Top 5 Accounting soft skills to master

One of your employees is an expert accountant who can quickly crunch numbers and remember intricate tax regulations.

However, for some reason, they cannot communicate the outcomes you anticipate. This may sound familiar to you.

What skills do you think you need to become a successful accountant?

If you responded with “accounting skills” or “ solid mathematics skills” then you are only be half correct.

Although understanding accounting concepts is necessary, success in our field requires more than a formal degree and technical know-how. You need to acquire a variety of soft skills in order to better service your customers if you want to build a successful business.

According to Harvard University and Stanford Research Center studies,

Having strong people and soft skills accounts for 85% of job success whereas hard abilities, such as technical knowledge and skills, only account for 15% of job success.

In a world that is becoming more digital, computerized, and automated, having accounting soft skills can help you stand out from other people

Exactly this is what you’ll see in this article. In order to help you give your clients more value, we’ve put up a list of the top 5 soft skills accountants must have.

Let’s check them out!

Top accounting soft skills to master

1. Time management

It can be hard for accountants to avoid procrastination, especially when they work online, where it is easier to get off track. Because deadlines are always important and remote work is becoming more common, people who want to work in accounting need to be good at managing their time.

The majority of large projects and deliverables occur at the same time of year in most firms, resulting in overburdening or work. Here are a few ways in which one can overcome this:

a. Priortize tasks-

• Using the organization’s digital resources can facilitate project progress and maintain project organization.
• Use a shared spreadsheet with colleagues, for instance, to keep track of each person’s obligations for the month-end closure or any other project the team has prioritized when working in a group context.
• Using a calendar religiously can help lone practitioners stay on task and achieve deadlines.

b. Speaking with supervisors and coworkers is another technique to improve time management abilities. Inquire as to how they maintain task alignment. They may be scheduling their days in a way that can accommodate more activities and initiatives.

2. Critical thinking

Critical thinking is an important part of the accounting profession. This means looking at problems and figuring out what causes them and how to fix them.

Increasingly complex financial issues confront organizations every day. The most recent set of hurdles for accounting and finance teams to overcome was COVID-19.

Since then, it appears that the majority of businesses are seeking accounting and finance specialists who can anticipate problems before they happen, in addition to reviewing past problems and coming up with remedies.

Employees were needed to use critical thinking and creativity to

• address organizational demands while managing reallocation of finances and cash management,
• managing payroll adjustments, and tax returns,
• address client needs and challenges easily,
• responding to new regulatory changes to internal reporting standards, and other changes.

Accounting experts should examine all the data they have, from initial inspection to final analysis, and be able to explain why something occurred as well as what can be done going forward to plan for or account for it.

Attending conferences, webinars, and networking with other accounting professionals can help you gain insight into what other firms are doing as well as make vendor suggestions and suggest ways to streamline processes.

3. Written communication

Your communication style sets the tone for how you are seen by those around you. It’s no surprise that written communication is seen as a crucial ability given that email is still the most popular method of communication between accountants and their clients.

Each member of your team simply needs to be good at writing technical information that clients can understand, so that:

• The client understands (without being condescending)
• Is kind and personal, and makes the customer feel appreciated

It is true what they say: “The key to success is deliberate practice.”

Encourage your team to write as frequently as possible because there is no better way to hone writing skills than by doing it.

If your company has a blog, assign your team members the task of writing posts. If you have access to your team’s emails, keep an eye on those who need to get better at this and provide them with further support or training.

4. Transmission of thoughts among stakeholders

The accounting and finance teams engage with almost every aspect of an organization.

At this stage, poor communication skills can make it challenging for accounting and finance professionals to express their ideas clearly, present their reports, and develop action plans based on the findings.

Professionals must therefore possess great verbal and written communication abilities.

• To ensure proper completion, important initiatives must be explained to executives and coworkers in a straightforward manner (especially if they are inexperienced with accounting or financial language).
• Ask a manager for advice. Before sending or distributing emails, reports, and other correspondence, ask them to review it.
• Make sure that the material is accessible to everyone, not just accounting professionals, by avoiding the use of excessive jargon.
• Do a self-review of any communication and contact management for assistance.
• Read aloud your written work to identify errors. The effect of hearing versus reading something varies. Practice your speech communication skills beforehand to ensure that the meeting’s purpose or call is clearly conveyed.

5. Joint effort

For accountants, collaboration with coworkers and other staff is essential. The accounting and finance teams interact with every aspect of the company, so they are required to operate cross-functionally and effectively with other staff members. Projects involving other personnel, like budgets, cash flow predictions, or strategic planning, can be challenging and demand a lot of teamwork.

Honing this ability for entry-level accountants today is essential for further advancement. Collaboration is important when working on different projects with customers and other stakeholders, even for lone practitioners.

Spending time before a meeting jotting down questions and ideas to contribute to the discussion is one method I’ve found useful in trying to become a stronger collaborator. Make it a habit to speak up in meetings and on calls, and soon it will become automatic.

Preparing questions and taking part in the discussion will encourage other team members to do the same, fostering more conversation and cooperation.

Developing skills goes a long way

Developing these soft skills for accounting takes time and effort, but it is well worth it for those looking to advance in their accounting careers.

A good way to start is by seeking out opportunities for training and development, such as workshops, classes, or mentoring programs. Additionally, actively practicing these skills in the workplace can also help to improve them.

In conclusion, accounting is not only a technical field, but also accountant soft skills play an important role in the success of an accountant.

Communication, problem-solving, time management, critical thinking, and collaboration are some of the soft skills for accounting an accountant should master to excel in their career.

Seek opportunities for training and development and practice these skills in the workplace to improve them.

Want to hire accounting experts with both technical and soft skills, we have got you covered. Get in touch with Ace Global today!