A pharmacy accountant is responsible for recording, maintaining, and reconciling the financial obligations of this particular type of business. The average pharmacy accountant duties entail tracking amounts that pharmacy owners owe to other vendors. This job also requires accountants to record any outstanding balances on each customer's account. These accountants also keep their clients updated on any existing business tax obligations to be paid each year. Other accountant requirements may include keeping inventory records and preparing payroll checks for the company's technicians and pharmacists.
The typical pharmacy accountant has good background knowledge of local and national tax regulations as they apply to this specific industry. Pharmacies are sometimes subject to more tax liabilities than other types of businesses, and an experienced accountant can usually help the owners make timely payments while avoiding penalties. Some duties also entail formulating a plan for a pharmacy owner to increase yearly profits and reduce unnecessary operating costs.
In addition to tax filing procedures, the job description includes routine bookkeeping duties to keep track of the business's income and expenses. These accountants usually keep ledgers of monthly debits and credits as well as upcoming payment dates. Since pharmacies frequently dispense medications covered by health insurance policies, a pharmacy accountant also usually needs to record this kind of information in most cases. These financial reports normally list the amounts that customers' insurance plans will pay versus any leftover sums to be paid out-of-pocket to the pharmacy.
Pharmacy accountants may have other job duties that require them to match existing medication inventories with records of amounts paid to suppliers. Larger pharmacies may employ a separate inventory specialist to perform physical inventories and present this information to the accountant. The accountant typically records the numbers of each pharmacy item and makes sure the prices of each add up correctly. Accountants also need to know where to find common record errors and how to correct them. Pharmacies with smaller inventories may leave both the physical inventory and the financial reconciliation up to the accountant.
Payroll is another common responsibility of a pharmacy accountant. Many pharmacies require an accountant to keep track of employee hours, individual rates of pay, and usually withheld payroll taxes. This kind of job duty often involves preparing, issuing, and recording paychecks on the pharmacy's designated paydays. An accountant may also arrange for electronic direct deposits into pharmacy employee bank accounts.