Cost Accounting And Management Accounting Positions – List, Requirements And Challenges

Cost Accounting Jobs In the Australia

List of Cost Accounting or Management Accounting Positions

Discuss about the Cost Accounting Jobs In the Australia.

Below is the list of cost accounting or management accounting positions:

No.	Position Title	Sector (if available) industry or government Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper	Position Description	Date listed	Website address	Search Word(s) or phrases
1	Planners, cost controllers And Estimators (EOI)	Accounting	Seeking application from experienced cost controllers.	7April 2018	https://www.seek.com.au/	Cost Accounting Jobs
2	Cost Accountant	FMCG	An exciting opportunity to make a difference in the business.	18 Feb 2018	www.adzuna.com.au	Cost Accounting
3	Group Finance Accountant	Technology and Telecoms	Opportunity to join a large Sydney CBD based business for.	8 April 2018	www.michaelpage.com.au	Accounting jobs
4	Intermediate Tax Accountant	Accounting	Progress your career in a developing tax team.	5 April 2018`	jobsearch.gov.au	Management Accounting
5	Senior Business Advisory	Prime Global Talent	Offers to work for a leading accounting firm with high client growth.	2 April 2018	jobsearch.gov.au	Accounting jobs
6	Management Accountant	Government	Offers you the role of co-coordinating and contributing towards budgeting.	23 February 2018	jobsearch.gov.au	Cost accounting jobs
7	Accountant	Accounting	Opportunity to join a reputable organization in Australia as an accountant.	4 April 2018	jobsearch.gov.au	Cost Accounting jobs
8	Asset Accountant	Accounting	Easy transfer options with great salary opportunities.	3 April 2018	jobsearch.gov.au	Accounting jobs
9	Superannuation administrator	Accounting	Required SAP experienced candidates for an accountancy and finance position.	4 April 2018	www.careerone.com.au	Accounting
10	Financial Management and Costing Specialist	Accounting	Requires innovative people to support our clients contribute to our nations prosperity.	20 March 2018	www.adzuna.com.au	Management Accounting jobs

(Australian Government, 2018; Adzuna, 2018; Seek, 2018)

No.	Position Title	Position Requirements (Selection criteria, responsibilities etc.)	Cost and Management Accounting Criteria Required for Position	Alignment with learning outcomes of ACCT 6004
1	Planners, cost controllers And Estimators (EOI)	Requires a degree in the relevant field (commerce, accounting, finance) along with previous experience.	Should have knowledge of cost curves, expenditure, and project commitments Review project control guidelines and adjust accordingly.	ACCT module of cost analysis for decision making would help in better understanding of cost curves and other project commitments.
2	Cost Accountant	Finance degree along with CPA/CA is required. Would be responsible for managing standard cost for new products, improving inventory costing.	Cost accounting skills would be required for maintaining standard cost and analyze P and L and balance sheet accounts.	Cost-Volume-Profit (CVP) Analysis absorption and variable costing would be helpful.
3	Group Finance Accountant	CA qualification is essential. Would be responsible for the process and system issues.	Accounting knowledge will be required for preparing monthly balance sheet reconciliations, and preparing month and year end journals.	Knowledge of identification ethical and organizational issues would be helpful.
4	Intermediate Tax Accountant	Degree in finance is required, Responsible for managing the record of tax liability.	Analyze financial data, maintain record of assets, liabilities, profit and loss and maintain general ledger.	Planning of operational budgets and control variance would be helpful.
5	Senior Business Advisory	Relevant degree in accounting. Professional Accounting Accreditation is desirable.	Coordinate and manage the end of month financial process and maintain revenues.	Cost analysis for decision making: relevant cost and benefits.
6	Management Accountant	Advanced excel skills. Recently qualified accountant( ACA, CA) Knowledge of IFRS.	Forecasting balance sheet and cash flow Budgeting.	Nature of management accounting, cost concepts and budgeting.
7	Accountant	CA, organizational skills and ability to maintain deadlines, analytical ability.	Analyzing accounts and business projects, preparing tax returns, risk analysis.	Planning operational budgets and cost handling.
8	Asset Accountant	Bachelor’s degree in accounting or equivalent, proficiency in MS excel and word.	Knowledge of accounts payable, preparation of general ledger.	Activity based management and analyzing quantitative costing information to management decision making.
9	Superannuation administrator	Knowledge of the superannuation industry. Knowledge of different types of funds. Proficiency in MS office.	Maintaining reports for internal stake holders. Coordinating with the team work flow.	Organizational behavior skills, ability to demonstrate and plan cost for new projects.
10	Financial Management and Costing Specialist	Must have a bachelor’s degree in finance. Should have advanced skills and knowledge in various areas of cost control.	Needs to track and control costs associated with different projects. Forecasting budgets and planning expenditures.	CVP Analysis, control variance analysis, planning operational budgets.

