People interested in money and numbers usually opt to pursue the noble career of accountancy. But over the years, the field has evolved and rewritten the career. Accountants are no longer just people crunching numbers, but it is now recognized that they play an important role in growing a business.
Those who are thinking about pursuing a career in accountancy have a lot of questions regarding the profession. If you’re thinking of becoming an accountant, here’s what you need.
Take the right courses in the right degree
The educational requirements for accountants differ from area to area. Some places would need a person to finish a bachelor’s degree in a related field, while others have a special course for accountancy. Do your research on the educational requirements of your State so you can apply for the right degree and take the right courses.
Pass the licensing exam
Accountancy is one of those professions that require students to take a licensing exam before they can start pursuing it as a career. This is to ensure that they are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to take on the profession. Accounting is a very technical area of expertise, so there is much importance placed on it.
Typically, licensing exams consist of long test papers and thick booklets. They are usually taken over the course of several days. Considering its complexity and difficulty, many aspiring accountants enroll in review centers prior to the exam.
Pick a specialty
When you say “accounting,” you’re referring to a big picture that involves a lot of different areas of expertise. There’s public accounting, business accounting, internal auditing, taxes, and even accountancy services for dentists. That’s why accountants need to choose their specific field. This will come in handy in helping them filter out job opportunities and finding an area of their expertise.
Land an entry-level job
After passing the licensing exam, all accountants are considered as entry-level professionals. In order to climb the ladder and become more established, they’re going to need to build their professional careers. The first step to doing that is landing an entry-level job. This is where newbies really immerse themselves in the specialty of their choice and learn all the ins and outs of the profession.
Look for bigger opportunities
Typically, accountants don’t stay in their entry-level jobs for too long. Consider it as a stepping stone towards greater opportunities. After gaining adequate experience from an entry-level job, an accountant can now seek bigger offers, more experience, or even put up their own accounting firm.
The skills required for accountants
Becoming an accountant requires education, expertise, and experience. But more than that, there are also soft skills that help accountants succeed in their careers. Sure, the profession is quite technical, but the ability to solve big numbers is not the only thing that makes a good accountant. Here are some soft skills needed.
- Ability to stay organized. An accountant’s job involves navigating through books and records and crunching numbers. Thus, they have to stay organized and strategic in order to get all the data correctly.
- Analytics. Accountants don’t only solve numbers. They have to be able to look at several data and spot emerging patterns and trends to yield the right results.
- Detail-oriented. Accounts must have an incredibly sharp eye for detail, considering that each decimal point in a financial report counts.
- Tech-savvy. With the advent of technology, accountancy work is now done through digital platforms. Accountants must know how to navigate through different spreadsheets and files in order to get their work done.
These requirements might seem overwhelming, but it’s definitely worth going through to achieve your dream of being an accountant.