Working in accounting can offer stable employment and competitive pay. There are many different types of accountants and areas of accounting, which means accountants typically use several kinds of documents to perform their job duties. If you enjoy working with numbers and have a background knowledge of business or finance, a career in accounting might be ideal for you. In this article, we explore eight types of accounting documents and consider how accountants use them.
What is an accountant?
An accountant is a finance professional who helps clients organize their financial records. Accountants can work with their clients to prepare financial reports, analyze financial records, file taxes and create budgets. Many accountants work at accounting firms, but they can also work for a specific company or organization as an in-house employee. There are many different types of accounting, which means there are typically several opportunities to find work as an accountant in a number of industries. Regardless of where they work, accountants typically have an extensive background in finance and training in accounting principles, technology and laws.
Here are a few areas that accountants can specialize in:
-
Financial accounting
-
Tax accounting
-
Management accounting
-
Public accounting
-
Government accounting
-
Forensic accounting
-
Internal auditing
What does an accountant do?
An accountant’s main responsibility is to assist their clients with managing their finances. Because there are many different specialties and areas in accounting, an accountant’s specific job duties might vary depending on the clients they work for or the industry their clients operate in. However, most accountants have the ability to prepare financial documents and offer advice about financial decisions to their clients, whether they’re individuals or organizations. This can involve analyzing financial data to include in reports, creating balance sheets and other documents and offering advice on how a client can improve their financial standing.
Here are a few more common job duties that accountants fulfill:
-
Maintaining accuracy in written financial documents
-
Meeting with clients to discuss financial goals and actions
-
Preparing tax returns and filing taxes
-
Observing an institution’s financial operations to develop financial strategy
-
Performing forecasting and risk analysis
8 types of accounting documents
Here are eight types of documents that accountants use in their jobs:
Invoice
An invoice is a record of credit transactions from a sale or purchase. Some accountants might also call an invoice a bill once it’s received by the purchaser in a transaction. Invoices are created whenever a client sells or purchases something on credit as a way of keeping track of how much money a client actually has. Accountants typically prepare multiple copies when they create an invoice to ensure that the client and the purchaser or seller both receive one.
Cash memo
A cash memo is a document that records cash sales and purchases. Cash memos can contain all cash sales or purchases that a client takes part in and can be updated as the year continues. A business that purchases something with cash can also create a cash memo to display all the details relating to the transaction, including what was sold, the quantity sold, whether a discount was used and what price the purchaser paid. Accountants can also reference cash memos during an audit to ensure that a client’s cash book is consistent with the cash memo.
Receipt
A receipt is a piece of written proof that a payment was made on an account for a transaction. Accountants frequently use receipts when working with business clients, as receipts are an effective way to keep track of business transactions, especially when a business takes part in multiple transactions in one period of time. There are typically at least two copies of each receipt, one for the client making the purchase and another for the seller’s financial records.
A receipt can contain information like the price the purchaser pays, which products are sold, the date of the transaction, the purchaser’s payment method and their name.
Pay in Slip
A pay in slip is a written record of a bank deposit. Accountants can use pay in slips to record the date when a deposit is made, who made the deposit and the amount the deposit is for. When using a pay in slip, someone can fill out the form with the necessary information and bring it to their bank with the cash deposit. Then, a bank teller can sign and stamp the pay in slip and return it to the person making the deposit, who can pass it on to their accountant to be included in their financial records.
Check
A check is an order for a specific sum of money that a bank can pay to whoever it’s addressed to. Banks typically distribute books of checks to customers who open accounts with them, who can then write checks for transactions like purchasing products and paying for services. A check displays the amount of money the issuer wants to give to the recipient, the recipient’s name, a reason for the transaction and the issuer’s signature.
An accountant can review a client’s check books at the end of a period to ensure that any check transactions match their records and to determine whether a client has any checks out that still need to be cashed at a bank.
Debit note
A debit note is a document that a business can send to another party who owes them money to show how much they owe. Debit notes typically contain the date and amount of a transaction, the name of the purchaser and the reason for taking money from their account. Many businesses use debit notes to keep track of transactions they overpay for or in instances that require them to return products to a supplier for a refund.
For example, if a business orders a batch of materials from a supplier and notice that some of the materials are defective, they can return those materials along with a debit note that lists the cost of those materials for the supplier to refund to the business.
Credit note
A credit note functions in a similar way to a debit note, but it’s used to show how much money one person gives to someone else in credit. Credit notes are most frequently used by businesses who engage in regular transactions and accept returns on their products. When a customer returns a product, the business can send them a credit note for the amount they paid as a refund for their purchase.
Accountants can also use credit notes to keep track of the credit a business gives out to ensure their funds can back up any credit transactions they enter into.
Voucher
A voucher is a document that accountants prepare to record business transactions. Accountants can use vouchers to record accounting entries, show which accounts need to be debited or credited and identify any important information from source documents that an accountant has access to. There are cash vouchers, which accountants create when a client receives payment in cash, and non cash vouchers that record transactions that do not involve cash, such as credit sales.
I hope you fidn this article helpful.
Leave a Reply