Students who are studying Accounting often battle to visualise exactly where their learning will be used in the ‘real world’. People who aren’t studying Accounting often have no idea what the Finance department does, and why they want certain information.

There are also people who wonder about studying ‘accounting stuff’, but aren’t sure what they’d actually be doing on a daily basis, and whether it’s all just too complicated for them to do.

I wrote an article a little while back to try illustrate the difference between Bookkeepers and Accountants as a starting point.

To help separate the different levels of finance staff, and understand what they do at work, I created some awesome infographics to illustrate different levels as simply as possible.

Note: the job titles will differ across different companies, and sometimes one person will perform more than one of these roles. They can also include different functions at different companies.

Junior Bookkeeper

Basic Bookkeeping to Trial Balance. Check out the infographic

Senior Bookkeeper

Full-function Bookkeeper. Check out the infographic

Technical Financial Accountant

Junior Accountant / Assistant Accountant. Check out the infographic

Financial Accountant

Some students think that you can only get to this level if you’re a Chartered Accountant. This is not true. Check out the infographic

Conclusion

If you work in the Accounts department, or want to study in the field, the more you understand what you’ll be doing on a daily basis, the better prepared you’ll be for your awesome career!