Every month, recruitment specialist Robert Walters highlights a job that is highly contested in the Belgian job market. This month, Sevrine Mouffok, senior consultant in the finance division, explains the positive impact digitalisation and automation have on the advancement opportunities of a senior accountant.
What does the job of a senior accountant look like?
Sevrine: ‘A senior accountant is actually the management's right-hand man and is responsible for checking and monitoring the general accounts. The senior accountant helps with daily operational accounting and ensures correct quarterly and annual closing. In addition, they are responsible for reporting and drawing the necessary conclusions. On this basis, he or she advises the management team so that the right financial decisions can be taken.’
What makes someone a good senior accountant?
‘Obviously, a senior accountant must be very strong numerically, accurate, organisational and stress-resistant. To grow as an accountant into a successful senior accountant, it is important to be very critical and to be able to think proactively and make the necessary links. In addition, a senior accountant must also be communicative and credible so that conclusions and findings relating to results can be communicated to management in a professional manner. Senior accountants working in the Brussels region or for an international organisation obviously also need to have good language skills, as they are in close contact with team members in their own offices but often also with business partners in other countries where the organisation operates,’ Sevrine knows.
Is the demand for senior accountants high right now?
In the first half of 2024, we saw a 20% increase in the number of vacancies when compared to the same period last year. Interim senior accountants are particularly in demand: the number of temporary vacancies rose a whopping 57% (source: Jobs Data). These are mainly replacement jobs due to illness or pregnancy. ‘In addition, we see that organisations regularly call on a temporary senior accountant to provide the necessary support in projects such as, for example, the implementation of a new software package,’ adds Sevrine. ‘Indeed, for such project-based jobs, a senior accountant is the right person to share his knowledge and show colleagues how to use this new tool.’
To what extent is the job of a senior accountant in an SME different from that in an international organisation or in an accounting firm?
‘A senior accountant in an accounting firm works on several files at the same time. Very often the responsibility is then less and is limited to, for example, the quarterly and/or annual closing,’ Sevrine explains. ‘Of course, the big advantage of working in an accounting firm is that - because you work for several clients - you come into contact with different sectors.
In a small or medium-sized company, the finance team is usually small and the Senior Accountant is sometimes even alone.
Then, of course, the range of tasks is all-encompassing: entering invoices, VAT returns, Intrastat, year-end closing... In an international organisation, the finance team is larger and each member has his own responsibilities. As a result, the tasks are then again more limited and the senior accountant will mainly oversee the whole and play an advisory role.’
How does digitalisation and automation affect the role of a senior accountant?
Sevrine: ‘Entering invoices has been done manually for years and is therefore time-consuming. The digital transformation means that a lot of things can be automated. This significantly reduces the workload of a (senior) accountant, leaving more time to offer tailor-made advice. So digitalisation and automation do have a positive impact on the career opportunities of a senior accountant.’
The extra time freed up is used to focus more on more in-depth analysis and forecasting, allowing a senior accountant to take on an even more advisory role and move more easily into a controller position. Which in turn is a nice stepping stone to the role of finance manager in due course.
What salary can a senior accountant expect?
‘That depends from sector to sector and on the size of the organisation where the senior accountant works, says Sevrine. ‘For example, the salary of a senior accountant in a small family business will look different from someone with the same title working for a multinational company. But on average, we can say that a senior accountant can expect a gross monthly salary of EUR 3900-4700. As the number of years of experience increases, this salary can even reach EUR 5500 per month. In most cases, this is supplemented by a company car, laptop, mobile phone, meal vouchers and insurance package and possibly other fringe benefits offered by the organisation.’
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