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Job
overview
Financial Accountants at Total work on the
accounts of the Group's different units.
As part of a team, they pepare and provide
accounting and financial information required
for the management of the different companies
or for compliance with official regulations.
They draw up balance sheets and income statements
in an international work environment, in
close contact with the Group's management
controllers, tax experts and auditors.
First steps
Junior Financial Accountants may start out
at the Group's Central Accounting Department,
as "Bank Operations Accountant".
They may also join the Group's Account Consolidation
or Tax Consolidation Department, where the
focus is on the establishment of the consolidated
accounts and consolidated tax returns and
declarations.
Other possibilities include assignments
at one of the Group's operational units
or subsidiaries, to supervise and check
the entries made, monitor account progression,
and prepare the entity's year-end results.
Career options
After acquiring essential mechanisms and
a broader view of Total's activities, Financial
Accountants may decide to assume accounting
and financial responsibilities within an
operational division,
a subsidiary or a project team, or move
into other financial professions in Internal
Auditing or Management Control.
Our recruitment
criteria
. Higher degree from a business school,
BA or MA in Finance or Accounting, CPA or
CMA.
. Proficiency in financial and accounting
software.
. Analytical skills, sense of synthesis,
precision, discretion, good contact with
people individually and in a team context,
autonomous, open-minded, adaptable.
. English, fluent French.
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Testimonial
Vincent V.
Consolidator
Graduated from ESCP.
What do you do
in your job ?
After four years of a first work experience
at Coopers & Lybrand, I decided to join
the Consolidation Department of the Financial
Division of Total - now Total. Although
auditing was a job where I gained a lot
of valuable experience and solid technical
credentials, I have the feeling that I'm
now on a track that's much more stable and
more clearly oriented towards the long term,
with a great number of options and especially
international opportunities.
In actual practice,
what does that involve ?
Total is now a Group with many companies
in more than 100 countries around the world.
As a Consolidator, you rapidly acquire a
global view of all the Group's activities.
We consolidate the Group's accounts, but
part of our job is also to work with the
people in operations to clarify the accounting
and financial aspects of their projects.
So we actively participate in decisions
that often have great financial impact.
Generally speaking, when you're working
on the consolidated accounts of a Group
where you're looking at multi-currency operations
of international scope, you certainly need
to be clear-headed, well-organized, and
on top of things technically !
What qualities
do you need for this job ?
In our team, every Consolidator works autonomously
on his or her files. Apart from very solid
financial and accounting competencies, this
job requires a lot of rigour in terms of
working methods but also relative flexibility
when it comes to dealing with people - good
relationships with the subsidiaries are
something you build in your day-to-day contact.
And even though it's perfectly justified
to come in with high ambitions, you need
an open mind and be ready to keep learning.
Trust from the different parties concerned
is something you earn through the quality
of your work and the quality of your relations
with people.
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Testimonial
Olivier C.
Internal Auditor
Graduated from EDHEC.
What does an Internal
Auditor do ?
For accounting, Total uses SAP, one of the
world standards for financial accounting
software. Internal Auditors in the Group's
Accounting Division have to know this program
inside out so that, among other things,
they can train new users. Working in close
contact with different project teams and
consultants, they constantly keep up with
advances in this software which may notably
result from changes in accounting and tax
rules or regulations. Their general aim
is to keep optimizing this platform, to
have it reflect the life of the Group most
rapidly and most efficiently.
In actual practice,
what does that involve ?
Accounting must give a true and fair picture
of the Group's diverse business activities,
from crude oil purchases to the sale of
gasoline, from maintenance for a service
station to maintenance for a refinery. I
check the existence, pertinence and application
of accounting procedures, so every day I'm
in touch with more than a dozen people to
try and sort out all kinds of different
problems with them. In some cases these
are very simple questions, in some cases
they're very complex. It's very valuable
experience to have this contact with "the
field", this immersion in industrial
life and operations. It very quickly gives
you a broad view of the Group's different
activities and professions.
How do you see
your career developing in the future ?
With a good "general culture"
that covers the whole Group, a vision that
reaches across all the Group's different
business activities and the different players
involved, plus solid foundations in accounting
and finance, Internal Auditors have excellent
opportunities for a career with a predominantly
financial focus. Personally, what I want
to do soon is to go and work abroad, and
in time, to work in Financial Management
at one of our international subsidiaries.
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