If you’re an accountant, you’ll know only too well the many skills that are required of you, and attributes you’re expected to possess, in order to fulfil your role adequately. However, a skilled accountant may still be just a good accountant, and as someone who wants to do more than merely make a basic living from the profession, shouldn’t you be striving to be a great accountant?
To help you become truly great at your profession, here are some of the skills you should strive to possess:
Adept at communicating
Whether in writing or verbally, a successful accountant must be adept at communicating with both clients and their colleagues or employees. Clients will need accurate and jargon-free answers to their questions, while employees and colleagues will feel motivated to work more productively if they can communicate well with you within the workplace.
Excellent time management skills
If you want to be able to successfully handle all of your responsibilities as an accountant, and meet important deadlines, you must be able to manage your time effectively.
From dealing with different clients and different projects, to managing financial matters, accountants must wear many hats, but they must wear them all well, and this requires outstanding time management.
Tech-savvy
If you’re not au fait with advances in technology within the accounting world, such as those present in modern accounting software, you won’t be able to effectively troubleshoot issues and use technology to help grow your business. From cloud computing and data analytics, to practice management tools, getting to grips with technology will help you keep up with the ever changing world of accounting, and ensure that there’s still a place for you within it.
Able to navigate data and analytics
A great accountant must have the ability to navigate significant volumes of data, be able to identify patterns, and extract insights of value that will help them make well-informed decisions, and data analytics techniques can help them do all of this and more. If your accounting firm isn’t taking advantage of this technology, it could mean that you’re lagging behind in a world that’s increasingly driven by data.
Sound working knowledge of AI
It’s not enough for an accountant to simply understand artificial intelligence as it is today, instead, they must ensure that they keep themselves up-to-date with all aspects of it, many of which are continually changing. A deep understanding of AI and skills within the area can help accountants speed up the efficacy of their work, and ultimately, grow their client base.
Effective marketing strategies
The services you provide as an accountant might well be great, but how will potential clients know this if you don’t market yourself effectively? By establishing a solid brand that your target audience can recognize and identify with, you can reach more potential clients and work on building lasting professional relationships.
Business acumen
Only when you have a sound understanding of how a business operates, the dynamics of the industry, and market trends, are you able to successfully contribute to strategic planning, performance management and business decision-making; all of which are needed in order to stay afloat in a competitive accounting landscape.
There can be no denying the fact that modern accountants have seen their role evolve dramatically over the years, and in an increasingly dynamic world, they must now be versatile and possess a diverse set of skills.
If you’re a financial analysis expert, are adept at being able to interpret complicated data, and able to provide valuable strategic insights, who knows, you just might be a great accountant!
