting profession is projected to grow by 10%, one of the highest rates among finance and business professions. However, this forecast only applies to qualified accountants.

For ordinary accountants who perform routine operations (bookkeepers), the prospects are not so rosy. A decrease in their number is predicted - precisely due to the automation of lower-level accounting processes.

Despite all my skepticism regarding the total robotization of accounting, I still admit that someday neural networks will be able to replace a qualified chief accountant. This day is still far away, but an honest analysis of your work functionality regarding the relationship between routine operations and activities that require non-standard solutions will not be superfluous for any accountant.

1. Fighters against the system. Such chief accountants who have learned to more or less tolerably keep records and submit reports to the tax office, statistics, etc. But they are waging a constant and never-ending struggle with the enemy in the person of the regulatory authorities. These are people who have learned to turn on the X-ray machine, place their enterprise in front of it and take pictures - accounting registers and reporting. However, their pictures are not always of high quality, so they themselves cannot understand them and are constantly struggling with users who read them differently.

Such specialists usually confuse tax accounting with accounting, dealing in fact with the first, but projecting its rules onto the second. Because of this confusion, they have problems with both accounting and tax accounting.

These are the guys who recalculate the amounts for 1C in Excel, do not update the release so as not to remember the new location of the buttons, and believe that their main task is to submit all reports to all authorities on time. Such accountants mechanically follow the algorithms that are laid down in them by the Tax Code and their favorite accounting journal.

2. System elements. These chief accountants know how to keep records in such a way that the tax inspectorate, state statistics bodies, auditors and other inspectors have no complaints about the results of their work. But they are not full-fledged accountants - they simply record events that have occurred.

Often, such chief accountants, when maintaining records, use methods that do not allow the use of its data to manage the enterprise. This is not always due to low qualifications - sometimes they simply simplify their work. Depreciation is strictly linear - it’s easier to combine tax accounting with accounting. Reserves are not created because the chief accountant supposedly does not see any signs of asset depreciation, but he understands perfectly well that PBU 18/02 will have to be applied, and this is extra labor costs.

Multiple indirect cost distribution bases? Estimated and contingent liabilities? I am begging you! They have learned to take good X-rays - the rest is not their concern. Having such an accounting system, it is difficult to explain what illness happened to the enterprise, much less cure it. A hundred shots a day will not resolve appendicitis.

Due to increasingly complex accounting standards, such specialists will still have to work - they, unlike the chief accountants-fighters, are able to master the new rules and again reduce the amount of their work to a minimum. But their prospects are second roles in the accounting departments of private companies, or the public sector - they don’t bother much about the efficiency of accounting.

Analytical accounting is organized in all necessary sections; the capabilities of modern accounting are used to the maximum: both methodological and software. If the owner needs to know what type of product he makes money on and what type he loses on, he will receive such information promptly and in full. If you need to understand whether procurement is being carried out effectively or equipment is being used, he will know about this too.

Accounting thus turns from a system that observes events taking place into a system that manages these events.

Such chief accountants are already full-fledged doctors who can take clear photographs, read them and identify the diseases of the enterprise. They are not afraid of robotization. On the contrary, by delegating routine operations to a robot, the accountant will be able to devote more time to the accounting architecture.

Based on materials from my posts on vc.ru: and.