(Careone, 2018; SEEK Learning, 2018)

The different job websites where these positions were found are https://www.seek.com.au/, jobsearch.gov.au, www.adzuna.com.au, and https://www.mycareer.com.au/ etc. The common sectors of the positions are FMCG, construction, accounting and government organizations. The job profiles are classified as cost controllers, accountants, tax accountants, senior business advisory, costing specialist, management accountant and superannuation officer etc. The Accountant Assistant is the most common profile available. Finance and accounting statements are to be prepared by the accountant in the organization. He is responsible for maintaining financial information transparency of the organization.

The most common requirements for the positions are a degree in finance or accounting, proficiency in MS office and knowledge of SAP. Also, candidates should have operational skills and team management skills. Knowledge of different types of funds, cost control techniques, should be able to maintain general ledger, make balance sheet P and L accounts and preparing tax returns. The knowledge of cost control decisions and maintenance of reports for stakeholders, knowledge of budgeting, prepare journal entries like cash calls, depreciation, asset/ liability accounts, preparation of annual audit report, maintain GL accounts etc. The management accountants are required to work with the managers by providing valuable information in their decision making.

Management accounting skills are required for the decision making process with the ability to be better equipped in their control functions. Management accounting helps in better implementation, forecasting and planning, variance analysis, make strategic management decisions and deal with operational problems. Cost accounting skills like managing standard costs for new projects and taking corrective actions to reduce the cost knowledge of cost curves, pricing techniques etc. would be required.

The knowledge of these cost accounting and management accounting skills are required as the candidate has to deal mostly with cost related activities like planning of standard cost for the projects, handling of cost, inventory management, preparation of balance sheet and making budget etc. Also the candidate has to work in a team and coordinate with other people for the smooth functioning of the organization (Careers-in-business, 2018).

Soft cost savings of the customers is difficult to be estimated that leads to hindering the proper analysis of cost curves.

Identification of risk related to financial capital is one the most important challenges faced by management accountants.

Position Requirements

The nature of accounting depends on various environmental factors like the needs of the stakeholders. The changes in the environment affect the management practices.

The work has to be completed on or before the decided time. Auditing work sometimes becomes monotonous as the same work is repeated.

It is really challenging for the accountants to keep up with technology advancements and needs of the clients.

The management accountant sometimes faces various ethical and financial issues in the organization. There may arise a conflict between the employees that may hinder the productivity of the organization.

The topics that I have learnt in ACCT 6004 are knowledge of cost curves, job and process costing system, CVP analysis, variable costing and cost analysis for decision making. It has helped in developing the skills required to perform various cost related activities like managing standard costs and analyzing the performance with the standard which helps in taking corrective actions. These cost related knowledge is helpful in maintaining the general ledger and other financial reports. It will help in forecasting and setting budgets for new projects. Decision making skills would help in setting budgets for new projects.

The learning outcomes of the course are aligned with the job requirements as the most common skills required for the job are related to maintaining cost and preparing the financial statements that are covered in the ACCT 6004 module.

The organizational behavior skills like handling a team and ethical behavior are not included in the module. Internal change issues sometimes create difficulties for accountants, the skills or techniques should be considered to solve these issues. Management accountants are experiencing changes in their role so it’s important that they should be involved in strategic management, leadership, continuous learning and improvement. The accountants are required to provide accurate and timely information to the organization.

The knowledge of accounting skills should be added in ACCT 6004. Various accounting software’s are available in the market which have made the accounting operations simple and quick for the accounting personnel. With the advancement in technology, many new software’s and other tools are being developed to assist accountants in their task.  Some of the common software used for budgeting and preparation of financial reports should be added in the module.

References

Adzuna. (2018). Search Jobs. Retrieved from https://www.adzuna.com.au/search?q=accounting%20jobs&w=australia

Australian Government. (2018). Accoutnig Jobs. Retrieved from https://jobsearch.gov.au/job/search

Careers-in-business. (2018). Management Consulting: Skills and Talent required. Retrieved from Careers-in-business.com: https://careers-in-business.com/consulting/mcskill.htm

Careone. (2018). Costaccounting jobs in australia. Retrieved from Carrerone.com.au: https://www.careerone.com.au/search?search_keywords=cost+accounting&search_category=1&location_id=&page=2

Seek. (2018). Accounting jobs. Retrieved from https://www.seek.com.au/cost-accounting-jobs-in-accounting

SEEK Learning. (2018). Accountant. Retrieved from Beta.seeklearning.com.au: https://beta.seeklearning.com.au/accountant