Numbers are the driving force behind the business sector. If you want to measure how successful an enterprise is, determine how popular it is in the market, or calculate how much profit you pulled in this quarter, you need to work with numbers. But not just any numbers; these are a wide range of data that provides valuable insights into a company’s performance and can only be analyzed adequately by an accountant.
As a professional accountant, your company depends on your expertise to interpret financial information, provide helpful feedback on working with clients, and translate quantifiable data into valuable reports. For this reason, before you can pursue accountancy professionally, you need to hone specific skills that can make you an expert in handling crucial financial data.
So, what are these skills, and how can you acquire them? Here’s what you need to know:
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Know All the Accounting Principles
Accounting principles ensure that an organization’s financial statements and reports are consistent, complete, and comparable to past data. So, as an accountant, to do your job, you need to know certain accounting principles that govern the way you record and work with your financial data. Most importantly, to launch your career, you need a background in accounting and finance. Your undergrad degree might help you build your basics in accounting and its principles.
But don’t stop there; at least attempt to get a postgraduate degree since this is more research and experience-oriented, which is necessary for your career. If you’re willing to pursue an advanced degree, look into MBA accounting and use the knowledge you gain from this curriculum to establish yourself as a successful accountant. Within the US, you need to know about the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and understand the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) used across 167 jurisdictions. Once you know these principles, you’ll be better positioned to discuss regulatory measures that make you well-suited to work in private and public companies.
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Clear Communication
As an accountant, you need to interpret the financial data you collect and make sense of it, so your clients can understand what these numbers represent. For instance, if you’re balancing your client’s tax books, you must inform them of the details they must submit and their transaction records. Likewise, specific clients may need your expertise to guide them on their monetary records and advice on what to do next.
So, as an accountant, you need to know how to talk, instruct, and explain details to your consumers so they can understand them comprehensively. In some cases, you may also need to interact with upper management or with investors to explain how your company plans on shifting and managing funds. Your communication should be precise, direct, and informative enough to guide your clients without confusing them.
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An Understanding of Software
Accounting is no longer done the traditional way. It’s imperative to be tech-savvy to handle large chunks of data and ensure they are calculated appropriately. That’s why it is integral that you understand how to use software like Spreadsheets and Word. These help you reconcile accounts, generate financial statements, and manage general ledgers. It’ll also help if you know how to work with tools like QuickBooks, which is ideal for managing small businesses, or Plooto, which helps automate payables. You can learn this software independently and purchase these tools for your understanding, but online blogs and courses can facilitate you.
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Get Better at Managing Your Time
In the commerce sector, everything depends on time. You must hit all the deadlines and ensure all your work gets submitted before your time runs out. If you’re filing for taxes, you must balance all the books and gather all the transaction evidence and records before the date passes. Filing incomplete tax reports alerts the IRS, and you may be penalized for your mishap. Collecting accounting details takes time. You may have months of data to sort through, and individually tracking every transaction requires immense focus.
So, to deal with this, ensure you’re punctual with your work. It would help if you tried going to work early and tackling easy documents first before shifting your attention to more elaborate documents. There’s also no harm in asking for help from your department. Sometimes you may need to look at a decade of transactions, and you cannot tackle all of that alone. If required, pull in overtime over the weekend. You can also look into applications to help you schedule your day better while limiting distractions, allowing you to work at your pace.
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Critical Thinking
Working with numbers requires your focus and attention. Maintain a clear head to analyze the numbers and generate a financial report accurately capturing the information you picked from the gathered data. While your work sounds simple enough, it is not. You are expected to study complex financial information, explore it from multiple angles, challenge what you extract, and make an informed decision based on your calculations. Your clients will need your expertise in making the next move with the financial information you picked up.
As a result, you will need to think about their financial position carefully, gauge where they may face financial problems, and provide solutions to their problems following accounting principles. Since you will be working with high-end clients, you will be expected to work with large sums of money, making your work challenging. All of this further requires your critical thinking ability and attention to detail to make an informed decision.
Final Thoughts
Being an accountant is both rewarding and, at the same time, extremely challenging. Businesses need robust accountants to handle their finances and investments. It also includes keeping track of their books, recording all transactions, and ensuring that taxes are filed on time. Furthermore, you may need to work with clients individually to help them move their money, manage their accounts, and offer them solutions on where their money can be invested.
Given how tough your career is, you need to know all accounting principles well, get better at communicating, and manage your time well. In some cases, you’re compelled to delve deep into cases and provide valuable suggestions after carefully assessing the situation.
