An accountant is the person who knows why the bank balance and the books disagree by a few thousand rupees on the last day of the month, and who will not close the month until they agree. In a small company that same person also files GST returns, chases vendor ledgers and builds the MIS the founder reads on the first Monday. In a larger one the work is split, and the accountant may sit next to a financial analyst who turns those clean numbers into decisions about costs, margins and cash.
This page gives you a complete accountant job description you can copy, edit and post today, written for Indian companies but easy to adapt elsewhere. After the template you will find how the role changes from junior to senior, how to test the skills that matter while screening, the mistakes that make a good accountant scroll past your post, and when to hire on contract, contract-to-hire or permanent terms.
Accountant job description template
About the role
[Company] is looking for an accountant to maintain our books of accounts, keep our tax compliance on schedule and give management accurate monthly numbers. You will report to [reporting manager, for example Finance Manager or Founder] and work closely with [teams, for example operations, sales and our external CA firm]. The role is based in [city] and is [full-time / contract / contract-to-hire].
Responsibilities
- Record day-to-day transactions in [TallyPrime / Zoho Books / SAP FICO / QuickBooks], including sales, purchases, expenses, journals and payroll entries.
- Reconcile bank accounts, vendor ledgers and customer ledgers every month and clear unexplained differences.
- Prepare and file GST returns (GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B), and reconcile input tax credit with GSTR-2B before filing.
- Compute TDS on vendor and salary payments, deposit it on time and prepare quarterly TDS returns.
- Run the month-end close: accruals, prepaid expenses, provisions, fixed asset entries and the trial balance.
- Prepare monthly MIS reports for management, covering profit and loss, cash position, receivables and payables.
- Analyze costs, margins and variances against budget, and explain the movements in plain language.
- Support statutory, internal and tax audits by preparing schedules and answering auditor queries.
- Maintain supporting documents, approvals and a clean audit trail for every entry.
Requirements
- B.Com, M.Com, CA Inter, CMA Inter or an equivalent qualification in accounting or finance.
- [X] years of hands-on accounting experience, ideally in [industry, for example manufacturing, services or e-commerce].
- Working knowledge of [TallyPrime / Zoho Books / SAP FICO] and the ability to pull reports from it without help.
- Practical experience filing GST returns and handling TDS deductions and returns.
- Strong Excel skills: VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP, pivot tables and clean, checkable working files.
- Understanding of accrual accounting and the basics of Ind AS.
- Integrity and care with payments, bank access and confidential financial data.
Nice to have
- Experience with e-invoicing and e-way bills.
- Exposure to Power BI or another reporting tool for MIS dashboards.
- Basic financial modeling, budgeting or forecasting experience.
- Experience working alongside an external CA firm during year-end.
What we offer
- [Salary range], based on experience.
- [Work mode: on-site / hybrid] at our [city] office, [working days and hours].
- [Benefits, for example health insurance, PF and leave policy].
- [Growth path, for example CA articleship support or a move to senior accountant].
How the accountant role changes by level
Junior accountant or accounts executive
A junior accountant posts entries, processes vendor bills and expense claims, and prepares bank reconciliations for someone else to review. Their job description should be honest that the work is mostly transactional and supervised. Ask for accuracy, comfort with the accounting software and a working grasp of GST basics. A strong fresher with a B.Com and an internship in a CA firm can often do this job well.
Accountant (mid-level)
At this level the person owns a full set of books, files GST and TDS returns without being prompted, and closes the month with little review. They prepare the MIS, answer auditor questions directly and catch problems before the finance manager does. The job description should name the returns they will file, the entity count and the close deadline, because those details tell a candidate whether the job fits their experience.
Senior accountant or financial analyst
A senior accountant reviews other people’s work, designs the close checklist and owns audit coordination. If the role leans toward analysis, it becomes a financial analyst position: variance analysis, budgets, forecasts, unit economics and a monthly story about what changed and why. Here, ask for evidence of decisions their analysis changed, not only the reports they produced. Above this level the role becomes finance manager or controller, which deserves its own description.
Skills that matter most, and how to check them
Most accountant resumes list the same software and the same returns. A short, practical screen tells you far more than the resume does.
