Can the financial director be the chief accountant. Responsibilities of the financial director

Most often, ambitious and successful chief accountants consider moving to the position of chief financial officer. What is the difference between the functions of the chief accountant and the tasks of the findir? How much will the salary increase when changing positions? In this post, we give advice to those who decide to become a financier.

Who is responsible for what

Despite the fact that both - the chief accountant and the financial director - are responsible for the company's finances, their tasks are still different. Speaking in general, the financial condition of the enterprise as a whole is in charge of the financial director, and the chief accountant is responsible for maintaining accounting and tax records.

Responsibilities of the chief accountant:

• bookkeeping management;
• organization of accounting of financial and economic activities of the company;
• accounting and tax accounting;
• control over the preparation of accounting documents;
• preparation of accounting, tax and statistical reporting;
• preparation of management reporting, as well as the formation and submission of reports to tax authorities and funds.

Tasks of the financial director:

• strategic planning of the company's financial activities, tax planning;
• analysis of the financial and economic activities of the company, development of financial policy;
• control of the work of accounting, economic and financial departments
• introduction of a budgeting system;
• formation of consolidated reporting;
• setting up management accounting;
• assessment of financial risks; lending and cash flow management of the company;
• automation of the financial department and the introduction of ERP.

Who is more important

There are companies where both the financial director and the chief accountant report directly to the CEO. According to Superjob.ru, every third chief accountant (35%) is supervised by a director.

However, most often (6 out of 10 vacancies where the hierarchy in the company is described) the accounting department is part of the financial service and, therefore, the chief accountant is under the control of the financial director. Note that sometimes the chief accountant is led by an executive director.

Who earns more

The “cost” of both a financial director and a chief accountant in the market varies greatly even within Moscow, and even more so in the regions (see table below).

How much do chief accountants and financial directors earn on average in Russian cities, rubles*

Region	Chief Accountant	CFO
Moscow	80 000	155 000
St. Petersburg	62 000	130 000
Ekaterinburg	48 000	100 000
Novosibirsk	47 000	90 000
Nizhny Novgorod	40 000	82 000
Rostov-on-Don	37 000	80 000
Ufa	36 000	80 000
Samara	38 000	76 000

Who is more needed

Recruitment specialists are unanimous: the demand for chief accountants is higher than for financial directors. So, on the Rabota.ru website, chief accountants are searched three times more often than finders. And according to the Superjob.ru portal, vacancies for chief accountants account for 6 percent of the total number of job offers in the financial sector. While the share of vacancies for financial directors is only 0.5 percent. In small companies, the position of financial director may not be provided, or his duties are performed by the chief accountant. In large holdings, on the contrary, a findir may have 5-10 chief accountants subordinate. And then it turns out that for one vacancy of a financial director there are up to ten vacancies for a chief accountant.

We have given a list of requirements that chief accountants and financiers must meet if they apply for an average market income (see below).

Who do employers want to see for the positions of chief accountant and financial director*

Chief Accountant	CFO
Basic Requirement
Higher education (financial / economic)	Higher financial and economic education, MBA degree is desirable
3+ years of experience as a Chief Accountant/Deputy Chief Accountant	3+ years of experience as CFO/Deputy CFO/Chief Accountant
Confident PC user (MS Office), knowledge of accounting programs and legal reference systems	Confident PC user (MS Office), knowledge of legal reference systems
Successful tax/audit experience	Experience in safe tax optimization
Up-to-date knowledge in the field of accounting and tax legislation	Knowledge in the field of tax legislation and financial law.
Knowledge of all areas of accounting	Excellent knowledge and practical skills in budgeting, financial management and strategic management
Additional wishes
Having a DipIFR certificate	International certificate ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst), CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountant), CPA (Certified Public Accountant)
	Experience in IFRS / GAAP reporting formatting
Experience in bookkeeping for multiple legal entities	Successful experience in automation of planning and management accounting systems
Knowledge of the basics of foreign economic activity (for work in an international company)	Knowledge of EPR systems (SAP, Navision, Scala, etc.)
Knowledge of English	Knowledge of English

How can a chief accountant become a financial director?

