Browse By:

What Skills Does an Accountant Need to Have?

Starting Your Career Advancing Your Career

Accounting is more than number crunching. While math remains the foundation of an accountant’s career, it’s important to have a rounded skill set.

Lucia Smeal, an adjunct faculty member at Franklin University, 她说，她看到会计师的角色得到了极大的扩展:“人们期望会计师进行战略性思考, to drive business value, and to be more proactive in business decisions.”

Whether you’re thinking about accounting as a career, 或者你已经在这个领域工作了几年，想要在职业生涯中迈出下一步, 重要的是要考虑这样一个问题:会计需要什么样的技能和素质?

7 Hard Skills All Accountants Need

What are hard skills in accounting? 硬技能是正式学习并在实际应用中磨练出来的. 对于会计师来说，有7项硬技能可以成为成功的关键.

Data analysis: 数据分析是将数据分开，然后从所有不同的数据点中得出见解. Or, to put it another way, 它是关于知道如何获取你所看到的信息并将其转化为可操作的数据片段. (记住:虽然理解历史信息很重要, monitoring predictive data is imperative.)
Technical proficiency: Slide rule and a calculator? That was yesterday. Today an accountant has to be able to work in Alteryx, Tableau, Hyperion, Oracle, Excel, even Quickbooks.
And just over the horizon, there’s the big unknown: AI. “AI is the next thing,” Smeal says. “有趣的是，它将成为会计的一部分. 我想说的是，人工智能永远不会消除会计方面的工作. There’s just too many judgment calls.”
Sawyer Smith, senior associate, Assurance (KPMG), CPA, 他说，人工智能对“能够过滤和管理这些新技术的人”提出了额外的需求.”
Statistical analysis: Accountants need to do more than calculate. They have to take numbers and pull concise insights from them. 这可以通过找出数据点之间的数学关系来实现.
Writing: Once an accountant has developed results, 如何呈现信息与找到信息同样重要. The ability to write in a clear, 商业友好的方式可以帮助将信息转化为所需的行动. After all, 如果你只会说“会计”，别人可能很难看到你工作中的商业价值.
Project management: Because accountants touch every part of the business, their skills, opinions and insights are in constant demand. 你很容易让一个部门失望，因为你专注于帮助另一个部门. Having the ability to manage multiple projects, timelines, business needs, reporting deadlines, 归档截止日期和个性——这是一项很难掌握的技能.
Business management: 作为核心业务团队的一员，帮助制定关键决策, 会计必须了解一般的商业原则和惯例.
Regulatory management: Taxes, personal finance, business, forensics, 非营利性——会计可以专攻的领域有很多. The commonality they all share? Rules, regulations and laws. It’s your responsibility to know, understand and follow them all.

Ready to make your move in accounting? 在十大正规赌博平台大全排行的免费会计职业指南中获得每个职业阶段的见解.

8 Soft Skills All Accountants Should Have

Soft skills are more intangible, but no less important. 这些专业技能可以帮助会计师在工作场所取得成功.

Decision making: 公司想要的是那些能够通过提出建议来推动业务价值的人，这些建议可以增加公司的成功.
Problem solving: 会计师需要从仅仅回答事情发生的原因，转变为为公司如何避免未来发生的事情提出答案.
Communicate clearly: Accountant or storyteller? It’s not enough to hand over a ledger sheet. Businesses want a story too—the story the numbers tell. The ability to translate what the numbers are into what they mean, 而如何直接处理它是一项特别有价值的技能.
Operational understanding: 会计被期望提出问题(或机会)，但他们只能在对公司有全面了解的情况下做到这一点.
Strategic thinking: 你能看着摆在你面前的信息，看到的不是现在的，而是未来的吗? 能有战略眼光的会计师很受欢迎. 史密斯说:“对人们来说，花时间把事情弄清楚是非常重要的. “人们需要明白，这不仅仅是你面前的问题，而是它如何与整个业务相适应.”
Active learning: Advances in technology, changes in business practices, regulatory updates, 外部因素的影响——会计人员需要能够适应企业不断变化的面貌.
Creativity: 老黑帮电影里有为坏人工作的“创意会计师”. 如今的公司需要的是与众不同的具有创造力的会计师, ones who can bring new ways to work, ideas that stand outside of “Well, we’ve always done it that way…”
Critical thinking: Average accountants do their job. Great accountants do their job with a critical eye. 寻找不准确的地方，然后专注于“如何以及为什么”，使会计师能够在业务中找到改进的领域.

The Missing Piece

对这些技能有一定程度的熟练程度是很重要的，但要想成功，也有个人因素. “Companies are looking for accountants who are outgoing, good leaders, people who have good people skills,” Smeal says. “公司需要具有强大决策能力的前瞻性思考者.”

“在这一点上，十大正规赌博平台大全排行的计算机可以做很多不同的事情. What we need are problem solvers. We need project managers who can lead,” Smith said.

Smeal补充说，她从招聘经理那里听到的最常见的抱怨之一就是求职者有很强的技能, solid experience, but no personality. 对公司来说，重要的是要知道，他们得到的不仅仅是一个做数字工作的人.”

“Everything is not black and white,” Smith mused. “这就是为什么人们提出问题并愿意学习是如此重要.”