Desirable Skills for Accountants

As small and medium sized firms understand the importance of accurate bookkeeping and compliance, and as they try to keep up with legislative changes, the demand for accountancy professionals and their services is on the rise.

Below are some skills accountants should be self-aware of because these are some of the more important skills that businesses will be looking for when searching for the right accountant. These skills are described from the perspective of those businesspeople looking to hire you so you can understand their thought process when looking for potential accounting candidates like you. 

Industry specific experience and knowledge

While a lot of accounting skills are transferrable regardless of industry, if you can hire a professional with experience in your industry, there will be advantages; if your accountant is familiar with industry specific regulations and particularities, they will provide you with tailored advice.

Audit and compliance

To help small businesses make decisions, it is important that accountants understand compliance and audits. By knowing what the company needs to be doing, their advice can help take the company further.

International experience

Especially if you plan on expanding your company’s activities overseas, having an accountant who understands working practices in different countries in invaluable.

Communication

As accountants are required to express complex information to an audience with little to no understanding on the subject, it’s essential that professionals can communicate in an ‘easy to understand’ manner.

While having an accountancy professional available to your company full-time is incredibly valuable, finding an accountant or bookkeeper with all these skills might be very difficult and costly. If your company doesn’t have the funds for that, you can outsource accounting services, and you will get all these skills at a fraction of the price of holding an in house accounting department.