As they say, the soldier who does not dream of becoming a general is bad. If the chief accountant is sure that in the future he wants to manage not only his department, but the entire financial service, then he will have to go beyond the accounting functionality and gradually begin to fulfill the duties of a financial director in his company.

You can go to the financial analysis department, master international reporting standards, management accounting, then work in the controlling or budgeting department. Often, an accomplished chief accountant will have to sacrifice his high position and the financial side of the issue in order to gain such experience. But this is a temporary sacrifice, which will quickly pay off with the acquisition of the necessary knowledge.

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Today, the powers of the financial director, who, as a rule, reports to the chief accountant and whom the general director considers responsible for resolving all financial issues, are not legally defined. Often, this is why problems arise in the relationship between the financial director and the chief accountant. How to resolve them? This and other relevant questions are answered by our interlocutor.

Alexander Sergeevich, why, in your opinion, is it necessary to introduce the position of financial director at Russian enterprises?

I think few people remember that at the dawn of Soviet power there were two management positions in organizations - a director and a chief accountant. Gradually, some divisions of the enterprise - planning and financial - began to stand out from the accounting service and turned into independent structural units. Moreover, in the hierarchy of the Soviet enterprise, the planning department was in the first place, the financial department was in the second, and the labor department was in the third. Accounting was last. Therefore, the majority of modern managers and financial directors are “in their genes” that chief accountants should report to them.

- Do you think it's right?

If we turn to Western practice, which we love to look up to, then foreign companies have never had the position of chief accountant in the Russian sense. In all large Western firms, the financial director is also the chief accountant. He makes all the major financial decisions and supervises the "second" chief accountant, who keeps the records.

The tragedy of our current CFOs is that they do not know the rules and systems of accounting. Although their direct responsibility is to be able to use accounting data for financial analysis, financial planning and forecasting. They are not required to know the accounting technique, since there are accountants for this, they must be able to evaluate the final result of accounting work and use it correctly.

- What knowledge besides accounting should a financial director have?

He must understand taxation, since tax optimization is his job, lending, financial management, finance theory, etc.

- How, in your opinion, is the relationship between the financial director and the chief accountant built?

As a rule, in large organizations, the chief accountant reports to the financial director, if there is one. However, we are not going to change the norm of the law that the chief accountant must report to the head 1 yet.

After all, what is the problem? The manager should be responsible for setting up accounting. And if he entrusts the management of accounting to the financial director, this does not mean that he shifts responsibility to him, he simply frees himself from "churn". Therefore, I repeat, for the time being we will not change this norm. On the other hand, it is not always applied in practice. For example, in joint-stock companies, chief accountants are appointed not by the head, but by the general meeting of shareholders. Contradiction? Yes. However, joint-stock companies do not apply to the Russian Ministry of Finance to clarify this provision. The same situation with the subordination of the chief accountant to the financial director. Enterprises decide this issue on their own, we will not impose any unambiguous approach.

What causes problems in the relationship between the financial director and the chief accountant? Elena Korneeva, financial director of the company "I.S.P.A.-Engineering": "The problems that arise are primarily related to the fact that the financial director comes up with optimal work schemes for each case. The chief accountant has to "process" these schemes in order to put them into practice. accounting, and new work schemes mean additional efforts, an additional burden on accounting staff. Igor Mironov, "Often problems arise on the part of the financial director if he does not have an accounting education and he cannot always assess the consequences of making wrong decisions regarding accounting issues. There are often situations when, on the contrary, the chief accountant" stands to death "and cannot or does not know how to find a compromise between the needs of the business, which are defended by the financial director, and the requirements of the legislation, which are primary for him. Jacob the Hatter "Key discrepancies appear when the accountant begins to participate in making decisions on the conduct of certain operations. The correct scheme is as follows: the financial director, using the advice of an accountant, auditor and lawyer, processes the information and submits to the general director a plan for the implementation of the operation. And the accountant only reflects operations in the company's balance sheet because an accountant is a purely technical position."

