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Accountant career path, levels and ladder
Updated
5 levels, from Staff Accountant to Finance Director. Each one is rated on the same 38 skills — what changes between the rungs is how good you have to be at each. An in-house finance ladder from staff accountant to finance director, covering the close, controls, audit, tax, cash and budgeting.
- Level 1 of 5
Staff Accountant job description
Posts journals, reconciles accounts and supports the monthly close.
Read the job description - Level 2 of 5
Senior Accountant job description
Owns parts of the month-end close and reviews other accountants' work.
Read the job description - Level 3 of 5
Accounting Manager job description
Runs the monthly close and the accountants who deliver it.
Read the job description - Level 4 of 5
Financial Controller job description
Owns the accounts, financial controls, audit and statutory filings.
Read the job description - Level 5 of 5
Finance Director job description
Sets financial strategy, budgets and funding across the company.
Read the job description
Accountant levels and job titles
Accounting titles vary between employers, and many number the same title (Accountant I, II, III) instead of renaming it. This table maps each level on this ladder to the titles you will commonly see elsewhere. For how these titles line up across departments, see the job title hierarchy.
| Level on this ladder | Common job titles |
|---|---|
| Staff Accountant | Staff Accountant, Accountant I, Junior Accountant, Accounting Officer |
| Senior Accountant | Senior Accountant, Accountant II, Accountant III, Senior General Ledger Accountant |
| Accounting Manager | Accounting Manager, Accountant IV, Accountant V |
| Financial Controller | Financial Controller, Controller, Finance Manager |
| Finance Director | Finance Director, Director of Finance, Head of Finance |
Skills matrix
38 skills and 1 certification across 5 levels.
| Skill/Certification 39 | Staff Accountant | Senior Accountant | Accounting Manager | Financial Controller | Finance Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core Accounting5 | |||||
| BasicYou can prepare recurring journals such as accruals, prepayments or payroll for your area unaided with their calculation and support. | ProficientYou can work out the right entries for unusual transactions, and review other accountants' journals for errors before they post. | AdvancedYou can set the journal approval rules and thresholds for the team, and fix the recurring causes of late or wrong entries. | AdvancedYou can set the journal approval rules and thresholds for the team, and fix the recurring causes of late or wrong entries. | AdvancedYou can set the journal approval rules and thresholds for the team, and fix the recurring causes of late or wrong entries. | |
| BasicYou can reconcile your balance sheet accounts including payroll control each month and clear differences to source. | ProficientYou can review reconciliations prepared by others, challenge old or unsupported items, and fix the process that keeps creating them. | AdvancedYou can set the reconciliation standard for every balance sheet account, with owners, deadlines and thresholds, and make sure it holds under audit. | AdvancedYou can set the reconciliation standard for every balance sheet account, with owners, deadlines and thresholds, and make sure it holds under audit. | AdvancedYou can set the reconciliation standard for every balance sheet account, with owners, deadlines and thresholds, and make sure it holds under audit. | |
| BasicYou can run the payables cycle for your entities, including payment runs, vendor statement reconciliations and supplier queries. | ProficientYou can fix recurring payables problems such as duplicate payments, late approvals or missing purchase orders, and keep vendor master data under control. | ProficientYou can fix recurring payables problems such as duplicate payments, late approvals or missing purchase orders, and keep vendor master data under control. | AdvancedYou can design the purchase-to-pay controls and approval limits for the organization, and balance supplier relationships against cash timing. | AdvancedYou can design the purchase-to-pay controls and approval limits for the organization, and balance supplier relationships against cash timing. | |
| BasicYou can manage collections for a group of customers, agree payment plans within limits, and prepare the aging report (who owes what, and for how long) with notes on each problem account. | ProficientYou can estimate how much of the money customers owe will not be collected, using the aging report and customer history, and resolve disputed invoices with sales and the customer. | ProficientYou can estimate how much of the money customers owe will not be collected, using the aging report and customer history, and resolve disputed invoices with sales and the customer. | AdvancedYou can set credit and collections policy for the team, and cut the time it takes to turn invoices into cash. | AdvancedYou can set credit and collections policy for the team, and cut the time it takes to turn invoices into cash. | |
| NoviceYou can add new assets to the fixed asset register from approved invoices and run the monthly depreciation report. | ProficientYou can reconcile the register to the ledger, run a physical verification, and flag assets that may be impaired. | ProficientYou can reconcile the register to the ledger, run a physical verification, and flag assets that may be impaired. | AdvancedYou can write the capitalization and depreciation policy, and account for leases, projects and impairments under the accounting standards that apply. | AdvancedYou can write the capitalization and depreciation policy, and account for leases, projects and impairments under the accounting standards that apply. | |