Introduction
Some people believe that accounting is a highly technical specialty that can only be used and understood by professional accountants. In fact, almost everyone uses accounting in one form or another on a daily basis. Accounting is the art of interpreting, evaluating and summarizing the results of business activities. Whether you're paying your phone bill, writing a check, filing an income tax return, or managing a multinational corporation, you apply accounting concepts and deal with accounting information.
Accounting is often called the language of business. Terms such as “asset”, “liability”, “net income”, “cash flow” and “stock return” are just a few examples of terms commonly used in the business world. Every investor, manager and analyst must have a clear understanding of accounting if he (or she) wants to work and communicate effectively in the business world.
The use of accounting information is not limited to the business world. Every individual is required to report their income and register payment of taxes. Often you simply need to provide this information to get a loan, credit card, or school scholarship. Governments, regions, cities and schools use accounting information as a basis for monitoring their own funds and their use. Accounting is also important for the successful functioning of the government, the implementation of social programs, and for the enterprise.
Relevance of the topic due to the fact that market relations determine the objective need to increase the role of accounting in enterprise management. To make operational and tactical decisions on enterprise management in a constantly changing market environment and developing competition among commodity producers, timely, reliable and analytical information is required.
In the new conditions, the enterprise has an increasing need to actively use accounting in order to control and improve its work.
The role of accounting, which existed in a planned economy, was determined by the social nature of property, the needs of centralized economic management and was reduced mainly to identifying deviations from the prescribed models of economic behavior of enterprises. The main users of accounting information were line ministries and departments, as well as other government bodies (statistical, planning, etc.).
Accounting occupies one of the main places in the management system. It reflects regional processes of production, distribution and consumption, characterizes the financial condition of the enterprise, and serves as the basis for planning its activities.
Accounting not only reflects economic activity, but also influences it.
Accounting is the most important means of systematic control over the safety of all farm assets, their correct use and the identification of additional reserves for reducing production costs.
Object of study– profession accountant.
Subject of study - the profession of accountant in modern society and its future.
Purpose This course work is a study of the accounting profession in modern society.
To achieve the goal set in the work, it is necessary to solve the following series tasks:

study the history of the emergence and development of the accounting profession;
consider the requirements for an accountant and the goals of participants in business processes;
study the levels of training of accounting personnel in the Russian Federation;
become familiar with the competencies and qualifications of accountants
study the problems of development of the accounting profession

