What is a sales accountant? Roles and responsibilities required

Sales accounting is considered an important position, responsible for coordinating with other departments to complete sales transactions accurately and promptly. So, what role does this position play in the business? Let's refer to the article below with 1C Vietnam.

1. What is sales accounting?

Sales accountant is a position that performs the tasks of managing invoices and documents, including recording sales invoices, VAT, recording revenue books, recording sales invoices, preparing reports on sales activities... according to the requirements of the management board. This position plays an important role in the business activities of the enterprise, especially units operating in the retail sector.

In a business, the sales accounting department will have the following powers:

• Sales accountants can request adjustments, changes, or cancellations of invoices if necessary.
• Propose measures to resolve cases of invalid invoices.
• If there is any problem with the head of accounting, have the right to propose payment cases, ensure related issues are resolved promptly.
• Sales accountants must receive work assignments and supervision from the chief accountant and ensure close supervision from higher-level officials.

2. The role of sales accounting in business

Sales accounting connects many departments, affecting the costs and revenues of a business. Here are three main roles of sales accounting:

2.1 Ensure business compliance with regulations

The task of a sales accountant is to perform operations related to sales activities in accordance with the law. As a result, businesses will avoid being penalized for administrative violations in accounting and tax.

2.2 Helps optimize costs and increase profits

Sales accounting helps businesses optimize sales costs by analyzing sales reports, thereby identifying unnecessary or deductible expenses. This helps businesses save costs and increase profits.

2.3 Provide information on sales activities

Sales accountants are responsible for providing information on sales activities such as: Revenue, costs, profits... This is the basis for managers to make appropriate business decisions. In addition to the important tasks mentioned above, sales accountants also take on a number of roles in the business such as:

• Support the sales department in synthesizing data, cost of goods sold of each order, calculating revenue and bonuses for sales staff.
• Support the purchasing department in placing orders from suppliers, ensuring that inventory is sufficient to meet customer needs and avoid inventory that causes capital congestion.
• Sales accounting provides data for managers to understand the business and financial situation of the enterprise, thereby making timely decisions.
• Ensure compliance with account 511 (as prescribed in Article 79 of Circular 200/2014/TT-BTC) and some other related accounts.
• Create and submit VAT returns, as well as report on invoice usage.
• Create sales activity reports on demand such as: Reports on revenue, expenses, profits, debts, and inventories by period.

3. Sales accountant job

In general, sales accountants will be responsible for tasks related to invoice recording and sales financial management. However, each business will have different allocations of work and responsibilities of sales accountants. Below are the tasks of sales accountants by day, month, and period that managers need to know:

3.1 Daily work

Every day, the main tasks of a sales accountant will be as follows:

• Collect sales-related documents such as: Quotations, orders, sales contracts, delivery notes... then record them in software/books to manage sales by order, contract...
• Check information related to documents, actual quantity exported, selling price... to create and send invoices to customers.
• Classify documents according to each transaction related to sales and revenue deductions (if any) to record in related books.
• Manage pricing and sales policies to ensure sales meet requirements and appropriate revenue recognition.
• Declare detailed sales invoices; calculate total revenue, VAT and services sold during the day.
• Manage documents and books of sales activities.
• Manage and collect debts if the business does not have its own debt accountant.
• Check and monitor the sales situation of the business.
• Support and link data with relevant accounting departments.
• At the end of the day, check and compare inventory and delivery data.

3.2 Monthly work

Below are the tasks that sales accountants need to perform each month:

• Calculate the cost of goods sold of products/services. If the business is a trading company, the sales accountant must determine the actual purchase price and allocate the purchase cost of the goods sold.
• Calculate total revenue and VAT of each customer and each affiliated unit.
• Prepare and check sales inventory.
• Prepare reports on sales, revenue, accounts receivable, sales plan implementation status reports, etc. to send to the board of directors, helping managers make timely decisions.

3.3 Final work

Usually at the end of each period, the work of a sales accountant will be relatively complicated. Some of the jobs to mention are as follows:

• Understand and collect complete and accurate information about the items related to sales costs.
• Provide accounting information to prepare financial statements for businesses.
• Synthesize sales and revenue information as required by superiors to evaluate results and make business plans.
• Propose tasks related to sales, revenue, debt, etc. to the board of directors.
• Collaborate with warehouse accountants to compare inventory quantity and value; coordinate with payment accountants, cashiers, etc. to finalize debt figures, cash, bank deposits, etc. Help businesses manage cash effectively, especially businesses that collect a lot of cash such as stores, supermarkets, etc.
• Perform work as required by management.

4. Detailed duties of sales accountant

In the management and evaluation of business performance, the sales accountant will perform the tasks of updating sales prices and managing invoices and documents for the business. Each task will have the following work content:

• Update quantity and price of goods

Sales accountants need to regularly update the quantity and selling price of goods into the accounting software, and notify relevant departments if there are any price adjustments.