| Close & Reporting6 | |||||
| NoviceYou can complete your tasks on the close checklist by their deadline and say early when something will be late. | BasicYou can own a section of the close, such as payables and accruals, and hand it over complete and reviewed. | AdvancedYou can run the close across several entities and shorten it by automating the manual steps that cause late adjustments. | ExpertYou can set the close timetable and standard for the whole organization and answer for the reported numbers being right. | ExpertYou can set the close timetable and standard for the whole organization and answer for the reported numbers being right. | |
| NoviceYou can pull a trial balance and prepare supporting schedules for the financial statements from a template. | BasicYou can prepare the monthly trial balance and statutory reporting schedules for your entity, with a short note on the main movements. | ProficientYou can prepare a full set of financial statements, including the cash flow statement, and check they tie back to the ledger and each other. | AdvancedYou can prepare the annual statutory accounts and disclosures and take them through audit and approval. | ExpertYou can own what the organization reports to its board, lenders, investors and regulators, and decide how its results are presented. | |
| NoviceYou can follow the team's accounting policies for routine transactions and ask when something does not fit them. | BasicYou can apply the standards correctly to the transactions in your area and look up the rule when a case is new to you. | ProficientYou can research how the standards treat a complex or unusual transaction and write a technical memo with a conclusion. | AdvancedYou can write and update the organization's accounting policies when standards change, and agree judgment calls with the auditors. | ExpertYou can answer for the organization's compliance with the standards it reports under, and advise leadership on the reporting effect of major deals before they are signed. | |
| NoviceYou can record revenue for standard invoices and track deferred revenue on a schedule someone else built. | BasicYou can maintain deferred revenue and unbilled revenue schedules, and recognize revenue on standard contracts correctly each month. | ProficientYou can review non-standard contracts, identify each separate promise to the customer (a performance obligation), and split the price between them. | AdvancedYou can write the revenue policy, advise sales on how deal terms change the accounting, and defend the judgments at audit. | ExpertYou can own revenue reporting for the organization, and make sure pricing and contract strategy take its accounting into account. | |
| NoviceYou can record intercompany charges on the agreed schedule and send the balance confirmations to the other entity. | NoviceYou can record intercompany charges on the agreed schedule and send the balance confirmations to the other entity. | ProficientYou can prepare the group consolidation, including eliminations and currency translation, and explain the adjustments. | AdvancedYou can design the consolidation process and the intercompany charging rules across the group, including transfer pricing support. | ExpertYou can own group reporting, and advise on how acquisitions, disposals and new entities change the group structure and its accounts. | |
| NoviceYou can refresh a management report from the ledger using a template, and check that its totals match the trial balance. | BasicYou can build a monthly pack of finance KPIs for your area and write a short note on each movement. | ProficientYou can define each finance KPI for a business area with a formula and a source, and automate the report so it refreshes without manual rework. | AdvancedYou can design the management reporting suite for the company and keep KPI definitions consistent across teams or dashboards. | ExpertYou can decide which finance measures the board or executives use to steer the business, and retire the ones that change no decisions. | |
| Controls & Audit4 | |||||
| NoviceYou can perform the controls assigned to you, such as approvals and checks, and keep evidence that they were done. | BasicYou can test the controls in your area by questioning evidence that could hide error or fraud, and report those that fail. | ProficientYou can design controls for a process, including separation of duties in a small team, and fix a control weakness when one is found. | AdvancedYou can own the control framework for finance, map risks to controls, and build professional skepticism into how the team reviews unusual items. | ExpertYou can report on the state of the finance controls to the board or audit committee, and say which weaknesses are still open. | |
| NoviceYou can pull documents and samples the auditors ask for and file them where the team can find them. | BasicYou can prepare the audit schedules for your area and answer auditors' questions on them accurately and on time. | ProficientYou can coordinate audit requests across the team, prepare the summary schedules for each audit area, and resolve the adjustments the auditors propose. | AdvancedYou can plan and run the annual audit with the audit firm, agree the timetable and scope, and close its findings. | ExpertYou can manage the relationship with the external auditors and audit committee, and decide how the organization responds to significant findings. | |
