Question

For having a career in Accounting:

• List the requirements and jobs skills needed to be successful. What skills do you still need? How could you get them?

• List the first steps that can lead to your long-term goals. What job titles might you seek upon graduation? Will you need any special certifications or qualifications at that time? If so, what are they, and how will you attain them?

Answer 1

The main function of accounting is to record, prepare and present the financial performance and position of any business or non-business entity. Accounting is an integral part of our system as it is what gives the organisations a record of what they have achieved in concrete terms. There are numerous types of organisations like corporates, government organizations, public authorities, not for profit entities, banks, insurance companies, non-banking finance companies, partnership firms, various types of trusts and the list is endless. Certain different types of entities may require different process or type of accounting. For example the accounting for a bank and a business entity will be majorly different from each other. There are several standards to be followed by the accountants while accounting like International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), International Accounting Standards (IAS) or the nationalized versions of such standards like US GAAP or Australian AS. Further different organizations like banks or insurance companies may be required to follow several regulations and laws that are specifically designed for regulating them which will further affect the accounting of such entities. All this results in a vast variety of fields in which accountants can work.

Further, apart from graduation, accountants may also acquire professional qualifications that makes them specialized in certain areas for example a Certfied Public Accountant (CPA) specializes in tax forms, balance statements, and other forms of financial documentation. Since it is a professional qualification, the requirement of precision, analytical skills, and strong ethics is high.

The requirement of skills largely depend on the type of accounting that the accountant is required to undertake. A Cost Accountant, for example, is required to have in-depth knowledge about inventory management, product pricing, purchase rates, standard costing, total quality management etc. Similarly Management accountants are required to understand budgeting and corporate finance whereas government accountants are required to have knowledge about various regulations at federal, state, and local level that affects their financial reporting.

Even though there are specific capabilities required for different jobs of accounting, there are a few characteristics that are required in every accountant irrespective of the job assigned to him/her. Since accounting is a process of recording, preparing and reporting the financial performance and position, the accountant is expected to have a thorough understanding of the basic concepts of accounting so that the true purpose of accounting can be served. It is beneficial to have good communication for an accountant to be able to communicate the results of accounting in a way that is understandable to the various stakeholders. They are required to have knowledge of how the accounting softwares work so that they can carry out their functions smoothly. The knowledge of how to beneficially use spreadsheet functions also comes in handy when large amount of accounting data is required to be grouped and analysed. Analytical skills are of prime importance especially where accountants are also given responsibility to make decisions based on the accounting results. It is always important to analyze which information is important and which is not for disclosing them in financial results or taking decisions based on them. Accountants are also expected to have knowledge about different rules, regulations, laws, statutes, interpretations etc. relating to accountancy and the organisation they work for. Since accountancy delivers results that are benefical to each department in the organization, it is important for the accountants to be co-operative, collaborative and understanding with other departments so that the result is accurate and effectively usable. The accountant is also required to have good ethical orientation in order to refrain from commiting frauds. There are several qualties that are required in an accountant but the specific requirement may differ according to the area of accounting and the entity for which it is done.