• Sales Management
  • During the sales process, sales accountants manage and check the invoices (input and output) of the business through electronic invoice software.
  • Proceed with invoicing and attaching detailed goods declarations, and update and track sales daily.
  • Enter sales data into the accounting program with the following contents: Declare daily sales invoices and total value of goods sold plus VAT (if any).
  • Calculate trade discount rate or payment discount rate (if any).

• Update inventory data

Sales accountants coordinate with inventory, warehouse accountants and warehouse managers to reconcile inventory quantities, as well as update actual quantities into the software. Then create a sales report at the end of each day.

• Track sales debt
  • Collaborate with revenue accounting and accounts receivable to compile metrics on accounts receivable, collections, and cash management.
  • Develop a debt collection plan during the sales process.
  • Manage and track accounts receivable, customers, shipments, due amounts and customer payment status.

• Make sales report

Sales accountants need to prepare reports on sales lists and accounts receivable for each sales period or as requested by management. Typically, reports will be prepared monthly, quarterly, and annually on the use of financial invoices by the business.

5. Sales accounting process

A sales accounting process needs to follow these 3 steps:

• Step 1: The accountant will receive the order or contract from the sales staff and business department.
• Step 2: Check the inventory quantity of the business. Then, there will be 2 cases:
  • Case 1: The inventory quantity is not enough to meet customer demand, the sales accountant will have to notify the sales department so that they can advise the customer or cancel the order if necessary.
  • Case 2: The inventory quantity is sufficient to meet the customer's demand, the sales accountant will request to create a warehouse delivery note and transfer it to the warehouse keeper to carry out the delivery. At the same time, the sales accountant will create an invoice, warehouse delivery note and delivery receipt to send to the sales staff, then send the goods to the customer.

• Step 3: Finally, the sales accountant will have to record the sales transactions that have occurred and the general ledger and detailed ledger of sales activities.

Note: For service providers, when customers pay, sales accountants need to base on documents related to accounting for arising economic transactions to create invoices for the services just provided.

6. Important knowledge for sales accounting work

When taking on the job of sales accountant, the person performing the job needs to grasp some of the following knowledge:

6.1 Sales accounting recognition rules

• Sales results are the remaining profits from sales activities after deducting the costs incurred.
• Sales accounting will determine sales results through the difference between net revenue and other items such as: Cost of goods sold, management costs... according to the formula:

Business performance = Net profit from production and business activities + Financial performance + Other performance - Business management costs.

In there:

• Net profit from production and business activities = Net revenue from sales and service provision – Cost of goods sold – Cost of goods sold;
• Financial performance = Financial performance revenue – Financial performance expenses;
• Other operating results = Other income – Other expenses – Corporate income tax expense.

6.2 Sales revenue recognition rules

Sales accountants need to meet the following 5 conditions to accurately record sales revenue. Specifically as follows:

• Has transferred the risks and benefits of the product/service to the customer;
• Achieve economic benefits through sales activities;
• Identify and secure revenue streams;
• No longer holds ownership of the goods.
• The costs associated with sales activities have been identified.

6.3 Documents related to sales accounting

To do a good job as a sales accountant, accountants need to know how to identify the types of documents they are working with. Below are some related documents that sales accountants need to know:

• VAT invoice: Form No. 01 GTKT-3LL
• Warehouse delivery and internal transport note: Form No. 03 – VT
• Warehouse delivery note for sale to agents: Form No. 02 – VT
• Receipt: Form No. 01 – TT
• Receipt of payment: Form No. 06 – TT
• Notice of availability
• Sales reports and sales statements of goods and services.
• Cash register, counter card, daily goods receipt and payment sheet.
• Other relevant documents.

6.4 Document circulation process

The order of document circulation is the process of transferring accounting documents from the preparer to the authorized person for approval, accounting and storage. Sales accountants will have to create sales invoices when invoices and documents arise. An invoice will usually include 3 copies: Copy 1 is saved on the original invoice, copy 2 is given to the customer and copy 3 is retained by the business. There will be 3 cases when circulating documents:

• Customer acknowledges debt: Sales accountant will make a delivery and receipt record and confirm the debt. The document will be made in 3 copies: Copy 1 for checking when exporting goods, copy 2 for delivery to the customer and copy 3 for the business to keep.
• Customers pay by cash: The accountant will make a receipt in 3 copies, each copy must have the director's signature. Of which, copy 1 is kept by the cashier, the place where the receipt is made keeps 1 copy and copy 3 will be kept by the payer.
• Customers pay by bank transfer: The business will receive a receipt to confirm the payment.

