Once upon a time, accountants could just do their 60-hour work weeks absorbed in Excel and handwritten ledgers. While for some businesses that’s still the norm, the world is changing – and so are expectations.
Excel, TechOne, financial statements, tax, CA/CPA qualifications, auditing… the list of technical abilities goes on depending on your area of expertise, but what about the other skills? The skills that you will need to thrive not only in your next role, but throughout your career.
If you find yourself wondering what kind of skills are valued in the workplace, beyond the technical skills you need to just do your job day to day, here are the top 3.
1. Communication
You have probably refined your written communication skills through financial statements and reporting. This is a valuable skill, however, other forms of communication are equally important.
You will often speak to clients, or other business areas, who are not as savvy in accounting jargon. Sometimes complex problems require complex solutions, but your ability to convey ideas in a way that non-technical people will understand ensures everyone is on the same page. Even better, you’re able to tell the story behind the numbers and provide advice at a strategic level.
2. Collaboration
Collaboration is key and requires you to step up your interpersonal skills to work with others, whether it’s your team, executive leadership, clients, or other business areas.
By actively listening to others, and sharing your developed knowledge, you can help improve the output of team members while elevating the work you do with clients – which won’t go unnoticed.
Even in a leadership role, your ability to work with other leaders and promote cross-collaboration between teams will have a lasting impact across the organisation.
3. Active learning
At Nexis, we work with some really great clients, and it’s important for our team members to understand how and why our clients’ businesses operate. This comes down to one thing: active learning.
When you take the time to understand your client’s business, you understand what they need from a financial accounting or bookkeeping perspective.
As an active learner, you will more likely be open-minded and think about creative solutions to complex problems. You are also more likely to be able to automate, improve, and integrate systems and processes to save clients time and money. This in turn saves you time and ensures that those 60-hour work weeks are a thing of the past!
These skills aren’t necessarily abilities you are born with, they can be learned with practice and over time. If you are interested in working with client entities in an organisation where you can add value, contact us to chat about available job opportunities.
