Accountant Skills and Qualifications
Essential job skills in the accounting profession encompass more than the ability to crunch numbers.While technical skills are obviously critical, the accounting field is constantly evolving, and your tasks include more than completing expense sheets and accounts payable reports. You could be working in compliance, tax or risk management, among many other subcategories, each of which has demands that go far beyond the figures.
According to a survey by Accountemps, employers seek several important non-accounting job skills when evaluating candidates for accounting roles. Chief financial officers were asked which skills, besides traditional accounting knowledge, were most valuable. General business knowledge (33 percent) was cited as the most marketable skill, followed by expertise in information technology (25 percent), communication skills (14 percent), and leadership abilities and customer service orientation (both 13 percent).