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Accounting: Skills and Talents
Accounting offers superb career opportunities in many different contexts. The
field is normally divided into three broad areas: auditing, financial/tax and
management accounting. The skills required in these areas differ as follows:
Skill |
Audit Accounting |
Tax & Financial |
Management Accounting |
| People skills |
Medium |
Medium |
Medium |
| Sales skills |
Medium |
Medium |
Low |
| Communication skills |
Medium |
Medium |
High |
| Analytical skills |
High |
Very High |
High |
| Ability to synthesize |
Medium |
Low |
High |
| Creative ability |
Low |
Medium |
Medium |
| Initiative |
Medium |
Medium |
Medium |
| Computer skills |
High |
High |
Very High |
| Work hours |
40-70/week |
40-70/week |
40-50/week |
- Accounting is very team-oriented.
- You will usually start as a junior
member of a team responsible for auditing an important account or
preparing financial statements. It is important then that you enjoy
working as part of a team and that you learn to do so in your education.
- You've Got to Surf Waves of Innovation
- The field of accounting has seen constant technological and
intellectual innovation in recent decades. Firms are implementing new
electronic systems for submitting and preparing financial statements. And
ways of tracking costs have improved with the introduction of techniques
such as activitity-based costing.
- Cultivate Your Network
- It's important to have a good network of business contacts in
consulting as you progress. New business development becomes part of your
job. As your classmates rise in their respective business areas it is
important to stay in touch with them as they may become your future
customers.
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