Working in the department of a large companies accountants, requires a more specialized practice than in an SME, as well as a greater ability to adapt to technological tools. Overview of the special aspects of this work taken from the example of Bell Canada.
In a large company, even if you are hired as a general accountant, you will not be assigned to administrative tasks or all sorts of other related tasks as you would be in an SME. It’s really your accounting practice that the employer is interest in, who will assign you either to accounts receivable, accounts payable, cash management or business development.
“You could also be a comptroller or an analyst, where you will establish protocols and procedures that all the accountants in your department will follow, to ensure consistency and compliance with the accounting standards in force,” explains Stéphanie Leduc, Senior HR Adviser at Bell Canada.
“In other words, in our organization there are accountants who do everyday work (operational tasks) and others who work on a more global vision of our practices,” she continues. The comptrollers are also called upon to develop special projects and to supervise presentation to the public of annual financial information. “They are specialists in accounting standards and particularly rigorous employees,” says Stéphanie Leduc.
Stability, variety and technologies
Working in a large organization will suit you if you like to be engaged in the long term with the same employer and to climb the ladder. The very large companies arrange a lot of work to gradually build in you the desire for leadership. A very long career can therefore be envisaged within a single company, with regularly varying tasks and responsibilities.
Another aspect to be considered is that the accountant in a large company is a technophile who embraces the digital revolution. At Bell, new digital accounting tools are developed at great speed and are tailor-made for the company’s needs. So you have to be able to quickly adapt to new tools, or even have computer skills to contribute to their development.
“Artificial intelligence is an integral part of the work of the accountant in a large company,” Stéphanie Leduc emphasizes. “It is used to automate certain accounting processes and to facilitate data analysis. It will gradually lead to hiring of more knowledgeable accountants, more analysts than performers, freed from bookkeeping tasks and rather devoted to artificial intelligence.”