In the relationship between the chief accountant and the financial director, professional and psychological problems are closely connected. For example, the financial director comes to the head and says: "Sign, Ivan Ivanovich, this document." Receives a signature, then goes to the chief accountant with a demand to fulfill this order. And the chief accountant replied: "I won't, because this contradicts this, but this contradicts that" - and writes a memorandum to the director. In this case, the decision must be made by the leader 2. But there are many different situations that cannot be prescribed in the Law.

Our journal came up with an initiative to include the position of financial director in the new All-Russian Job Classification developed by the Russian Ministry of Labor 3 . If such a position is officially approved, will this entail any changes in the legislation?

The current reference book of the Ministry of Labor of Russia describes the functions of the chief accountant. Among them are the duties that the financial director performs in practice. For example, the chief accountant "takes measures to accumulate financial resources to ensure the financial stability of the enterprise, interacts with banks on the placement of free financial resources on bank deposits for the purchase of highly liquid government securities." I think that in practice chief accountants do not do this, but organize the accounting of property, liabilities and business transactions. The Ministry of Labor of Russia tried to expand the range of their responsibilities, but in reality the provisions of the handbook are not always applied.

I think that if the list of duties of the financial director is determined, then half of them will again not be performed, if only because some functions will most likely be redistributed among other positions on the principle of "who is closer to whom." Of course, it is necessary to "focus" attention on the main duties of the financial director. Obviously, he must know the accounting system, the internal reporting system, the management accounting system. Another thing is how the written provisions will be implemented in practice.

It should be remembered that there are certain types of enterprises. In small and medium-sized organizations, the chief accountant performs the functions of the financial director. Usually, only in large enterprises, the position of financial director is singled out as an independent unit. Although there the positions of financial director and chief accountant can be combined, but at the same time, deputies can be appointed in the relevant areas. This is how it is done in the West. I think that there is no "pure" financial director who does not deal with accounting and economic development of the enterprise.

How can one eliminate the conflict arising from the fact that the chief accountant is subordinate to the financial director, but, unlike the financial director, has the right to sign the most important documents 4?

In my opinion, financial directors are not yet ready to put a second signature. Usually, in order to obtain the right to sign, the financial director combines his position with the position of chief accountant. Because in practice the CFO should have the right of first signature. On the other hand, one person cannot have the right to both the first and the second signature.

Does the CFO need a “statutory right” for a second signature? Jacob the Hatter President of APK "Rusagrocapital": “I believe that the financial director, unlike the chief accountant, needs such a right. I had problems with the signature of the chief accountant, caused by the fact that he is not able to fully assess the risks. Igor Govyadkin, deputy General Director, Director for Economics and Finance of the Moscow State Research Center: "At the beginning of work with the CEO, a list of documents is usually discussed that he will not sign without the visa of the financial director. Such an agreement is fixed by an order for the organization." Igor Mironov, financial manager of SABMiller: "In all the companies in which I worked, the financial director had the right of first signature (like the CEO). This is due to the fact that the professional control over the documents signed by the financial manager is much higher than that of strategists-CEOs. Thus, the CEO signs documents of really strategic importance, but only after the financial director's visa." Evgeny Buyakin, Chief Financial Officer of Kaspersky Lab: "In our company, the right of first signature is granted to both the financial and the general director. The chief accountant and his deputy have the right to second sign. In my opinion, this procedure is optimal. By the way, a law was recently adopted in the United States, according to which the company's statements are signed by two persons - CEO and CFO, i.e. CEO and CFO 6 ".

Banks, tax authorities and some other organizations require two signatures on documents.

Thus, it can be argued that there is a problem of the second signature. CFOs are happy to put the first signature, but ask them if they are willing to put the second signature? Most will answer in the negative, because this is the responsibility that applies to the performer.

