Accountants have a tough job on their hands. They need to be people who are exceptional practitioners in what they do, including having a keen eye for detail and a large repertoire of practical knowledge that they can apply to the job. Clients expect very high standards from their accountants because of how much money is potentially on the line. Accountants who provide services to small and large businesses have to have the confidence and the precision to do the job while also helping companies avoid costly audits.
Here are the traits that accountants have to have if they want to succeed.
Excellent Organisation
It should go without saying that accountants need to have impeccable organization skills. They need to be able to keep up to date with all the figures, paperwork, and data in their daily jobs. They also need to develop systems that allow them to find the information they require quickly and they should be experts in organizing their work to maximize their productivity and make the best use of their time. After all, the amount of time that an accountant spends on each client determines how much money they will make during the year. Accountancy is about having continued research and analysis into developments in the industry and changes to the law.
Incredible Training
For accountants to succeed, they need to be incredibly well trained. But not all people learn in the same way, as pointed out by the CPA Exam Guy. For this reason, it’s important that accountants learn how to learn in a smart and intelligent way that fits the way that their brain is wired. There’s no use spending lots of time with your head buried in books if your learning style is more visual or kinesthetic.
Extreme Trustworthiness
Accountants deal with incredibly sensitive information all the time. Financial data is very personal. One of the stand out features of great accountants is that they are entirely professional. This means that they never share their knowledge of their clients with third parties or sell any of their customer’s information to advertising agencies and data repositories. They always conduct their business in the most ethical way that they can, and they build up a reputation in the industry for trustworthiness. Once they have built up their trustworthiness, they are able to score new and better clients in the future.
Collaboration
Accountants are always depicted as being solo workers. But the reality of the job is that it’s not just about crunching numbers by yourself in a small cubicle, it’s actually about working with others to deliver products that the client expects. Often, accountants have to meet up with one another and collaborate to share their individual expertise on a particular topic. Each accountant in the team needs to know the specialisms of other accountants so that they can make decisions about the client that support their goals.
Be Able To Work Flexibly
Finally, accountants who are most effective are those that are able to embrace change in the industry and in their career. Technology is developing all the time, meeting that old accounting practices are no longer valuable. Accountants need to learn to work with new technology and software in order to offer their clients the services that they want.