Having the top Accounting skills required for accountants is one of the main factors that can separate you from an ordinary accountant to an exceptional one.

The skills you have are the basis of your caliber as an accountant. Employers carefully assess the level of ability and can pinpoint if your Accounting Skills are enough for the job.

This alone can simply spell the difference between an accountant getting hired or not.

If you’re an aspiring accountant who wants to kickstart a career in accounting or someone who’s already within the financial services industry and is keen to advance their career, then you should be in the know about the top accounting skills required for accountants!

1. Being Organised

First on the list for top accounting skills is organisation. A competent accountant must be organised for them to juggle multiple clients, meet deadlines, and produce financial reports efficiently.

Accountants handle a significant amount of documentation — so if you’re disorganised, it’s highly impossible for you to keep track of those documents.

Also, being organised is generally a great skill to develop professionally and even personally. It’s something you can bring with you and apply to your personal life.

2. Critical Thinking Skills

Accountants are not new in dealing with errors, inaccuracies, and discrepancies. It’s not new for them to constantly encounter such issues — and if ever these go undetected, it could pose serious problems in the long run.

To solve these kinds of complex and serious issues, one of the accounting skills you can tap into is critical thinking.

Accountants should approach the situation critically by considering all variables at play, and the potential risks per move.

With this, accountants are also able to prevent potential risks in the future by coming up with financial strategies that can secure a business’s finances.

Being a critical thinker is such a huge asset for accountants especially when you consider the type of industry they are working in.

3. Spreadsheet Proficiency

Arguably one of the most used accounting skills by accountants — their proficiency in utilising spreadsheets. Most of their number-crunching tasks are done via Microsoft Excel or any other similar platform/software.

Spreadsheets are an intimate part of an accountant’s regular day in the office as heaps of financial reports, data analysis, and computations are mostly done through spreadsheets.

Being proficient in using spreadsheets is considered a must if you’re keen to become a competent accountant.

There is almost no accountant today that has no use for spreadsheets or is considered a novice when it comes to manipulating the software — as it will be almost close to impossible to accomplish work in today’s accounting demand.

There are heaps of online guides and courses that can provide guidance and training for spreadsheets if you’re keen to get into financial services as an accountant.

But even if you’re already quite skilled, taking such guides as refreshers can still help you polish your existing skills and knowledge.

4. Effective Communication Skills

In addition to creating and analysing comprehensive financial reports, accountants are also tasked to explain their findings to their colleagues, clients, boss, or anyone concerned — where in most cases, do not have a strong understanding of complex financial concepts that may be present in the report.

This is why being an effective communicator is a handy accounting skill to have, as it enables you to explain thoroughly and simply to the interested party.

Accountants must be able to transform charts, tables, and numbers into data that everyone that’s not an accountant can easily comprehend. Otherwise, it’s useless to report your findings.

As accountants, it would be normal to have vast amounts of data at your disposal, as financial matters can be grueling.

Being able to simply all of these data and make it make sense to people who can do more with the data you have.

5. Updated Knowledge in Various Accounting Software

Spreadsheets are not the only tools available for accountants. In today’s accounting, having the knowledge and skill to operate accounting software can help you advance your career even further. And it will be tough for those who have little to no knowledge and skill, as it is a necessity.

Some examples of in-demand accounting software include:

• MYOB
• Xero
• QuickBooks
• Reckon One
• Sage
• Cashflow Manager
• Saasu
• Rounded
• Nominal

So, if you’re really serious about becoming an accountant, one of the most important accounting skills to have is mastery over some of the accounting software mentioned above.

Maximise your employment opportunity by taking accounting courses that can help you develop your accounting skills, and get you immersed in some of the most in-demand accounting software today.

Keen to Have These Accounting Skills Under Your Belt?

Take the Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping and gain the core skills needed to become a successful accountant and boost your job prospects exponentially.

The Diploma in Accounting is for those who want to learn a broad range of accounting practices that can be used to enhance their current role in financial services or start their own business.

CLICK HERE to view Inspire Education’s Accounting courses!

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