It was very difficult for us to "wean" the tax inspectorate to punish the chief accountant directly. After all, the tax authorities usually believe that the signature of the head is "decorative", and the second belongs to the chief accountant, who is responsible for filing an unreliable tax report. It took a long time to convince them that it was necessary to punish the first person, who in turn would punish his subordinates. Although sometimes the chief accountant is still punished.

Maybe we would change the provision that documents should be certified by both the head and the chief accountant - after all, it is the business of the director of the enterprise, who and what to entrust to sign. But, unfortunately, leaders in our country often do not answer for their words. Therefore, in the Law on Accounting, we repeated the "Soviet" norm that documents must have two signatures 5 .

We discussed this problem for a long time when we were preparing the Accounting Law. After all, it is not entirely correct to tell large companies who and what should sign. For example, at the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant, the functions of the chief accountant are performed by the accounting director. However, in order not to raise the question "what kind of person is this?", they write on the documents "accounting director - chief accountant." Since there is certainly a document control, the second signature is the control signature.

Although, when we discuss the Law on Accounting in the State Duma, perhaps this problem will arise. For example, it is already possible to exclude the article on the chief accountant from the Law (Article 7. - Editor's note). On the other hand, we have two million legal entities in which only 10% of managers can justify their actions, including prepared reports, and for the remaining 90% of managers we have introduced a strict control standard.

- When is it planned to discuss a new version of the Accounting Law in the State Duma?

In principle, the project is already ready. However, first we will issue new Accounting Regulations, which should introduce a conceptual apparatus that complies with international financial reporting standards. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin noted that by January 1, 2004, we must approve all basic PBUs. Therefore, only at the end of 2003 is it expected to submit the Law for consideration by the government, and then to the Duma.

- What documents, important for financial directors, does your Department plan to issue in the near future?

I think that PBU "Accounting for financial investments" and "Accounting for income tax calculations", which we have already prepared, will certainly be of interest to financial directors, since they directly affect issues that are within their competence. In addition, RAS "Information on discontinued operations" 7, which will come into effect on January 1, 2003, should also be studied by all financial managers.

In conclusion, our traditional question: what, in your opinion, is the role of a financial director in a modern enterprise?

The position of financial director is very interesting and difficult, since it is he who is instructed to track all financial flows. In addition, he has a lot of problems due to the uncertainty of Russian economic conditions, the unreliability of partners, the unresolved many issues on pricing, inflation, etc.

An important issue is the training and advanced training of financial directors. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation supported the initiative of the Institute of Professional Accountants of Russia to train specialists in the direction of "financial manager".

I am sure that the future belongs to competent financial directors who are well aware of both accounting and a wide range of other financial and economic issues. It is such a specialist who can develop a reasonable financial policy for his enterprise.

Interviewed by Anna Chernetskaya, Irina Sukhova

____________________________________________________

“The chief accountant reports directly to the head of the organization ...” (clause 2, article 7 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1996 No. 129-F3 “On Accounting”). - Note. editions.
“In case of disagreement between the head of the organization and the chief accountant on the implementation of certain business transactions, documents on them can be accepted for execution from a written order of the head of the organization, who bears full responsibility for the consequences of such operations” (clause 4, article 7 of the Law on Accounting accounting). - Note. editions.
For more details, see Financial Director, 2002, No. 2, p. 3 and no. 3, p. 3.- Note. editions.
According to the Law on Accounting, “without the signature of the chief accountant, monetary and settlement documents, financial and credit obligations are considered invalid and should not be accepted for execution” (Article 7). Documents that formalize business transactions with cash are signed by the head of the organization and the chief accountant ... (clause 3, article 9 of the Accounting Law). - Note. editions. The Public Company Accounting Reform Act was passed in the United States in early August 2002 in response to numerous corporate scandals that have erupted in the country that year. - Note. editions.
Accounting regulation "Information on discontinued operations" PBU 16/02, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 02.07.02 No. 66n. - Note. editions.

