subject: The Qualities Needed To Be An Accountant [print this page] Accountancy is a method of communicating financial information to different groups of people, whether they are individuals looking to keep on top of their finances, or large companies wishing to keep records of their transactions and profits.
There are several important personal qualities that any budding accountant should keep in mind. Firstly, and contrary to popular belief, you dont need to be a total genius at Maths or numeracy. However, you do need a GCSE in Maths to undertake the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and a lot of other Accountancy qualifications, and a lot of employers like their Accountants to have an A-Level in Maths too.
Communication skills are also very important. Accountants are expected to be able to communicate with many different people in many different areas of business. Its entirely possible that you will have to talk about financial matters with all the areas of a business, and being able to do this clearly and without using lots of jargon is very important.
Though you may end up working on your own, its very common nowadays for Accountants going into large businesses to work as part of a team. This means that you should be comfortable when working with others and build good working relationships with all sectors of the business, as well as being able to take responsibility for your own work.
It is also very important to be committed to and accurate with your work an employer is relying on you to provide important information accurately and to a high standard, and they are paying you to do so. To get on in the field you will need to show dedication and motivation within your role.
An Accountant should also always be on top of their workload, both in terms of their own work, and developments in the business world on the whole. You will often be expected to work on several projects at a time, so good time management skills would be an advantage. Accountants also work in a constantly changing business world, and so it is important for any accountant to do their research regularly, to keep on top of changes in business regulations and rules.
