Accountant Job Description Template for Indian Companies

An accountant job description template saves you from writing the same post from scratch every time the books fall behind. More importantly, a good one filters applicants before they reach your inbox. Most Indian small and mid-sized companies post a two-line ad that says "Accountant required, Tally knowledge, 2 years experience" and then wonder why they receive 300 resumes, of which perhaps ten can actually file a GSTR-3B without help. This guide gives you a full template you can copy, a version for junior and senior roles, salary bands to anchor expectations, and the screening questions that tell you within ten minutes whether a candidate can do the job.

What an Accountant Actually Does in an Indian SME

Before writing the JD, be honest about the role. In a company with 10 to 200 employees, the accountant is rarely a pure bookkeeper. They usually own some mix of the following:

• Day-to-day bookkeeping: sales and purchase entries, journal vouchers, bank entries, petty cash.
• Indirect tax: GST invoices, e-invoicing where turnover requires it, e-way bills, GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filing, reconciliation with GSTR-2B.
• Direct tax: TDS deduction and deposit, quarterly TDS returns, Form 16A, and supporting the auditor on income tax.
• Receivables and payables: customer follow-ups, vendor payment runs, ageing reports.
• Reconciliations: bank, vendor ledger, customer ledger, inter-branch.
• Month-end close: provisions, accruals, trial balance, basic MIS for the owner.
• Audit support: statutory audit schedules, documents for the CA firm.

If your accountant also handles payroll inputs or PF and ESI challans, say so. Hiding work in "other duties as assigned" is the most common reason new accountants resign in the first three months.

Accountant Job Description Template (Copy and Edit)

Use the template below as a base. Replace everything in square brackets. Keep the order: candidates read the first three lines on a phone and decide whether to continue.

Job title

Accountant [or Senior Accountant / Accounts Executive], [City], [Work from office / Hybrid]

About us

[Company name] is a [industry] company with [number] employees and [number] locations in [cities]. We [one sentence on what you sell and to whom]. Our finance team has [number] people and works with [name or type of] external CA firm for audit.

Role summary

You will own the books for [entity or entities], from daily entries to GST and TDS compliance and the monthly close. You will report to [Finance Manager / Founder] and work closely with sales, purchase and our auditors.

Key responsibilities

• Record sales, purchase, expense, bank and journal entries daily in [Tally Prime / Zoho Books / ERP name].
• Prepare and file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B on time; reconcile input tax credit with GSTR-2B every month.
• Generate e-invoices and e-way bills where applicable.
• Deduct TDS under the correct sections, deposit by the due date and file quarterly TDS returns.
• Complete bank reconciliation weekly and vendor and customer ledger reconciliations monthly.
• Track receivables, send statements and follow up on overdue payments above [X] days.
• Prepare the vendor payment schedule every [week / fortnight] for approval.
• Close the books by [working day 5] each month and share a basic MIS (sales, expenses, cash position).
• Prepare schedules and documents for the statutory audit and tax audit.

Must-have requirements

• B.Com, M.Com, or CA Inter / CMA Inter (pursuing or cleared).
• [2 to 4] years of hands-on accounting in an Indian company, including GST return filing.
• Working knowledge of [Tally Prime / your software] and Excel (VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP, pivot tables).
• Comfort with TDS sections commonly used in business: 194C, 194J, 194I, 194Q.

Nice to have

• Experience with e-invoicing and multi-GSTIN entities.
• Exposure to inventory accounting or costing.
• Experience working with an ERP rather than standalone accounting software.

What we offer

• CTC range: [₹X to ₹Y lakh per annum], based on experience.
• [Working days and hours, e.g., Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 6:30, second and fourth Saturdays off].
• [Benefits: PF, ESI if applicable, health insurance, leave].
• [Growth: path to Senior Accountant or Accounts Manager, CA articleship support, etc.].

How to apply

Apply with your resume and a two-line note on the GST returns you have filed. Shortlisted candidates will get a 20-minute phone call, then a short practical test and one interview.

Junior vs Senior Accountant: How the JD Should Change

One template does not fit every level. The table below shows what to adjust.

Element	Junior Accountant (0 to 2 years)	Accountant (2 to 5 years)	Senior Accountant (5+ years)
Core ownership	Data entry, bank entries, petty cash	Full books, GST and TDS filing	Close, audit, review of juniors' work
Qualification	B.Com	B.Com / M.Com / CA Inter	M.Com / CA Inter / CMA, sometimes CA
Typical tools	Tally, Excel basics	Tally or ERP, GST portal, TRACES	ERP, advanced Excel, MIS reporting
Reports to	Accountant or Accounts Manager	Finance Manager or Founder	CFO, Finance Head or Founder
Practical test	Pass 10 entries with GST	Reconcile a GSTR-2B extract	Review a trial balance with planted errors

Salary Bands to Put in the Accountant Job Description

Publishing a range is the single biggest lever for applicant quality. Candidates self-select, and you avoid the painful "expected CTC" mismatch at the offer stage. Ranges below are indicative for Indian cities in 2026 and vary sharply by city tier and industry; validate them against your own recent offers before publishing.

