Understanding the skills required to be a good accountant is crucial to future success in the profession. If you’re adamant you want to work in accounting but you don’t have the right skills, you might be limiting your chances of getting your dream role/a job in accountancy.
But fear not! Here, we have compiled the top 6 skills to help skyrocket your way into Accounting.
- Communication
No matter what role you end up in, you’ll find communication to be a life skill that you cannot live without. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to communicate with your colleagues, interact with clients nor get the job done to the best of your ability.
Interpersonal skills are essential for networking, and although all jobs don’t necessarily require you to network, you’ll find other reasons you need to brush up on your interpersonal skills, such as welcoming a new colleague to the office, attending meetings with your team, not to mention company functions. Asserting yourself when meeting new people and in new surroundings is all part of creating a professional work life and establishing useful contacts.
- Organisation
As an accountant, you’ll find have a fair amount of responsibility, which means your time at work will be busy. In order to maximise your time and make the most of each day, you’ll want to become a great organiser. It’s not enough to be an organised person – you also need to learn to prioritise your workload, plan and find that right tools to ensure you’re making the most out of your day. Tools from calendars to post-it notes and diaries to phone alarms can be handy. There are also apps and programmes such as ‘Asana’ too. These help you to boost your constructiveness at work by allowing you to note down all your to-do tasks, categorise them, set a completion date and tick-off once completed. You don’t have to be naturally organised to work effectively; there are a lot of tools out there to help you.
- Time Management
Time management coincides with organisation. Without proper time management, you will not be organised, and without organisation, you will struggle to manage your time well. Ultimately, the two skills are very much in tune with one another. As an accountant, you’ll be expected to lead projects while completing individual tasks on time.
The skill to work to tight deadlines is essential within accountancy, so good time management is a must! Additionally, it will help you to maintain a healthy work/life balance and keep each day productive.
- Adaptability
The accounting industry is extremely dynamic, so if you can adapt quickly, you’ll have a distinct advantage over the competition. Not only this, but you will be in a better position to build a successful career, as people who embrace change tend to be proactive and accept new challenges.
- Leadership
Leadership requires many qualities. To be a good leader, you need patience, you need to be a good role model, and you need to be responsible, while still being an approachable member of the team. You also require confidence and the ability to delegate.
To be a successful leader in accountancy, logical decisions combined with creativity make for a winning combination. If you manage to master this style of accountancy, you can be sure to have a successful career in the accountancy sector.
- A Passion for Numbers
Now, this may seem a little obvious, but don’t underestimate the importance of being comfortable with handling data and working with numbers day after day. It’s not just the case of having the skill, but you need the passion too. Without a keen interest in numbers, you become dissatisfied in your day-to-day role. Either you have a love of numbers, or you don’t, so don’t underestimate the importance of this keen interest.
So, do you have what it takes to become an accountant? Can you tick each of the 6 boxes above? If so, you can be sure that you’ve got what it takes to be a successful accountant and an aspiring career in accounting.