History of the emergence and development of the accountant profession

1.1 Reasons for the emergence of the accounting profession

1.2 Requirements for an accountant and the goals of participants in business processes

Since the economy of our country is constantly, albeit slowly, developing and improving, thanks to the experience of European and American countries, the requirements for accounting and accountants are increasing every year. An accountant, being a worker of mental, intellectual work, requiring from him comprehensive knowledge in many areas (such as law, economics, production, etc.) must always follow the path of improving the level of his profession, raising it with education and advanced training. The success of the development of accounting in our country in the context of the revival of a market economy depends on several significant points, and one of them is the formation of a professional accounting elite.
Over the course of 70 years of existence in Russia as a planned and regulated economy, accounting developed in isolation and did not take into account international trends. Over the past 10 years, many business transactions have appeared, the reflection of which in financial statements, as well as the procedure for their conduct in accounting, were not provided for. All this required serious changes in the regulatory framework of accounting.
Currently, accounting reform in Russia is carried out on the basis of the Accounting Reform Program in accordance with international financial reporting standards, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 6, 1998 N 283.
The main goal of accounting reform is to bring the national accounting system into compliance with international financial reporting standards and the requirements of a market economy. In accordance with this goal, the main reform objectives have been identified:
- formation of a system of national accounting and reporting standards that ensure the usefulness of information for external users;
- ensuring that accounting reform in Russia is linked to the main trends;
- harmonization of standards at the international level;
- providing methodological assistance to organizations in understanding and implementing management accounting.
The regulatory and legal framework of accounting began to be rapidly restructured in accordance with accounting standards accepted in international practice. Accounting reform programs in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards are being developed by Russian accounting regulations (standards).
Russian accounting regulations (PBU) mainly take into account international trends and comply with international accounting principles.
Certification of professional accountants in Russia began in 1997 on the initiative of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation after the approval by the Interdepartmental Commission for Reforming Accounting and Financial Reporting (IMC) of the Regulations on the Certification of Professional Accountants and the Program for the Training and Certification of Professional Accountants.
Certification of professional accountants has the following goals:
- increase the level of knowledge of accountants;
- change the mentality of the accountant;
- determine the qualification requirements for the chief accountant and, by certifying him for compliance with these requirements, select those who are worthy, receive the title of professional accountant and become Full Members of the IPB of Russia.
The first goal - to increase the level of knowledge of an accountant - is based on the fact that during the transition of the Russian economy to market relations, the requirements for knowledge that economists, including chief accountants of organizations, must have have changed dramatically.
All this determined one of the goals of the accounting reform - to bring the level of knowledge of accountants into line with the requirements of modern economic relations of business entities."
The second goal is to change the accountant's mentality. The accounting mentality that developed during the Soviet period was formed over many years, and it is difficult to hope that the existing generation of accountants will be able to completely overcome its consequences.
In a planned-regulated economy, an accountant performed the functions of a state controller and was the state's plenipotentiary representative at the enterprise. He was obliged to monitor the correct and scrupulous implementation of all state requirements for maintaining accounting records in the organization. The main task of the chief accountant was to submit reports on state-approved forms to all predetermined authorities. Enterprise reporting was used mainly to manage the country's enterprises at the macro level. It went to ministries and departments to manage organizations at the sectoral level, and to the State Planning Committee, State Statistics Committee, Ministry of Finance, etc. for management at regional and state levels.
Accounting information for management purposes at the enterprise level, despite numerous attempts, has been underutilized. For these purposes, enterprises kept operational (operational and technical) records. There was a double standard: financial statements had to show the situation in the enterprise in the best (positive) light; operational accounting was supposed to provide information to all services of the enterprise for the current management of the enterprise. The bonuses paid by the head of the enterprise at the end of the reporting periods depended on how the plan performance indicators were shown in the reporting. The better an accountant could “do” reporting, the more valued he was. By the way, automated enterprise management systems (EMS), which were actively developed in the 70s, were poorly implemented, including due to discrepancies in accounting and operational-technical information. The unified primary documentation used in automated control systems for various functional subsystems, including the “Accounting” subsystems, did not allow embellishing the enterprise’s reporting 2 .
The position of the chief accountant in the organization was ambiguous. He had double subordination. On the one hand, he was a state controller in the organization, on the other, he was subordinate to the director. The director of the organization could appoint and remove the chief accountant only in agreement with a higher authority (ministry or department). All financial documents, contracts, etc. were valid only if signed by the director and chief accountant of the organization. There was a whole procedure for approving documents when there were differences in the views of the director and the chief accountant.
At the same time, the chief accountant was a member of the team, and not only the material well-being of the enterprise management and the entire team, but also his personal well-being depended on his decision. If the reporting indicators were good, the chief accountant, like the entire management, received bonuses. The chief accountant in the organization enjoyed all the benefits that could be received (provision of apartments, dachas, land plots, vouchers, etc.).
Thus, the chief accountant of the organization found himself, figuratively speaking, between a rock and a hard place. This determined the birth of the new Soviet-style accountant. Hence the lack of initiative and thoughtless execution of orders (instructions, directions, etc.) coming from higher authorities.
One of the main tasks of the chief accountant and his staff - ensuring the safety of property - was constantly monitored by the control and audit apparatus of the line ministry or the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. The same apparatus controlled the unconditional execution of instructions and instructions from higher authorities. Any deviations from them, even rationalization ones, were not welcomed. Most accountants of organizations had no idea for what purposes reporting indicators were formed and how they were used.
At the same time, the life of the organization and the management often required the chief accountant to perform operations not provided for in the instructions or contrary to existing instructions. Refusal to comply with them placed the accountant outside the team and caused many conflict situations.
Many chief accountants tried to solve the problems of the enterprise contrary to the instructions of higher authorities. Often, chief accountants knowingly or unknowingly covered up the theft of social property. In the 40s and 50s of the last century, chief accountants of enterprises were held accountable in 50% of criminal cases. Such hopelessness and the inability to prevent the negative consequences of decision-making forced many highly qualified chief accountants to leave the profession. And if before the revolution the profession of the chief accountant was revered, he was one of the most highly paid and respected people in the enterprise, then after the revolution (especially after the Great Patriotic War) the profession of accountant turned into the most unpopular and least paid. The word “accountant” became a household word and embodied the worst in the bureaucracy. In the Soviet Union, the accounting profession became predominantly female. Up to 90% of chief accountants of enterprises were practitioners and had secondary education or no education.
