3 Essential Skills for Accountants That Aren’t Taught in School
The accounting profession is ever evolving, and consistently demands adaptability from those in positions that are not solely based on data entry. Most accountants get their fundamentals from their time in school, where it is required that they study the basics of accounting in a wide variety of classes, including multiple levels of core accounting, taxation, auditing, and more. Many accountants will tell you that the things you learn on the job aren’t taught in school because to learn on the job, you first need to have gone through all the schooling. Today, we are going to talk about 3 essential skills for accountants that are not taught in school.
Project Management
In your first years as an accountant (in either public or private practice), you will simply be told where to be and what to do. However, once you graduate beyond that entry level, you will be responsible for making sure things get done. Whether you need to finish a set of schedules for month-end close or make sure that a few sections of the audit or tax return are completed, you will likely find yourself responsible for some part of a project that needs to be done under your supervision. The process of balancing all the tasks, communications, and executions surrounding these is called project management, and it is a core skill that will be utilized more and more as you become more experienced. Many aspects of accounting jobs are first learned, then refined, then taught to others so they can repeat the process. As a result of this system, project management quickly becomes something accountants need to learn and refine as they continue their careers.
People Management
Many people get into accounting because they like solving problems by themselves, and while there are certainly jobs that focus on this and aspects of all jobs that require you to roll up your sleeves and use your experience to get something done, lots of accounting positions will involve managing people in some capacity. In public accounting, you may be responsible for managing other people as early as your second year when the new associates come in and need to be managed. In industry, there is always a set of tasks to be completed, and if the organization is large enough, some of those responsibilities will be passed on to another person, which you may find yourself managing one day. Because of these structures, it is incredibly important that you understand how to manage people and develop the necessary skills that come along with it, including empathy, self-awareness, and communication.
Communicating with Non-Financial People
For almost years at a time, accounting students and young professionals will learn the language of business and use those skills in an environment where others will have a similar background or experience necessary to hold a conversation with and achieve objectives related to financial-related areas. Once you get beyond the entry level however, you may end up communicating with those who are not financially savvy as a component of your job. For example, you may need to interact with a company’s sales and product teams to understand how complete a project is for revenue recognition purposes at the end of a reporting period, either as the auditor or the reporting accountant. Many aspects of accounting also interface with the HR side of the business and making sure they are informed and involved in some areas will be critical to successful business operations. In my time as a professional, I’ve discovered that it’s not just the ability to speak the language of business that matters, but also the ability to translate it.
My recommendation to you is to consciously develop these skills early and identify situations where they are useful for your job. By taking the time to learn and refine these skills, you will be a much more effective professional as you gain more experience and are put in the situations where these skills are required.