An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy with proper education and skilled training. They are entitled to perform accounting functions. The demand for accountants is growing on a day to day basis. Accountants play a vital role in an organization as they manage a lot of responsibilities. To err is human. A small mistake such as addition or omission to a set of numbers can have a huge impact on how accounting books will look and on the decision making process. Human errors occur, but it is important that they are not deliberate mistakes happening too often. In this article we discuss the top qualities observed in a good accountant.
For being a good accountant, one must undergo short term job oriented accounting courses in addition to the graduation degree and must possess the following qualities:
- Willingness to learn: A good accountant must master the latest accounting rules, changes in standards and theories. He/ She should continuously update their knowledge related to the industry’s generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP or in statutory accounting laws or any changes in tax laws.
- The ability to be organized and structured: An accountant should personally be a very organized person who is comfortable performing within a highly structured environment. Organization skills, being able to prioritize duties and responsibilities and having a system in the mass of records, documents, full of numbers are essential for an accountant due to the specific work with figures, information systems. If accountants establish a manageable structure to follow while performing their number-crunching duties and various analyses it allows them to save their energy and resources and be more productive.
- The ability to be accurate and detail-oriented: The work with numbers requires personal traits such as accuracy and having a sense for details, to be fully concentrated on work resulting in no errors made. Doing due diligence, a detailed examination of a company and its financial records is one of the fundamental competencies of accountants and requires their excellent knowledge of accounting as one small error could cause a huge difference in an entity’s future.
- Adaptability: An adaptable person is highly likely to learn and grow in their careers because they see each new challenge as an opportunity to learn and test their skills. The accounting industry is quite dynamic and challenging, if you have the ability to adapt quickly and think of solutions that can fit the situation quickly, you’ll be at a distinct advantage.
- The ability to be business-minded and client-centric: Accountants are interested in the business which contributes to them to be a better accountant. If an accountant understands business models, if he can recommend what economic and accounting methods might fit best with a business’s goals it can lead to important business decisions.
- The ability to be a team player: Accountants typically work in teams and participate in face to face meetings with their clients and on a regular basis they consult business issues with other decision-makers. They must adjust to the clients’ needs and must be good communicators. It is crucial to be able to work with different types of personalities.
- Trustworthy: Accountants work with the information confidential in nature. A good accountant will have to maintain confidentiality at all times as and when required. Their professionalism is an important trait that should be always abided having proved to be the right and ethical approach to conduct business.
- Communication skills: An accountant should be able to interpret and communicate effectively the complicated accounting concepts to users who don’t understand the financial language but need it for decision-making purposes. Clients and employers search for an accountant who is able to interact with easiness and get his/her ideas across clearly to anyone.
- Strong ethics and integrity: A good accountant is an honest professional with a strong sense of integrity. Accountants, loyal to the integrity principle will make sure that they keep confidential information private. They will also ensure their clients to abide by all relevant laws enabling to avoid potential problems
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