The restructuring of the economy to market relations and the adoption by the state of a reference point to International Financial Reporting Standards required the revival of the accounting profession. In the new conditions, the chief accountant at the enterprise has become one of the leading specialists. The financial well-being of the enterprise depends on it. He represents the company in tax and other fiscal authorities of the state. Correctly compiled financial statements of an organization are the basis for attracting investments and loans. The well-being of the organization, including the size of the tax burden, often depends on the level of knowledge of the chief accountant.
All this led to a change in the status of the accountant, both at the legislative level and at the level of relations with shareholders, management and other team members.
In accordance with the Federal Law “On Accounting” dated November 21, 1996 N 129-FZ, all “responsibility for organizing accounting in organizations and compliance with the law when carrying out business transactions lies with the heads of organizations.”
Thus, an accountant in organizations becomes an ordinary hired employee and reports, is appointed, and is dismissed directly by the manager.
Over the 10 years of perestroika, the attitude towards the accounting profession has radically changed, both in organizations and in society as a whole. Today, the chief accountant in an organization occupies one of the leading positions, and faculties for training accounting personnel are becoming the most popular.
At the same time, the accountant’s mentality that developed over 70 years of Soviet power remained unchanged. He still waits for instructions from above and strictly obeys all (even illegal) orders of fiscal and other authorities 3 .
Today, the style of writing accounting regulations has completely changed. If earlier instructional materials were concise and prescriptive in nature, now accounting provisions are trying to convey not the letter, but the spirit of the law. Hence some vagueness and their descriptive nature. All this requires the accountant not to blindly carry out, but to understand the meaning of the decisions contained in the accounting regulations and interpret their implementation in accordance with the spirit inherent in them.
The third purpose of certification of professional accountants is to determine the qualification requirements for the chief accountant and select those who meet them.
The first stage of training professional accountants, which aimed to select professionals from those already available and identify those who can be trusted to sign financial statements in organizations where an audit must be carried out, has practically been completed. Thus, according to the State Statistics Committee, open joint-stock companies and other organizations where auditing is mandatory and where the chief accountants must be certified professional accountants, there are about 150 thousand organizations. As of August 1, 2002, more than 120 thousand professional accountants have been trained in the system of training and certification of professional accountants carried out by the IPB of Russia.
Considering that currently about 400 educational and methodological centers (TMCs) accredited by the IPB of Russia are engaged in the training of professional accountants, and certification of 2000 - 3000 accountants is carried out per month, then we can expect that the first stage of retraining of accounting personnel will be in the near future completed.
It should be noted that training professional accountants, even according to a simplified program, is quite a labor-intensive and difficult task. However, the state is interested in ensuring that chief accountants undergo appropriate training and certification.
So, in the reports for 1999 - 2000. the number of the certificate of the professional accountant who prepared this report was indicated. Although this entry, before the adoption of the Federal Law “On Accounting,” was of a recommendatory nature and any accountant had the right to sign the report, it nevertheless encouraged chief accountants to undergo retraining and be certified as a professional accountant.
A number of regions of the country (for example, Tatarstan) and the remaining ministries and departments (for example, Tsentrosoyuz) decided on the need for complete retraining of accounting personnel according to the IPB system of Russia.
Along with certification, a member of the IPB of Russia, a professional accountant is obliged to maintain his knowledge at a high professional level.
In accordance with the Regulations on the certification of Associate Members of the IPB of Russia, approved by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation (Minutes No. 4 of April 18, 2001), the qualification certificate received by a professional accountant is valid for five years.
To extend its validity period, the holder of a qualification certificate must be an active member of the IPB of Russia, as well as complete a refresher course of at least 40 hours per year in accordance with the rules approved by the IPB of Russia.
Certification of professional accountants has been carried out for more than five years.
Advanced training of a professional accountant begins with the decision to obtain the status of a professional accountant and become a member of the IPB of Russia.
It should be noted that an accountant, especially a chief accountant, is a profession that requires continuous training. An accountant at an enterprise is one of the few specialists who is responsible for the correct application of legislative acts in practice.
An accountant must know tax and labor legislation, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and much more. Now, when the process of improving legislation in Russia is underway in connection with the transition to international standards, the accountant is obliged to study all innovations especially carefully and scrupulously. It is especially difficult for an accountant at enterprises where there are neither legal nor economic services.
This indicates that the higher education received by an accountant at a university in itself does not guarantee his competence. That is why in almost all countries with developed market economies the status of “professional accountant” exists.
Professional accountants are called differently in different countries, for example in England - chartered accountants, in France - expert accountants. In Russia before the revolution, there were chartered accountants. The essence of these names is the same: confirmation of one’s competence, giving the accountant the right to practice his profession and guaranteeing shareholders, enterprise management and, ultimately, the state, qualified application of legislation in practice.
During the existence of the Soviet Union in a planned-regulated economy, ministries and departments were involved in improving the qualifications of accountants. They brought all new regulations to the attention of enterprises, interpreted them, and constantly conducted advanced training courses. There was also a fairly strict system of control over the correct application of regulatory documents in practice.
Currently, the system of advanced training for accountants adopted in the Soviet Union has practically collapsed. At the same time, the dramatic changes taking place in the country's economy and the constant updating of legislation require the accountant to constantly improve his qualifications. These functions were taken over by the system of certification of accountants.
The primary purpose of continuing education for professional accountants is "to provide assurance to society that professional accountants have the specialized knowledge and professional skills necessary to provide the services they undertake to provide" and therefore the professional accountant has a responsibility to "maintain and improve the level of specialized knowledge and professional skills" . The professional development system should help the accountant understand economic processes, apply new methods in his work, and also fulfill the duties assigned to him, taking into account the requirements placed on them 4 .
Accounting positions can be divided into several parts. The two general classifications are public and private accounting. Public accountants are those who serve the general population and are paid for their work, just like doctors and lawyers do their work. These include audit work, revenue planning systems, management training and consulting. These specialized services will be described below. Private accountants work in a specific area of ​​business, such as the local store, McDonald's restaurants, Kodak, educational institutions and government organizations that also employ private accountants. The chief accountant usually has the responsibilities of a controller and a financial director. Regardless of the position, this person has the status of vice president.
Some public accountants band together and work together within the same firm. Most public accounting firms are called Certified Public Accounting Firms (CPAFs).
Because most of their employees are professionals and have the appropriate certificates.