- Reconciliation. Give the candidate a one-page bank statement and a matching ledger extract with three planted differences: a bank charge, a cheque not yet cleared and a duplicate entry. Ask them to produce a bank reconciliation statement. A good accountant finds all three and explains which side each one belongs on.
- GST working knowledge. Ask how they handle a purchase invoice that shows in the books but not in GSTR-2B. Listen for the practical steps: following up with the vendor, deferring the credit and tracking it until it appears.
- Software fluency. If you use TallyPrime or Zoho Books, sit with them for a few minutes and ask them to pass a journal entry and pull a ledger report. You will see quickly whether the tool on the resume is a tool they use every day.
- Excel. Send a messy export of vendor payments and ask for a summary by vendor and month. Check whether the working file is something a reviewer could follow.
- Analysis, for financial analyst roles. Share two months of a simple profit and loss statement and ask what changed and what they would want to look into. Good answers start with the biggest movements and end with a question for the business.
- Integrity. Ask how they would respond if a manager asked them to post an entry without supporting documents. The answer, and how comfortable they are giving it, tells you a lot.
Common accountant job description mistakes
- Listing every finance task in the company. A post that asks one person to handle bookkeeping, GST, payroll, FP&A, fundraising support and audits attracts either nobody or people who have done none of it deeply. Fix: list the work this person will own and name what someone else handles.
- Not naming the software. “Knowledge of accounting software” tells a candidate nothing. Fix: name the tool you actually use, and say whether you would train someone on it.
- Mixing accountant and financial analyst without saying so. Candidates read these as different careers. Fix: decide whether the role is mainly recording and compliance or mainly analysis, and title it to match. If it is both, say how the time splits.
- Asking for “CA preferred” by habit. A qualified CA rarely wants a role that is mostly data entry and reconciliations, and the requirement filters out strong B.Com candidates. Fix: ask for the qualification the work actually needs.
- Hiding the scale. Fix: give the number of entities, the rough monthly transaction volume and whether you export or import. These details decide whether the job is right for a candidate.
Contract, contract-to-hire or permanent
A contract accountant suits work with a clear end: a backlog of unreconciled books, a year-end close, an audit, or cover while a permanent team member is on leave. The scope is easy to define, and a contractor with recent GST and close experience can start contributing in the first week.
Contract-to-hire works well when you are not yet sure what the role should become, which is common in growing companies that are moving from an outside CA firm to an in-house team. You see how the person handles your actual month-end before you commit. Permanent hiring makes sense once the books, filings and MIS are steady, recurring work that needs someone who knows your history, your vendors and your auditors.
Zilo AI hires accountants and financial analysts on all three models. If you would rather we find the candidate, you can hire accountants in India through Zilo, with candidates screened on the tools and returns your role needs.
Frequently asked questions
What should an accountant job description include?
The accounting software you use, the returns and filings the person will own, the size of the books, who they report to and the work mode. Add the main responsibilities, the qualification you really need and a short list of nice-to-haves, so candidates can judge their fit quickly.
What is the difference between an accountant and a financial analyst?
An accountant records transactions, keeps the books accurate and handles compliance such as GST and TDS. A financial analyst uses those numbers to explain performance, build budgets and forecasts, and support decisions. Small companies often combine both in one role, and the job description should say so clearly.
Does an accountant need to be a CA?
Usually not. Most accountant roles are filled by B.Com or M.Com graduates, often with CA Inter or CMA Inter. A full CA qualification makes more sense for senior, controller or audit-heavy roles.
Which accounting software should I ask for?
Ask for the one you use. TallyPrime and Zoho Books are common in Indian small and mid-sized companies, while larger businesses often run SAP FICO. Someone who knows one tool well can usually learn another, so mark it as preferred rather than required if you are open to training.
Should the accountant handle payroll?
In many small companies, yes, at least the accounting side of payroll and the TDS on salaries. If payroll processing is part of the job, list it as a responsibility and name the payroll tool, because some accountants have never run payroll end to end.
If you would like help writing this role, or would rather hand over the search, talk to Zilo AI. We also hire across finance, admin, marketing and operations through our non-IT hiring services.