Accountant---Oil and Gas Revenue
Updated June 26, 2020 |
Infoplease Staff
Anonymous
Tell us about your work---what do you do? I am an oil and gas revenue accountant . I calculate the profit margin my company makes on two natural gas processing plants in Colorado. To do this, I calculate how much to pay each oil and gas well owner based on the amount of oil and gas they produce each month and their contracts terms. Then I compare that amount to how much we received for the sale of our products and the difference is the company's profit. It involves detail analysis of volumes of energy, percentages and prices. I pay revenue proceeds to our customers on over 3,000 wells each month. What skills are needed? Detailed analytical and mathematical skills combined with the ability to review the whole natural gas gathering and processing system I am responsible for each month from a volumetric and financial perspective to make sure everything is calculated correctly. Overall knowledge of the energy industry , which is very specialized, is also helpful. Accounting skills, including general ledger and inventory profit and loss skills are also required. What was your major? I have a B.A. in International Studies from Ohio State . How did you get started in your career? My husband is in the natural gas exploration and production business and, at the onset of natural gas market deregulation in 1987, he encouraged me to pursue a career in the natural gas industry . What experience do you need in this job? An accounting background would be helpful, although I do not have one. I just have a good aptitude with numbers and calculations . Computer experience is a must, particularly advanced Excel spreadsheet applications and software that runs on an Oracle platform . Everything else I learned with experience. Describe your "typical" workday: It really depends on what time of the month I am working in. In the early part of the month, I am inputting information in to my allocation file, which calculates what I should pay on each well. Once all the information is input, I review it for accuracy, transfer my payments to the revenue payment system and begin calculating a margin analysis and deriving my journal entries to enter into the general ledger . My final step is to make sure my journal entries reconcile to my margin analysis. What is the hardest aspect of your job? Understanding the business enough to perform my job accurately and pay customers correctly. Paying attention to detail and catching errors before they happen saves a lot of time. What is the most rewarding aspect of your job? Knowing that I am allocating my volumes and payments correctly, paying people correctly and providing good customer service and follow up. I provide a lot of information to our marketing department and it really helps them if I am able to provide them with accurate information and perform an accurate margin report each month. I am relied upon to tell upper management what the bottom line is for the assets I account for. What are your suggestions for someone considering this field? Make sure you like to do detail work , that you are analytical in general and like to follow up on things to correct them or make sure they are right. The energy business is a unique industry but it is always dynamic and exciting. I have been with my company for two years and my responsibilities have changed three times. Change always bring opportunity for those will the desire to learn and advance..com/edu/explorecareers/careerprofiles/accountant_oilandgas.html
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