Even 20 years ago in Russia, the duties of a financial director were performed by a staff of accountants. Today, in a market economy, the country needs effective managers who can manage financial flows and engage in business development. In the article, we will consider the concept, responsibilities and algorithm of actions on how to become a financial director.

Responsibilities of the Chief Financial Officer

The financial director is the head of the financial division of the enterprise. In some organizations, another definition of this position is used - financial adviser to the CEO.

The specifics of the work of this employee is similar to the duties of the chief accountant:

1. Manage the activities of the economic departments of the organization.
2. Determine the economic line of development of the organization. Develop measures to ensure the financial growth and stability of the company and monitor their implementation.
3. Management and control over the financial flows of the enterprise.
4. Ensuring the organization of economic security, risk analysis and control over the execution of the activities of financial departments in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
5. Financial statements.

Job responsibilities of the financial director may vary depending on the specifics of the organization. In some enterprises, he only performs the functions of the chief accountant.

Requirements for a financial director

It is extremely rare for organizations to consider applicants for the position of financial director from outside. Usually, it is more profitable and safer for an enterprise to hire an employee who has already established himself within the company. Work experience, of course, is an important indicator, but far from the last. Consider a list of the main requirements that must be considered when applying for the vacancy of a financial director.

What it takes to become a CFO:

1. Higher economic education in the following specialties - banking, business economics, accounting and auditing, finance and credit. When considering applicants for a position, preference is most often given to those who have an additional legal education.
2. At least 3 years of experience in the financial sector.
3. Knowledge of the program "1C" and confident use of a PC.
4. Negotiation skills for such a position are necessary, as the CFO is involved in negotiations with partners and is authorized to decide all the important moments of the organization related to the movement of funds.
5. Knowledge of the legal and regulatory framework.
6. Knowledge in tax, accounting and auditing.

In most organizations, the requirements for specialists of this level are identical, but there are also specific requests. This must be known in advance.

How to become a financial director from scratch

Here, rather, we are not talking about a large company, but about a young organization that is just starting its journey. In such cases, the probability of taking the place of a financial director without having the necessary experience and skills increases several times.

In small and medium-sized businesses, the position of chief accountant may be referred to as a financial director. At the same time, the necessary skills will most likely not be obtained, so a career outside the organization with such “experience” is unlikely to succeed. Therefore, first you need to familiarize yourself with how they become financial directors and how this position differs from the position of chief accountant.

How is a CFO different from a Chief Accountant?

The work of the financial director is closely related to the duties of the chief accountant, but there are also fundamental differences.

The main difference is that the competence of the financial director has the ability to direct the capital of the company for certain purposes as part of the development of the enterprise, while the chief accountant does not have such obligations.

It is also worth noting that the work of a financial director is directly related to working with business partners. The chief accountant interacts only with government agencies.

The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for analyzing the market and effectively allocating the capital of the organization in accordance with the needs of the firm. The duty of the chief accountant is to control the legality of all financial transactions of the enterprise.

It follows from the above that these two positions are at the same level, but the position of financial director is still considered the next step after the work of the chief accountant. Therefore, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the algorithm of actions on how to become a financial director after the chief accountant.

How can a chief accountant become a financial director?

As practice shows, one experience in accounting and an economic diploma is far from enough. Therefore, we will consider ways for the chief accountant to become a financial director:

1. As a rule, chief financial officers who previously worked as chief accountants have management and business management courses behind them.
2. Many accountants have an internship as a tax or financial advisor before becoming a CFO. It will be better if the specialist gains experience in the position of deputy.
3. Additional legal education is considered a definite plus in choosing a specialist for the position of director of finance.

Professional qualities of a financial director

In addition to the general requirements for the position of financial director, a specialist must have a number of professional qualities that are necessary for work.

The CFO is the right hand of the CEO. Often, the reliability of an organization (as a partner) is judged precisely by the work of a financial director, so the first qualities that he must possess are punctuality and responsibility.

Analytical mindset - the ability to quickly assess the risks and benefits of a particular operation.