Current state and future of the accountant profession

Come on? Many years ago I ended up in the accounting department of my native university. I walked from table to table with the receipt, the female accountants made some entries in their books and put notes on the receipt, and I thought: “But all this management can be replaced with one computer.” And now these happy times have come. A computer on every desk, barcode scanners, electronic filing of reports and Internet banking, reconciliation and verification of counterparties and other amenities. And what? Even in mediocre offices, the accounting staff is now no less than it once was at that university. And after all, everyone is busy. By the way, it’s the same story in the USA, I know what I’m talking about. A bunch of people who are honestly wasting time and effort on nothing, essentially. Well, I am with them.

Anonymously

23.09.2016 20:43

An accountant is now a bridge between the state and business. The state wants to remove it and be the absolute owner, IMHO.

• Anonymously

  23.09.2016 22:14

  Communism will come, you don’t need to keep records, I take as much as I want, I return it when I want. An accountant is engaged in streamlining all business transactions that occur during the operation of enterprises and institutions, otherwise there will be a house. The software facilitates the work of an accountant and makes it possible to quickly obtain any information, but is not an alternative to accounting by an engineer or teacher.

Anonymously

23.09.2016 20:49

Ha ha, the state has screwed everyone over again))))))

Anonymously

23.09.2016 20:49

Then cancel your obligations too

Anonymously

23.09.2016 21:00

Until the accountant enters accounting data, no technology will create a balance sheet, for example.

Anonymously

23.09.2016 23:14

Everything is moving towards automation; many professions will cease to exist.
The world is changing, and we need to change with it, and not hold on to a sinking ship when a new one has already been built nearby.