| NoviceYou can use the accounting system for your daily work and run its standard reports correctly. | BasicYou can maintain master data such as vendors, customers and cost centers, and build your own reports in the system. | ProficientYou can manage user access and period locks for the ledger, and test automations and integration fixes before they go live. | AdvancedYou can lead an ERP upgrade, module rollout or system migration, and keep the books complete and controlled through it. | AdvancedYou can lead an ERP upgrade, module rollout or system migration, and keep the books complete and controlled through it. | |
| NoviceYou can find the right account and cost center for a transaction using the chart of accounts guide. | NoviceYou can find the right account and cost center for a transaction using the chart of accounts guide. | ProficientYou can request and set up new accounts or dimensions correctly, and keep the chart free of duplicates and unused codes. | AdvancedYou can redesign the chart of accounts and reporting dimensions so managers get the reports they need without manual rework. | AdvancedYou can redesign the chart of accounts and reporting dimensions so managers get the reports they need without manual rework. | |
| Tax & Treasury4 | |||||
| NoviceYou can check that invoices show the right tax code and rate, and gather the figures needed for a tax return. | BasicYou can prepare indirect tax returns for your entities, reconcile them to the ledger, and file them on time. | ProficientYou can work out the indirect tax treatment of new products, pricing, customers, locations and contract terms, and correct filed errors through the formal process. | AdvancedYou can own indirect tax compliance across several jurisdictions with tax advisers, and keep a risk log with an owner for each exposure. | AdvancedYou can own indirect tax compliance across several jurisdictions with tax advisers, and keep a risk log with an owner for each exposure. | |
| NoviceYou can collect the ledger data and schedules the tax advisers request for the annual return. | NoviceYou can collect the ledger data and schedules the tax advisers request for the annual return. | BasicYou can prepare supporting schedules such as fixed asset and expense analyses for the tax computation. | AdvancedYou can own the tax provision including deferred tax, and document the tax risks behind it for advisers or auditors. | AdvancedYou can own the tax provision including deferred tax, and document the tax risks behind it for advisers or auditors. | |
| NoviceYou can record daily bank balances and update the cash position report. | BasicYou can prepare a weekly cash forecast from receivables, payables and payroll, and explain why last week's forecast differed from what actually happened. | ProficientYou can build a rolling 13-week cash forecast, manage bank accounts and payment approvals, and warn early of a cash shortfall. | AdvancedYou can manage liquidity for the organization through credit facilities and banking relationships. | ExpertYou can set treasury policy and plan the organization's funding, including when and how it raises debt or equity. | |
| NoviceYou can log a financial risk that a colleague reports, such as a late payment or a currency exposure, in the risk register. | BasicYou can record each risk in your area with an owner, a likelihood and a cost, and escalate any that pass the agreed threshold. | ProficientYou can measure the currency or interest rate exposure of a business area and propose a hedge or other response with its cost. | AdvancedYou can set exposure limits for the organization and report against them to senior leaders each quarter. | ExpertYou can decide how much financial risk the organization accepts and agree the policy with the board or audit committee. | |
| Planning & Analysis5 | |||||
| NoviceYou can collect budget submissions from managers into the budget template and check they add up. | BasicYou can build the budget for a set of cost centers with their owners, challenging assumptions that look out of line. | ProficientYou can run the budget process for a business area, tie revenue, headcount and costs together, and present it for approval. | AdvancedYou can coordinate the whole budget cycle, turning the company plan into targets each area agrees to. | ExpertYou can set the budget the board approves and the tradeoffs behind it, and link it to the organization's strategy. | |
| NoviceYou can update a forecast template with each month's actual results once someone has explained the process. | NoviceYou can update a forecast template with each month's actual results once someone has explained the process. | ProficientYou can run the monthly reforecast for a business area and flag risks and opportunities against the plan. | AdvancedYou can build the company forecast, test it against scenarios, and tell leadership early when targets are at risk. | ExpertYou can decide how the organization forecasts, and use the forecast to steer spending and hiring through the year. | |
| NoviceYou can produce a budget versus actual report and highlight the largest differences. | BasicYou can explain the main variances in your area from the underlying transactions, separating timing differences from real overspend. | ProficientYou can analyze variances across a business area, including price, volume and mix effects, and agree actions with budget holders. | AdvancedYou can present variance analysis to senior leaders so it drives decisions, and improve how variances are reported across the organization. | ExpertYou can hold leadership to the plan with variance analysis, and decide when a variance means the plan itself must change. | |