Stress resistance is an integral quality of a person who wants to take the position of financial director. A high position is always a great responsibility, therefore, TOP managers most often suffer from nervous conditions, such as depression and apathy, which quite negatively affects the work process.

If a specialist has all the qualities that are necessary for this position, then, for sure, he will not have problems in his work.

How to Become an Effective CFO

Getting a CFO position is not easy, but it is even more difficult to earn a good reputation in this area. Effective managers are in great demand in the labor market, but organizations put forward serious requirements for this specialty. Still, the financial director must manage all the cash flows of the enterprise and at the same time make the work profitable. Therefore, the issue of work efficiency worries many.

Before becoming a successful financial director, a specialist, at a minimum, must receive an economic education for the very understanding of financial processes. At the same time, the director of finance is obliged to acquire new knowledge and skills every day, since the supply and demand market is quite flexible. Therefore, a specialist must be able to respond to all changes in the service sector that concern his enterprise.

Quite often, top managers take courses in public speaking and sales skills. The duties of the financial director include negotiations with business entities. To convince partners of the need for a particular operation, the skill of managing a conversation is required.

In conclusion

The question of how to become a financial director worries many. There are many manuals and books, films and trainings that offer various ways to achieve the goal of becoming a director of finance. All this can be used as an additional tool in overcoming obstacles on the way to the coveted position. But still, the future director must understand that there is nothing to do in this profession without professional knowledge and experience.

" № 6/2008

The soldier who does not dream of becoming a general is bad. In the same way, a young chief accountant usually hopes to rise to be a financial director. For many of them, this position seems to be the next step up the career ladder. However, such a representation suffers from a clear simplification. The job of a CFO is very different from an accounting job. We will understand its specifics and evaluate whether it is worth messing with it.

Finder tasks

What are the professional responsibilities of a financial director? In fact, he needs to solve four tasks - uninterrupted business financing through the optimal construction of financial flows, business planning, implementation of a management accounting system and tax forecasting. This is where the powers of such an employee come from, the list of which includes obtaining all the necessary information and managing several departments that ensure the solution of these tasks. This is, first of all, his own department, partly the accounting department and the company's lawyers. It can be said with absolute certainty that the appointment as CFO is an impressive step forward in the career of a talented chief accountant. However, here you need to soberly weigh the pros and cons in order to figure out - is the game worth the candle?

Advantages of the new status

Actually, career growth as such implies a huge number of advantages, so it’s worth breaking them into three conditional groups.

First of all, it is status. Many rising chief accountants perceive the new position precisely as a career advancement. This is not entirely true, because the position of financial director implies a completely different level of responsibility and other powers. Undoubtedly, they are higher than that of an accountant, and this fact is attractive to many. As well as the salary, which, as a rule, is at least 50% more.

Another important factor is the growth of qualifications. Becoming a financial director, an employee will automatically have to master a whole arsenal of completely new knowledge and skills. First of all, it is business planning and at the enterprise. Management accounting is, in fact, the holy of holies of any enterprise, since it is its data, and not accounting data, that determines the true structure of production costs. Within its framework, accounting entries acquire a completely different meaning and purpose. Let's take an example.

Example

From the settlement account of the Beta organization, 100,000 rubles were paid for the goods to the supplier. This operation will be reflected in the accounting registers: Debit Credit - 120,000 rubles. However, in management accounting, the meaning of the operation is seen in a completely different way: 100,000 rubles - a bank loan is returned; 20,000 rubles - interest on the loan has been paid.

Now we will explain why only the sum coincided. Such a situation is very likely if there are settlements with a certain company through which the bank issues “short loans” - with them the bank pays for the company goods purchased from foreign suppliers in the amount in euros, thereby equivalent to 100,000 rubles. And your company, after receiving money from buyers, pays for the loan. Or you can interpret this operation as follows: 100,000 rubles - a loan is issued to a company, which will then be registered in accounting as a supply of goods or services from it. It is easy to see that the chief financier is much better informed about the state of affairs at the enterprise than the leading accounting specialist - and this, you see, is very tempting.

