One thing accountants can always bank on is professional flux. Perhaps more than other fields, accounting is continually evolving as new standards and regulations are issued and others are altered or replaced.
In response to the ever-shifting playing field, the skills required of practitioners are always fluctuating as well. In fact, today’s professionals may need a wider range of abilities than at any time in recent memory. Financial and technology aptitude remains essential, but other attributes are increasingly critical for success. Here’s a look at several competencies that are likely to be sought after in the coming years:
IFRS knowledge – With the 2011 deadline approaching, accountants should resolve to get up to speed on the new regulations. The savviest practitioners will view the transition as a career development opportunity and take the initiative to develop their expertise. A growing number of organizations are offering webinars and other educational resources on IFRS, many free of charge and designed to encourage independent study. By taking advantage of available training options, even individuals whose companies are not mandated to adopt can position themselves at the forefront of the learning curve.
Communication skills – Although the demand for accountants with strong oral and written communication skills is not a new development, it’s one that continues to gain steam. Soft skills may even provide accounting professionals with an edge over others with comparable technical abilities. In a Robert Half International survey, more than half (53 per cent) of chief financial officers interviewed said they would hire someone with fewer technical skills if the candidate had particularly strong communication and interpersonal abilities.
Our dependence on e-mail has placed even greater communication demands on accountants because interactions are no longer limited to in-person meetings or phone calls. In fact, written communications often form the basis of others’ perceptions. Therefore, it’s critical that accountants convey their messages as well in writing as they do in person.
Yet, oral communication skills remain essential, too. As accounting issues have become more complex and integral to business decisions, practitioners are more frequently called on to discuss the implications of findings and analysis in terms that nonfinancial professionals can clearly grasp. The ability to communicate accounting policies and concepts in understandable terms has become even more of an asset due to the adoption of IFRS. The transition has required professionals to review and revise policies and explain to senior management and others the impact of IFRS on financial statements and business processes.
Through discussions with one’s manager and by observing successful peers, accountants can identify the precise abilities needed to rise to the next level. For example, practitioners may recognize the need to improve their public speaking or the clarity of their written communications. They can then seek out opportunities to enhance their expertise both through on-the-job experiences and outside professional development activities.
Adaptability – With change being the only constant, adaptability is another career requirement. The most successful individuals can acclimate quickly to new work environments and corporate cultures and have the ability to interact seamlessly with colleagues at all levels and areas of an organization.
Critical thinking skills – As the profession grapples with the need to apply the more subjective requirements of standards such as fair value measurements, there is a growing emphasis on critical thinking skills. Accountants can enhance their critical thinking skills by being willing to look beyond initial conclusions or recommendations and not taking the supposedly correct or obvious way of doing things for granted. Similarly, they can push themselves to generate multiple solutions to business problems and issues and to weigh the positive and negative attributes of their recommendations.
Considering the expanding professional repertoire required of accountants, it’s a career necessity to keep building an array of both technical and soft skills. Because skills acquisition is not a finite task, however, the most essential quality for professionals to have may be the ability and willingness to learn how to learn.