6.5 Reports related to sales accounting

When performing tasks related to sales accounting, businesses need to make reports with the following complete content:

• Sales activity book and diary.
• Sales summary book.
• The ledger shows account information such as revenue, cash, bank deposits, etc.
• Order fulfillment status.
• Profit and loss situation of each order.
• Accounts receivable book.
• Accounts receivable summary.
• Accounts receivable analysis book by term
• Some other reports according to business needs.

7. Skills to become a professional sales accountant

Sales accountant is an important position, taking on tasks related to sales activities. To perform this position well, the required skills are:

• Professional qualifications

Professional qualifications are the core factor that any business is interested in when recruiting. This can be knowledge about preparing and presenting financial reports, accounting documents, taxes, commerce, statistics, sales analysis, etc. From there, sales accountants will have the basic foundation to perform sales operations accurately, while contributing to improving the financial situation of the business.

• Proficient in office software

Nowadays, using office information technology is a necessary skill for a sales accountant . This position must be proficient in accounting tools and software such as: Word, Excel, MISA, AMIS, IPOS... to perform operations quickly, conveniently and in accordance with the process.

• Good communication skills

This is one of the useful skills that helps sales accountants create good relationships, easily connect with other departments in the business and customers. From there, promote work performance and support the communication of work information clearly and accurately.

• Problem analysis and solving

Analytical and problem-solving skills help accountants easily handle arising problems effectively and provide solutions suitable for business operations.

• Good time management

Good time management skills help sales accountants complete their work on time. Therefore, accountants need to know how to plan, allocate time reasonably and complete work scientifically.

• Teamwork skills

This is an extremely important skill that helps sales accountants coordinate effectively with related departments to complete sales strategies and synthesize accurate data.

• Careful, meticulous

Sales accountants have to deal with many books, documents, cash flow, etc., so it is easy to make mistakes. Therefore, sales accountants need to be meticulous and careful to complete accounting tasks accurately, while creating trust from management and customers.

• Withstand work pressure

Accounting is one of the professions that has to face a lot of pressure from a large and stressful workload, especially having to always ensure absolute accuracy. Therefore, almost any business is always looking for people who can withstand high pressure and know how to handle work smoothly.

8. How much is the salary of a sales accountant?

Currently, the salary of a sales accountant will vary depending on the size and form of salary payment of each enterprise. For those who have just graduated, the basic salary will range from 3 - 4 million VND.

People with 1-2 years of experience in small and medium enterprises will have a salary ranging from 5 - 6 million VND, with large enterprises and corporations, the salary will be from 6 - 7 million VND. For people with 4 - 5 years of experience, the salary will be from 8 - 10 million VND.

9. Manage sales accounting operations with 1C:ERP solution

Developed by 1C Vietnam, 1C:ERP is a comprehensive business management solution, suitable for all types of businesses, especially manufacturing businesses. In addition, this is also a solution to help businesses enhance their brand, increase competitive advantage and develop globally.

The strengths that businesses need to make the decision to choose 1C:ERP include:

• The open system helps sales accountants and businesses master technology and software, reducing dependence on suppliers.
• Flexible pricing system, including multiple price styles with currencies, impressive deal templates available.
• Built-in acceptance vouchers and tasks for sales accounting work.
• Business management for stock sales and sales by order or temporary order.
• Available with Vietnamese Accounting Standards (VAS) and International Accounting Standards (IFRS), quickly support sales accountants to create and develop the most suitable reports for different business models.
• Meet the requirements of business growth management, support production with technology, provide business management process chain from simple to complex.
• Compatible with multiple platforms and database management software, leveraging existing enterprise platforms.
• Provide full range of operations for in-depth application to commercial operating models, especially manufacturing.
• The software helps automate the entire process and related work. From there, it is easy to manage business in every aspect of the enterprise.

So, what are the benefits when businesses apply 1C:ERP software?

• Providing planning tools: 1C:ERP integrates tools that help track and plan business, saving sales accountants time and effort and making it easier for them to organize their daily work content.
• Optimize workflow: Software supports management and connection of activities between departments in the enterprise, thereby helping enterprises eliminate duplicate work and manual operations.
• Real-time reporting available: Sales accountants can create financial reports according to management's needs and allocations at any time.
• Improve product quality: The software helps synchronize all data in the business and quickly check inventory levels, shipping policies and record customer reviews. Helps businesses optimize services and promptly detect arising problems.
• Data protection: With strict authorization and data encryption, 1C:ERP helps sales accountants and businesses easily manage information and ensure transparency of user operation history.
• Improve investment efficiency: 1C:ERP helps businesses optimize operating costs, control goals, and estimate work efficiency to achieve financial goals.

Through the above content, 1C Vietnam hopes to help businesses understand what sales accounting is , the role and operations of sales accounting. In addition, applying sales accounting principles and combining the use of support solutions such as 1C:ERP will help employees monitor and manage the business situation in the enterprise. If your business wants to experience the 1C:ERP solution, please quickly contact 1C Vietnam via hotline (+84) 247 108 8887.