And finally, responsibility. Or rather, the absence of any responsibility before the law for the reliability of tax and accounting reports, the need to submit them on time, etc. However, one should not succumb to the illusion of calmness, because management reports, unlike accounting and tax reports, are prepared more quickly, and the survival of the company actually depends on its timeliness and accuracy - and, therefore, the future of the findir itself.

Of course, the position of financial director implies other advantages, but one must understand that such an employee has not less, but much more duties than an accountant. In addition, it is also much easier to evaluate the results of a financier's activities - as well as to make a decision on his full or incomplete official compliance.

Reasons to think

The first of them is a strong separation from the regulatory framework. The CFO rarely delve into changes in tax legislation, unless they relate to the VAT rate or income tax. But after all, the fantasy of lawmakers is not limited to these innovations. The chief accountant is in any case more informed - for example, in matters of civil law. He knows what taxes are subject to property transactions, and also imagines the size of the tax deductions for them.

The second reason is that, in fact, the same performer who cannot refuse the owner of the business if he wants to receive money for his personal needs. If the state of affairs allows you to pay dividends, then there are no questions. It is much worse when the owner simply pays for operating expenses at the expense of the company's working capital. Here the financial director will have to rack his brains over how to document such whims, and most often it comes down to a banal “cashing out” for fictitious goods, works, services.

The third reason to think about it is the dependence on the results of the activities of other employees, on the basis of which recommendations are developed for making managerial decisions. If you have a weak lawyer or a new chief accountant, then all plans will go to waste very quickly.

Or here's another reason. Often, the CFO does not have the opportunity to pay equally and fairly to different employees who have violated financial discipline. Very many questions still depend on the proximity of each individual worker to the "body". Such a situation undoubtedly drops the authority of the chief financier.

Alas, this list of cons is far from complete. There are also branches, the personnel composition of which the financial director did not recruit, and it is hardly possible for him to check the qualifications of which. We have to take into account the constantly changing aspirations of the founders who want to open a new direction tomorrow somewhere in the region where this direction falls under the special tax regime, which must be thoroughly studied. And, of course, the main headache - WHERE TO FIND THE MONEY FOR ALL THIS?

Agree, if you wake up the financial director at night and hear all of the above from him, then the desire to go into this profession can instantly disappear, and the work of the chief accountant will seem not so ungrateful and scary. At least all his steps are regulated by PBU, Codes, Rules and other regulations. At the same time, management accounting is not regulated by anything, but errors in it will cost much more.

The successful work of a financial director largely depends on the qualifications of other employees of the organization.

Two in one

Is it possible to try to combine the functions of financial director and chief accountant, trying to sit on two chairs at once?

Many people see this opportunity as attractive, and besides, this practice is not uncommon in Russian companies. The most common reason for combining functions is to reduce business. A decrease in the company's turnover will inevitably lead to a reduction in costs and, as a result, to a reduction in the number of employees. When it becomes necessary to choose between the financial director and the chief accountant, the company's management will undoubtedly leave the chief accountant in the state, because without him the company simply cannot work. Since the duties of the financial director will still have to be performed by someone, and the company has no other specialist to whom they could be delegated, he assigns this difficult role to the chief accountant.

The second reason may be, oddly enough, business expansion. From some point on, the functions performed by the chief accountant are no longer enough for the company - management reporting and closer work with credit institutions, checking estimates and developing business plans are required. However, the owner, for some reason, does not want to initiate a new, even a very qualified specialist, into the affairs of the company. Since this employee will also be a very expensive "acquisition", the manager faces the question - why not help the chief accountant acquire the knowledge of a financier?

