Skills you need to nurture as an accountant
If you are striving for a successful career in accountancy, there are a number of key skills which you should look to develop and build upon throughout your career. A combination of accredited qualifications and excellent interpersonal and professional skills will enable you to pursue the successful career you are aiming for.
Adaptability
The accounting industry is changing rapidly. The role of the accountant is becoming more of an advisory one as technology automates processes and removes the need for paper. Clients have new expectations, and accountants can now collaborate and work with their customers in real time.
Openness
Honesty is highly valued in the accounting world. Accountants and the firms they work for pride themselves on adhering to the highest ethical standards and always treating their clients with honesty and integrity.
Strategic decision-making
Automation of many administrative tasks means accountants have more time to focus on the strategic decision-making side of their role; and clients know this.
Information technology expertise
Accountants should look to be knowledgeable in general IT and accounting software, especially when it is likely your client will know how to use it too.
Should I Be an Accountant? Questions To Help You Find Out
You’ve done the research. You know that accountants are in demand and that earning an online accounting degree could lead to a secure career with plenty of opportunity for advancement. But have you asked is accounting right for me, or have you answered the question should I be an accountant?
Not everyone is cut out to be an accountant. You need to enjoy both technology and numbers as well as working with people and being a leader. You need to be able to sweat the details yet understand the big business picture.
Are you detail oriented?
If you’re a detail-oriented person, you pay attention to the little things. That means you may like sharp creases in your jeans and crisp shirts, but it goes beyond attire or an obsession with making lists. It means you’re conscientious and focused on accuracy and precision. You pride yourself on being a perfectionist. You’re also patient and persistent in pursuing answers to challenging questions.
Are you a good communicator?
Bet you thought accounting was just about math. While it is a numbers-based profession, real-world business problems do not present themselves as mathematical equations, even if math is required to solve them. You need to be good with words – a careful and critical reader, and a good oral and written communicator, able to present and explain financial data, new regulations, financial results and business projections.
How do you feel about being the center of attention?
Some people think that accountants work in solitude in a back office where no one will bother them. While that may have been true generations ago, with the reshaping of today’s business environment, accounting has moved to the forefront. Accountants are called upon to make presentations. They lead teams. So even if you have the best accounting skills in the world, you may not get hired unless you’re also outgoing.
Why is Accounting Important?
Accounting is important for small business owners as it helps the owners, managers, investors and other stakeholders in the business evaluate the financial performance of the business. Accounting provides vital information regarding cost and earnings, profit and loss, liabilities and assets for decision making, planning and controlling processes within a business.
The main objective of accounting is to record financial transactions in the books of accounts to identify, measure and communicate economic information. Moreover, tax reporting agencies require you to keep books at a minimum level that tracks income and expenditure.
What Is the Purpose of Accounting?
Accounting is often referred to as “Language of Business”. It is a means of communicating financial information to different users for decision making.
RECORDING TRANSACTIONS
The primary role of accounting is to maintain a systematic, accurate and complete record of all financial transactions of a business. These records are the backbone of the accounting system. Business owners should be able to retrieve and review the transactions whenever required.
BUDGETING AND PLANNING
Business owners need to plan how they allocate their limited resources including labor, machinery, equipment and cash towards accomplishing the objectives of the business.
Things Every Accountant Needs at Their Desk
Want to make your day-to-day at the accounting firm more enjoyable? Check out our list of things you need at your desk to see how you can upgrade your work experience.
You spend a lot of time at work. Your desk is practically a second home, which means you should make it as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. To that end, we’ve put together a list of four things every accountant should keep at their desks to make the time you spend at work better.
Noise-Canceling Headphones
When it’s time to buckle down and focus on your work, you need to be able to control your environment as much as possible. That means you need to be able to block out the sounds of your busy office—printers whirring, phones ringing, co-workers chatting. And unless you prefer total silence, noise-canceling headphones are going to be your best option. Noise-canceling headphones come in all kinds of shapes and sizes (as a well as a variety of price points) so you can find a pair that suits your preferences. Best of all, they’re easy to use; just plug them in and only listen to what you want to, no matter how noisy your office is.
A Nice Keyboard and Mouse
Accountants spend a ridiculous number of hours at their computers. Your computer is your primary workspace, and you should make that workspace as comfortable as you reasonably can—including the way you interact with your computer. A keyboard and mouse can easily be overlooked as the least important part of your computer, but those are the pieces that you touch, tap, and hold all day long. Your interface with your computer shouldn’t feel like it was made as cheaply as possible.
Computer Glasses
Computer glasses are a must-have for anyone who spends more than a few hours staring at their computer screen each day. This is especially true if you find that your eyes feel tired or strained after a long day of work. If you’re getting dry eyes and headaches every day, stop taking so much Motrin and grab yourself a pair of computer glasses. They don’t have to be complicated or fancy. Computer glasses are essentially reading glasses designed to focus at slightly further distances than traditional reading glasses. That means that it’s easy to find a nice pair for under $20, so there’s no excuse not to keep a pair or two at your desk.
Accounting Basics
Introduction to Accounting Basics
This explanation of accounting basics will introduce you to some basic accounting principles, accounting concepts, and accounting terminology. Once you become familiar with some of these terms and concepts, you will feel comfortable navigating through the explanations, quizzes, quick tests, and other features of Accounting
Some of the basic accounting terms that you will learn include revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities, income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. You will become familiar with accounting debits and credits as we show you how to record transactions. You will also see why two basic accounting principles, the revenue recognition principle and the matching principle, assure that a company’s income statement reports a company’s profitability.
A Story for Relating to Accounting Basics
will present the basics of accounting through a story of a person starting a new business. The person is Joe Perez—a savvy man who sees the need for a parcel delivery service in his community. has researched his idea and has prepared a business plan that documents the viability of his new business.
With thousands of such transactions in a given year, is smart to start using accounting software right from the beginning. Accounting software will generate sales invoices and accounting entries simultaneously, prepare statements for customers with no additional work, write checks, automatically update accounting records, etc.
By getting into the habit of entering all of the day’s business transactions into his computer, will be rewarded with fast and easy access to the specific information he will need to make sound business decisions. Marilyn tells Joe that accounting’s “transaction approach” is useful, reliable, and informative. She has worked with other small business owners who think it is enough to simply “know” their company made $30,000 during the year (based only on the fact that it owns $30,000 more than it did on January 1). Those are the people who start off on the wrong foot and end up in office looking for financial advice.