| NoviceYou can update an existing model's inputs and check the outputs move the way you expect. | BasicYou can build a simple model for a question such as a price change or new hire, with inputs, calculations and outputs kept separate. | ProficientYou can build a three-statement or investment model with scenarios and sensitivities, and document its assumptions. | AdvancedYou can review others' models for errors and fragile logic, and set the modeling standards for the team. | AdvancedYou can review others' models for errors and fragile logic, and set the modeling standards for the team. | |
| NoviceYou can answer a budget holder's question about a transaction or a report line. | NoviceYou can answer a budget holder's question about a transaction or a report line. | ProficientYou can support a business area as its finance partner, bringing analysis to its decisions and challenging spend that does not pay back. | AdvancedYou can partner with senior leaders on pricing, investment and hiring decisions, and lead the finance partners who support them. | ExpertYou can shape the organization's major decisions as a member of its leadership, making sure the financial consequences are understood before they are taken. | |
| Certifications1 | |||||
| Not required | Not required | Not required | Required | Required | |
| Delivery4 | |||||
| NoviceYou can keep your own tasks and deadlines in a current to-do list, and tell your manager as soon as work you own will be late. | BasicYou can organize a small piece of work into steps, put them in a sensible order, and finish it by the date you agreed, raising problems before they cause a delay. | ProficientYou can coordinate a small team's work on a shared goal: who does what by when, what has to wait for what, and a revised plan when things change. | AdvancedYou can keep several people's work in step across teams, agree priorities and hand-offs with them, and keep one shared task list that all of them actually use. | ExpertYou can set the everyday habits for how work is organized and followed up across the organization, and teams you do not lead adopt the routines you introduce. | |
| NoviceYou can estimate how long a task will take once the approach is clear, and you say promptly when the estimate turns out to be wrong. | BasicYou can estimate your own work with reasonable accuracy and keep a steady enough pace that other people can plan around you. | ProficientYou can estimate a whole project including its risks and unknowns, split it into stages, and defend the estimate when it is challenged. | AdvancedYou can estimate work that spans several teams, name the assumptions behind each figure, and rework the plan when those assumptions break. | ExpertYou can forecast work and staffing quarters ahead, and set the estimating method other teams use. | |
| BasicYou can stay responsible after you hand work over: you check it did what it was meant to, fix your own mistakes, and give updates before anyone asks. | ProficientYou can pick up a problem that has no obvious owner and make yourself accountable for it, including the parts nobody enjoys. | AdvancedYou can hold accountability for outcomes delivered mostly by other people, taking the blame when it fails and passing on the credit when it works. | AdvancedYou can hold accountability for outcomes delivered mostly by other people, taking the blame when it fails and passing on the credit when it works. | ExpertYou can report the organization's most exposed outcomes to its leaders as they stand, including bad news, and answer for them. | |
| BasicYou can choose checks that suit the task in front of you, catch your own mistakes before anyone else sees them, and confirm the result works once people start using it. | ProficientYou can define what good enough means for a project, put checks in place to show it has been met, and hold work back when it falls short. | AdvancedYou can set how quality is checked on complex work shared by several teams, and you spot the problems that only appear where their pieces meet. | AdvancedYou can set how quality is checked on complex work shared by several teams, and you spot the problems that only appear where their pieces meet. | ExpertYou can raise the quality bar across the organization by building the tools and habits that make the careful way the easy way. | |
| Craft3 | |||||
| BasicYou can work out what is wrong in work you did not create, and you fix the underlying cause instead of working around the symptom. | ProficientYou can break a large, ambiguous problem into pieces and weigh the options for each against the evidence. | AdvancedYou can make the call on a problem outside your expertise and explain its cost, time and risk. | AdvancedYou can make the call on a problem outside your expertise and explain its cost, time and risk. | ExpertYou can crack problems the organization has repeatedly failed to solve, and your approach becomes how others tackle that whole kind of problem. | |
| NoviceYou can apply the basics of your field to the work you are given, and ask an expert when a task goes beyond what you have learned. | BasicYou can work confidently with the tools and methods your team uses daily, and you can explain how your work serves the team's goals. | ProficientYou can advise the team on your area and apply new developments in the field where they pay off. | AdvancedYou can bring in good practice from outside the organization and make it work here, and your judgment clearly improves the work you touch. | ExpertYou can influence how the field is practiced beyond this organization, and your expertise settles questions that have stood open for years. | |