Note that in all cases it is the chief accountant's candidacy that is considered as the person to whom the duties of the financial director will be added, and not vice versa. This is due to the following reasons:

• the volume of fundamental knowledge in the field of accounting and taxation of the chief accountant is incomparably higher than that of the company's financier;
• name and authority within the company. This is an important factor for establishing interaction between various departments of the enterprise;
• economic considerations. Combining positions is also beneficial from the point of view of cost savings, because one person will still need to pay less than two, even if one or two assistants are taken;
• speed of adaptation. It is easier for the chief accountant to master in-house know-how, even if he himself did not take part in their development and adjustment. In addition, he will be able to make them more unified, using extensive accounting experience.

So is it still possible to combine the duties of the chief accountant and financial director by one top manager? Theoretically - YES! Imagine how many agreements and mistakes can be avoided if you control business processes and at the same time “fit” them into tax schemes that obviously do not violate the provisions of tax legislation.

But remember - such work actually turns into a "manual adjustment" of a single company. So, having become an indispensable employee in your company, you run the risk of starting all over again in another, because the probability of failure is high (see above), and the accounting problems remain with you.

To be or not to be?

However, all this does not mean that the chief accountant is automatically the main contender for the post of financial director. There are good reasons for this.

First, it cannot be said in advance that a person who successfully copes with accounting will necessarily become an excellent financial director. And the head of the company will think a hundred times - is it worth changing the order, which is already working fine.

Secondly, more and more often, in advertisements for a findir vacancy, employers indicate such a requirement as the applicant's lack of an accounting background. This is also quite understandable, because such an applicant does not have a chance to return to his usual profession, and interaction with the company's divisions - especially with accounting - will be built in a fundamentally different way.

Making the decision to change your career is not easy. Therefore, one piece of advice: do not rush, it is better to first become a chief accountant, and this takes at least ten years. So, young colleagues, you still have time.

The position of chief accountant has become a springboard for many financial directors. Despite the fact that these positions have drastically different terms of reference and levels of responsibility, there are several ways for accountants to achieve career advancement.

A new position for the chief accountant is not only a profitable career advancement, but also a change of profession. For accountants who are thinking about career growth, headhunters advise first of all to get additional education. Indeed, in addition to a profile diploma, many employers require MBA, CFA or CPA certificates from a financial manager. Often, a conversational level of English and knowledge of IFRS are put forward as one of the conditions. “From my own experience, I can say that the chief accountant, who dreams of becoming a financial director, will have to spend two or three years to improve the level of professional knowledge,” recommends Alevtina Yashkina , financial director of RusTorgInvest.

Employers attribute the inability to think globally and lack of flexibility to the main shortcomings of the former chief accountants. At the same time, many business leaders note that such financial directors have many advantages. “The main plus is knowledge of the entire accounting kitchen of accounting, tax legislation, the ability to find contact with tax authorities,” I am sure Victor Kulbitsky , CEO of Energy Logistics.

Career key

In reality, diplomas alone are often not enough. The next step in moving to the coveted position should be practical experience in business management. To do this, specialists from recruitment agencies advise you to try yourself as a tax, financial consultant, deputy financial director.

Often, employers are looking for a chief accountant in order to grow a financial director out of him as part of their enterprise. “The gradual expansion of the scope of responsibility of duties will help the chief accountant to better understand future duties,” Alevtina Yashkina is sure. “The kind of employee always grows with their organization.”

First steps in a new position

According to experts who have gone from chief accountant to financial director at the initial stage, the most important thing is to abstract from standard accounting. In order to understand the new responsibilities, Viktor Kulbitsky advises to find out the financial condition of the enterprise. “We need to figure out strategic plans for the future, get acquainted with existing business processes, and based on this, roughly imagine a work plan. If necessary, you should not hesitate to consult with lawyers and colleagues from related departments,” he says.

A professional team will help to facilitate the rapid adaptation of the chief accountant in a new position, and therefore, after taking up the position, it is worth paying special attention to the selection of personnel, the distribution of responsibilities between employees of the financial service. In addition, it is necessary to immediately establish contact with the heads of departments, the general director. It is necessary to understand what is expected from the financial director, the people who determine the business development strategy, to determine the goals and objectives of the enterprise.