Level	Metro (Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR)	Tier 2 cities
Junior Accountant	₹2.4 to ₹3.6 lakh	₹1.8 to ₹2.8 lakh
Accountant	₹3.6 to ₹6 lakh	₹2.8 to ₹4.5 lakh
Senior Accountant	₹6 to ₹10 lakh	₹4.5 to ₹7 lakh

If you cannot publish exact numbers for internal reasons, at least publish "up to ₹X lakh". Even a ceiling cuts mismatched applications.

Screening Criteria That Match the Accountant JD

A JD is only useful if your screening tests what it promises. For accountants, use three filters in order.

1. Resume filter (2 minutes per resume)

• Has the candidate filed GST returns personally, or only "assisted"? Look for verbs like "filed", "reconciled", "prepared".
• Do the companies listed have a real GST footprint (trading, manufacturing, services with B2B billing)?
• Gaps are fine; unexplained frequent switches under six months deserve a question, not an automatic rejection.

2. Phone screen (15 to 20 minutes)

Ask five factual questions: when is GSTR-3B due, what happens if ITC in GSTR-2B is lower than in your books, which TDS section applies to a contractor payment, how do you treat an advance received from a customer under GST, and what is the last reconciliation you completed. A structured phone script is covered in our phone screening questions template.

3. Practical test (30 to 45 minutes)

Give a small set of ten transactions with GST and TDS implications, a bank statement extract with three unmatched entries, and ask the candidate to pass entries and identify the mismatches. This test separates experienced accountants from resume-polishers better than any interview question. For deeper interview rounds, use the bank in our accounts executive interview questions guide.

Common Mistakes in Accountant Job Descriptions

1. Listing software but not tasks. "Tally knowledge" says nothing. "Files GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B monthly in Tally Prime" says everything.
2. Asking for a CA when you need a strong B.Com. Qualified CAs rarely stay in a bookkeeping-heavy role. Over-qualification leads to early exits.
3. No mention of reporting line. Candidates want to know whether they report to a finance manager or directly to the owner. Both are fine; silence is not.
4. Hiding the working days. Six-day weeks are common in Indian SMEs. State it upfront and you lose applicants who would have dropped at the offer stage anyway.
5. Copying a big-company JD. Phrases like "IFRS reporting" and "SAP FICO" attract candidates whose expectations and salaries do not match an SME role.
6. No closing date or process. Telling candidates there will be a phone call, a test and one interview improves completion and reduces no-shows.

Where to Post Your Accountant Job

Accountant roles get volume on general job boards, so the challenge is quality, not quantity. Sources that tend to work well:

• Employee referrals from your existing finance staff and your CA firm's network.
• Local commerce colleges for junior roles, ideally timed with final-year results.
• General and regional job portals with screening questions turned on.
• Your own careers page, which converts better for candidates who already know your brand.
• CA Inter and CMA student communities for candidates looking for practical exposure.

Track which source produced the people who passed the practical test, not just who applied. That number decides where you spend next time.

Checklist Before You Publish

• Title includes the level and city.
• First three lines say what the role owns and the CTC range.
• Responsibilities are verbs plus specific outputs (returns, reconciliations, close date).
• Must-haves are five or fewer; everything else is "nice to have".
• Working days, hours and location are stated.
• The selection process is described in one line.
• Screening questions on the job portal match the must-haves.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I ask for Tally or ERP experience in the accountant job description?

Ask for the tool you actually use, but treat it as a nice-to-have unless the role starts with no training time. An accountant who understands GST and reconciliations learns new software in a few weeks. One who knows only menu paths struggles when the software changes.

Is CA Inter a must for an accountant role?

No. For most SME accountant roles, a B.Com or M.Com with two to four years of hands-on GST and TDS work is the better fit. CA Inter candidates are valuable, but many are also preparing for final exams, so discuss study leave expectations openly.

How long should an accountant job description be?

Between 300 and 500 words is enough. Long enough to list specific outputs and the CTC range, short enough to read on a phone. Move company history and values to your careers page.

What is the best practical test for an accountant?

A short set of real-looking transactions with GST and TDS treatment plus a bank reconciliation with a few deliberate mismatches. Keep it under 45 minutes and pay attention to how the candidate explains their reasoning, not just the final answers.

Should the accountant JD mention payroll?

Only if the accountant will actually process payroll inputs or statutory challans. If they will, state it clearly, because it changes the workload and the skills you should test.

Hire Your Next Accountant with Less Back-and-Forth

Once your JD is ready, managing applications in a spreadsheet becomes the next bottleneck. Fininvo Recruit lets you set custom pipeline stages per job, such as phone screen, practical test and interview, and score each round on a structured scorecard. See how it works on the Recruit page, compare plans on Recruit pricing, or explore the recruitment features in Fininvo HRMS.