The crucial role of accounting secretariat in a company

The accounting secretariat holds an essential place within a company. It can cover basic functions, but can also take on much broader and more specialized work. The accounting secretary is mainly responsible for important operational tasks, which requires quality training and a strong sense of responsibility.

What is the role of the accounting secretariat?

The accounting secretariat benefits from the growing complexity of administrative and accounting rules.

Originally, the accounting secretary simply recorded and processed accounting documents related to the company’s purchases and sales. Over time, they had to evolve to take on an increasingly specialized role, including oversight of ever more complicated procedures. In addition to managing accounting and administrative processes, they are responsible for administering the company’s expenses.

The social role of the accounting secretary within the company

Beyond accounting-related tasks, the accounting secretary acts as an advisor, as well as an intermediary between management and employees. Being aware of changes in accounting and administrative rules, they can indeed think about the company’s development in collaboration with the business owner, or even advise them if the owner lacks time to stay informed.

In addition, the accounting secretary works with colleagues to clarify the laws governing the various charges related to payslips. They inform them about their rights to leave, training, and during sick leave or workplace accidents.

By the nature of their job, the accounting secretary often ends up acting as an intermediary in the dialogue between management and employees.

Finally, knowing all the company’s secrets, the accounting secretary must show great discretion, both toward colleagues and toward third parties: public services, suppliers, partners, clients, landlords, etc.

The duties of the accounting secretary

The duties of the secretary are numerous, in addition to coordinating accounting and administrative activities within the company.

Reception and phone answering

In very small companies, the accounting secretary is sometimes the only person present on-site, along with the salespeople, the workers if there is a workshop, and the business owner. In this case, they are responsible for the switchboard and for greeting visitors in person.

It is also up to the accounting secretariat to manage the receipt of postal and digital mail.

Anticipating laws and regulations

The accounting secretariat is a unit integrated into the company, but one that must be able to work autonomously. In addition to daily tasks, they must stay informed about changes in the law, in order to anticipate the changes they bring — in the short and long term — to the company.

The accounting secretariat sets up procedures to comply with these laws. Among the recent major shifts in the world of work, digitalization holds a primary place. For example, if the company works with public sector organizations, the accounting secretary must send them electronic invoices, a requirement in place since January 1, 2020.

The timeline for upcoming e-invoicing obligations is as follows:

• from July 1, 2024, for receiving invoices, applicable to all VAT-registered businesses;
• from July 1, 2024, for sending invoices, applicable to large companies;
• from January 1, 2025, for mid-sized companies;
• from January 1, 2026, for small and medium-sized businesses and micro-enterprises.

The accounting secretary is at the forefront of this radical shift in habits, which is why a business owner should be able to rely on their secretariat with complete confidence.

Preparing legal documents

The accounting secretary prepares the necessary documents once decisions have been made at the top of the company. They keep track of all meetings and assemblies, for which they draft minutes, reports, and official records.

Drafting purchase documents

The accounting secretary records documents related to the company’s purchases, whether products or services. The scope of their responsibilities varies from one company to another. They may indeed hold decision-making authority for purchasing raw materials or for using general services for the company. For example, they may be responsible for facilities maintenance, office supplies purchasing, or IT maintenance.

Once the accounting secretary has built a relationship of trust with management, they can become the purchasing manager, or even the financial director. This is more often the case in small companies where employees tend to be multi-skilled. In such cases, it is up to the accounting secretary to assess the company’s needs and make proposals to management to improve profitability and cut costs on services that are too expensive or unnecessary.

Drafting sales documents

Naturally, it is up to the accounting secretariat to issue all accounting documents, including invoices and all related documents (quotes, purchase orders, delivery notes, credit notes, etc.).

Various filings with the tax authorities

The accounting secretariat prepares all filings required by the tax authorities. The list depends on the company’s legal status: VAT return, financial statements, appendices, etc.

Drafting tenders and funding applications

The accounting secretary may be appointed as the point of contact for external relations regarding tenders and funding applications.

After drafting and sending out tenders, they receive and sort the submitted files, in order to rule out bids that don’t meet the requirements and keep only valid files to present to management. The secretary must then inform the companies that responded to the tender of the results.

Conversely, the accounting secretary responds on behalf of their company to tenders issued by others. They work with other stakeholders within the company to put together the file’s content and the proposed rates. Their responsibility is significant, since every tender is governed by strict rules. If these are not followed, the company has no chance of having its bid succeed.

Finally, funding applications — public or private — often originate from the accounting secretariat. Here too, procedures must be strictly followed for the application to be accepted.

Compliance with regulatory standards

The regulations a company must comply with are ever more numerous, ever more complex, and require ever more administrative formalities. The accounting secretary must keep up to date with national and international standards, as well as the specifics related to their company’s field of activity. They must also stay informed about health and safety standards concerning staff.

Depending on their level of involvement, the accounting secretary informs management of upcoming changes, but may also be responsible for implementing them.

Involvement in human resources

As mentioned above, the accounting secretary is involved in human resources management. Unless the company has a dedicated department, they handle hiring and terminations, along with all the associated formalities. They also inform colleagues of their rights and obligations.

Archiving all administrative documents

Accounting and management records (general meeting minutes, financial statements, invoices, etc.) must comply with document retention periods. In addition, any employee may need to consult the archives. The accounting secretary is responsible for this archiving, which must be up to date, well organized, and secure. When it comes to archiving your invoices and quotes, you can try the Bizyness solution, which lets you centralize the various tasks of your business and keep your documents in digital format.

Given the wide range of tasks handled by the accounting secretary, it is important not to hire one without verifying their skills, as well as their loyalty to the company, since they have access to many confidential documents.