It is the most common position in French accounting firms (cabinets d’expertise comptable), and one of the worst described in job adverts. Behind “staff accountant” (collaborateur comptable), “portfolio assistant” or “experienced accountant” lies a precise job: keeping and reviewing the accounts of a set of clients, often very small businesses and SMEs, up to the annual accounts and tax returns, while being their day-to-day contact. This article describes what the title covers depending on the size of the firm, a typical year, the relationship with the portfolio, the skills required, the possible career moves and how to describe your client files on a CV.
What the title covers depending on firm size
Onisep, the national careers information body, describes the accounting firm staff member as the person who, under the authority of the chartered accountant, takes charge of the accounts of a portfolio of clients. The exact content varies greatly with the organisation.
In a small firm (one or two chartered accountants and a few staff), the staff accountant does almost everything: data entry or checking pre-accounting, review, year-end accounts, tax return package, VAT returns, sometimes payroll and social declarations. They know the business owners and answer their everyday questions.
In a regional firm or a network, the work is more organised into departments. The staff accountant focuses on accounting and tax, while a payroll department handles payslips and a legal department handles meetings and formalities. Client files may be larger, and supervision more structured.
The difference from an accounting assistant lies in autonomy: the assistant performs production tasks on files followed by others (data entry, account matching, reconciliations); the staff accountant takes responsibility for whole files up to the year-end accounts, under review by an engagement lead or the chartered accountant. The title “experienced staff accountant” often refers to someone who already supervises an assistant or a work-study student.
A typical year, from tax season to year-end accounts
A staff accountant’s pace follows that of year-end closings and tax deadlines. For a portfolio mostly closing on 31 December, the year looks like this.
From January to May: year-end accounts and tax season. This is the busiest period. The staff accountant collects year-end documents, reviews the accounts, posts year-end entries (inventory, accrued expenses, deferred income, provisions), and prepares the annual accounts, the tax return package and the corporate tax return, whose deadlines fall in the spring. Year-end meetings with business owners follow one another.
From June to August: off-cycle files and a breather. Clients with other year-ends (30 June, 30 September) take over. It is also the time for training, holidays and updating the firm’s procedures.
From September to November: interim statements and advice. Interim statements for clients who need them, forecasts for bank applications, first discussions on the expected result for the year and on the owners’ pay.
In December: planning ahead. Year-end tax planning, preparing stock counts, chasing missing documents.
Throughout the year: recurring filings. Monthly or quarterly VAT, corporation tax instalments, answers to clients’ everyday questions. The roll-out of electronic invoicing between businesses adds a new project: the French tax authority (DGFiP) points out that all businesses must be able to receive electronic invoices and that SMEs and micro-businesses will have to issue them from 1 September 2027; firms support their clients through this change.
The client portfolio and client relationships
The portfolio is the staff accountant’s unit of work. Its size depends on the nature of the clients and the level of service: a few dozen very small businesses with full bookkeeping, or a smaller number of SMEs whose in-house accounts they review.
What makes a good staff accountant in a partner’s eyes:
- meeting deadlines: no late filings, year-end accounts delivered on time;
- quality of review: a complete working file, accounts supported, open points identified before review;
- client relationships: answering quickly, explaining simply, alerting the chartered accountant when an issue goes beyond bookkeeping (cash difficulties, a planned sale, a tax audit);
- contribution to the firm: training a work-study student, improving a tool, taking charge of a project such as going paperless.
The client relationship is often what attracts people to this job, and what distinguishes it from audit, where the auditor changes client with every engagement. To compare the two, see what sets a chartered accountant apart from a statutory auditor.
Skills and qualifications required
Qualifications. According to Onisep, the position is accessible from two years after the baccalauréat (BTS in accounting and management, BUT GEA), but firms increasingly recruit at DCG level, or even DSCG level for experienced positions. These diplomas also open the rest of the track.
Technical skills:
- general accounting and account review;
- business taxation: VAT, corporation tax, income tax for the self-employed, the tax return package;
- basics of company law and, in small firms, payroll and social declarations;
- command of production software (Cegid, ACD, Sage, Quadra, Pennylane depending on the firm), Excel and paperless tools.
In firms where the staff accountant also handles payroll, the skills come close to those of a payroll administrator: the description of this neighbouring job, with its duties and routes in, can be found in the article on the payroll administrator profession 🔗.
Interpersonal and organisational skills: managing priorities across a portfolio, communicating with business owners who are not specialists, rigour in filing documents and respect for professional secrecy.
Moving up to engagement lead or towards the DEC
The staff accountant position opens several career moves, within the firm or elsewhere.
Engagement lead in chartered accountancy. After a few years, the experienced staff accountant takes a larger portfolio, supervises staff and work-study students, and becomes the clients’ main contact on behalf of the chartered accountant.
The DEC. With the DSCG, the staff accountant can start the chartered accountancy traineeship and aim for the diploma; many do so in their own firm. Our article on the DEC traineeship details the steps.
Audit. Some staff accountants join a statutory audit firm, where their knowledge of how accounts are produced is an asset.
Industry. Sole accountant in an SME, general accountant, then head of accounting: see becoming a head of accounting.
Showcasing your client files on a CV
A staff accountant’s CV must answer one question: what portfolio can you be given from day one? Three elements answer it.
The portfolio: number of client files, types of clients (very small businesses, SMEs, liberal professions, property companies, associations), sectors, level of service (full bookkeeping or review).
Deliverables: year-end accounts, tax return packages, VAT returns, interim statements, forecasts.
Responsibilities and projects: supervising a work-study student, deploying a tool, supporting clients with electronic invoicing.
Before / after:
- Before: “Staff accountant: bookkeeping, year-end accounts and tax returns for a portfolio of clients.”
- After: “Staff accountant, regional accounting firm: portfolio of 60 client files (retail and craft businesses, liberal professions, property companies), from bookkeeping to year-end accounts; 60 tax return packages a year; supported 15 clients in moving to electronic invoicing.”
The accounting firm staff accountant CV example applies these principles on a complete CV, and the trainee chartered accountant CV example shows the next step. To start from a clean base, the CV editor arranges this information on one page and produces a PDF that firms’ screening software reads without losing the detail of your portfolio.
Sources
- Onisep, accounting firm staff job profile 🔗.
- Direction générale des Finances publiques, electronic invoicing: from what date must my business be ready? 🔗
- Ordre des experts-comptables, the chartered accountancy curriculum 🔗.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a firm staff accountant and an in-house accountant?
The firm staff accountant manages several clients at once; the in-house accountant manages the accounts of a single organisation, often in more depth on certain processes. The two jobs overlap on technique.
How many client files does a staff accountant manage?
It depends on the size and complexity of the clients, and on the level of service: a portfolio of very small businesses with full bookkeeping is nothing like a portfolio of SMEs under review. Always specify the nature of the files on your CV.
Is remote working possible?
Increasingly so, thanks to paperless documents and online software. Year-end periods and client meetings often remain in the office.
Do you need the DCG to be a staff accountant?
Not always: a BTS or BUT with experience may be enough. The DCG, then the DSCG, become useful for moving towards engagement lead and the DEC.