| ProficientYou can pick up an unfamiliar area fast enough to be useful in it, and you turn what you learned into something others can reuse. | ProficientYou can pick up an unfamiliar area fast enough to be useful in it, and you turn what you learned into something others can reuse. | AdvancedYou can judge which new ideas are worth the team's time and which are not, and you make room for the people around you to learn too. | AdvancedYou can judge which new ideas are worth the team's time and which are not, and you make room for the people around you to learn too. | ExpertYou can set what the organization invests its learning time in, and the material and practice you create outlive your involvement. | |
| Communication4 | |||||
| BasicYou can explain your work so your team can act on it, and play a request back in your own words before you act on it. | ProficientYou can explain a complex topic to people with very different backgrounds, adjusting the detail to the audience without talking down to them. | AdvancedYou can bring disagreeing groups to agreement on the facts and the next steps, and help colleagues frame a difficult or sensitive message. | AdvancedYou can bring disagreeing groups to agreement on the facts and the next steps, and help colleagues frame a difficult or sensitive message. | ExpertYou can set how the organization communicates by creating the forums and norms that teams use to share information. | |
| BasicYou can work well with people in other roles, share context and credit, and take criticism of your work without defending territory. | ProficientYou can build working relationships beyond your own team and get things done through people who do not report to you. | AdvancedYou can align teams with competing priorities on a common goal, surfacing the conflict early instead of letting it harden into resentment. | AdvancedYou can align teams with competing priorities on a common goal, surfacing the conflict early instead of letting it harden into resentment. | ExpertYou can remove the barriers that stop teams working together by putting in place routines and forums they use across the organization. | |
| BasicYou can document your own work well enough for a colleague to follow it unaided, such as a how-to guide or a handover, and keep it current as things change. | ProficientYou can write for a defined audience, whether a proposal, a policy, a report, or a decision record, and make the reasoning as clear as the conclusion. | AdvancedYou can own the documents behind a large piece of work, coordinating contributions so that people who were not involved can carry it on. | AdvancedYou can own the documents behind a large piece of work, coordinating contributions so that people who were not involved can carry it on. | ExpertYou can set the writing standard the organization works to, and documents you wrote are still in use long after you have moved on. | |
| NoviceYou can keep your manager and immediate team informed of your progress, and you raise an issue before someone else discovers it. | BasicYou can identify who is affected by your work and keep them updated at a level of detail and a frequency that suits them. | ProficientYou can win support for a proposal, reset expectations when the plan changes, and turn down a request with a reason the other side accepts. | AdvancedYou can hold senior and external relationships, negotiate between competing demands, and deliver unwelcome news without losing trust. | ExpertYou can represent the organization in its most important relationships and set how it engages with everyone who depends on it. | |
| Leadership3 | |||||
| NoviceYou can act on direction well, seek feedback on how you work, and be open about what you need help with. | BasicYou can spot a problem and propose a way forward unprompted, and you take a small leading role such as running a working group. | ProficientYou can lead one piece of work shared by several people, on your own team and beyond, and make calls that they act on. | AdvancedYou can lead across team boundaries, build the credibility that makes people follow you by choice, and create room for others to lead. | ExpertYou can set direction for the whole organization, make hard calls under real uncertainty, and carry the decisions nobody else wants to own. | |
| NoviceYou can share what you have just learned with your peers and help a newer colleague find their way around. | BasicYou can help someone new settle into your team's work, answer their questions patiently, and give feedback specific enough to act on. | ProficientYou can mentor someone over months, tell them the uncomfortable thing they need to hear, and adapt how you teach to how they learn. | AdvancedYou can develop other mentors, coach people through career decisions rather than tasks, and lift the capability of a whole team. | ExpertYou can shape how the organization grows its people, and those you developed are themselves named by others as strong in their field. | |
| NoviceYou can explain why the work you were given matters and who it is for. | BasicYou can connect your team's work to its goals and question a task that does not appear to serve them. | ProficientYou can look a year ahead in your area, name what will matter by then, and turn that into work people can pick up now. | AdvancedYou can set direction for an area, choose deliberately what not to do, and defend that choice when it is challenged. | ExpertYou can shape the organization's strategy, and the bets you argued for are visible in where it ended up. | |
Use this ladder with your own team
For managers and HR teams: create a free account, then add finance & accounting from Departments → Add from template in one click: all 38 skills, with the mastery expected at each of your 5 career levels.