What is the difference between a management accountant and a financial accountant?
There are many different types of accountants. It depends on your accountant’s practical experience and theoretical knowledge as to how well your accountant can perform in a particular role.
It is similar to the expertise required by a Heart Surgeon, versus a General Practitioner. These areas of expertise are very different and a General Practitioner cannot perform the task of a Heart Surgeon, although he may have an overall understanding of what they do.
Financial Accountant
The Financial Accountant concentrates on the preparation of the profit and loss statement and balance sheet which requires journal and reconciliation experience. In smaller organisations the financial accountant is also the management accountant.
Management Accountant
The Financial Accountant will pass the profit and loss statement and balance sheet to the Management Accountant who analyses the results `and provides the reasons for variances to plan to management. The management accountant is also responsible for the compilation of budgets and forecasts and the reporting of these against actual.
If I have a University Degree, will I pass the test?
There are some sections of the test that a student may do well at, but over-all you will find the results will not live up to your expectations. There are some practical skills that are not taught at university so the weakness is identified in the skills test.
What is a pass and what is a fail on the test?
The Exemplar Skills Test is not a pass or fail test. A low % score merely indicates further training is required.
What are some examples of practical skills versus theoretical skills?
What is your understanding of systems and procedures? If you have been trained in a small company where systems and procedures are minimal and unsupervised, you result will be in the lower quartiles.
This does not mean, you do not have experience. It will mean that further training is required if you intend working for a larger organisation or if you intend reporting to a qualified accountant who may be a member of an accounting association such as CPA, ICA or NIA.
What if I have a Bookkeeper that is experienced but has not passed some sections of the test?
There is a mixture of theoretical questions and practical questions on the Exemplar skills test. However, there is a heavier emphasis on practical skills.
Some theoretical questions have been asked because they are basic questions that skilled Bookkeepers are required to know if they work for a larger organisation.
If your bookkeeper has never attended a TAFE course, it is still possible to pass because we are mainly testing for practical skills.
Examples of Theoretical questions
An example of a theoretical question is:
Question: What should be the closing balance of a trial balance report
Answer: A trial balance should equal zero
Explanation: This is because Assets - Liabilities – Proprietorship = zero
Other questions may include the knowledge of the difference between a debit and a credit. This is especially true in the Account Classification section of most accounting tests. A basic knowledge is required of the difference between a Revenue, Expense, Asset, Liability and Proprietorship. Are they normally debits or credits?
Standard systems and procedures are followed in practice and taught at TAFE colleges.
