Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) are responsible for a company’s financial interactions with the government, other companies, and private citizens.
With a commitment to protect the public interest, CPAs provide financial statement audits and other attestation services to support investors in making informed decisions about firms’ financial health.
They also provide individuals and organizations with valuable information and guidance on taxes and financial planning.
If you are a practising CPA or are aspiring to become one, you may be wondering what skills you need to succeed.
Here are some of the essential skills Certified Public Accountants need:
1. Accounting Knowledge
Since a Certified Public Accountant’s main responsibility is to investigate, examine, and authenticate companies’ financial records to ensure their fairness and accuracy, it is critical that they have a good understanding of accounting principles and practices.
This means having in-depth knowledge of financial statements, the accounting cycle, financial analysis, and what have you.
This knowledge is necessary for a CPA to properly audit a business’s financial records, test the data entries for correctness, compare them to other records, detect errors or fraud, and see if an organization adheres to financial reporting guidelines and procedures.
2. Analytical Skills
As a Certified Public Accountant, you’d need the ability to look at the financial situation of a company and provide relevant advice.
You’d need to gather and analyze detailed information about the business including financial statements, tax records, and other relevant data such as industry trends and developments.
You’d then need to interpret the data and identify key business risks and opportunities that can affect a company’s performance.
Sometimes, you might even be called to explain or interpret complex information or provide recommendations for future action based on the analysis of data.
This involves the classification, summarization, interpretation and communication of financial information that is relevant to a specific decision or event. It also involves the ability to draw inferences from financial data which helps investors (or whoever your client is) make informed decisions.
3. Industry Knowledge
When it comes to accounting and financial management, there are governmental policies and industry standards such as GAAP, IFRS, and so on.
A good CPA needs to not only be aware of these rules, regulations, and practices but also understand how to apply them correctly.
CPAs must also maintain a stringent code of professional conduct that demands competency, objectivity, honesty, and independence in administering these standards.
4. Systems and Technical Abilities
In order for a business to operate effectively, it usually would use accounting systems and financial software to manage its financial operations.
Why? Because financial management systems make the finance team’s work easier, eliminating errors and reducing manual operations. With these tools, a company can automate and streamline financial operations, thereby saving time and money.
CPAs need to understand these systems so they can ensure that the company’s SOPs are in line with their own practice.
5. Business Acumen
Certified public accountants that possess business acumen can see the bigger picture of how certain financial decisions will pan out in the long run.
They can utilise non-financial data when making financial decisions so they can advise stakeholders on matters such as mergers, acquisitions, capital projects and other strategic initiatives.
This ability is important because CPAs are trusted business advisors, not just number crunchers.
6. Teamwork and Collaboration
While CPAs perform a lot of solo tasks, their role also requires them to work in teams.
Whether it is with colleagues, clients, or even other professionals in the industry, CPAs are often called upon to participate in collaborative efforts that allow them to share expertise, facilitate decision-making, and achieve better results.
This means CPAs need to have good interpersonal skills to be able to work with diverse professionals from various backgrounds.
It also means they would need to be flexible and willing to contribute whatever skills they have in order to complete a given task.
7. Communication and Presentation Skills
CPAs need excellent communication skills to be able to advise their clients or organizations effectively.
In addition, they also need strong presentation skills to be able to explain complex topics in a simple and easy-to-understand way.
Some of the people you would be working with may not be in the accounting industry. So, you would need to be able to explain difficult concepts in a simplified but convincing way.
Effective communication and presentation skills are especially useful for CPAs who specialize in consulting or business advisory services.
8. Problem-Solving Skills
Businesses usually turn to CPAs for guidance when facing complex accounting problems that can affect their daily operations, future planning, and ultimately their profitability.
This makes it important for a Certified Public Accountant to be creative enough so they can figure out resolutions by thinking outside the box.
In short, to succeed in the industry, you must be able to come up with imaginative resolutions and innovative solutions so that you can best advise your stakeholders while minimizing risk.
9. Leadership Skills
Today’s certified public accountants aren’t ordinary accounting staff but professionals who can lead a team of accountants in completing projects by giving professional advice and managing people effectively.
There will be times that you are required to manage others (like junior accountants), it helps if your leadership skills are up to par.
In addition, you would need good management skills to handle multiple tasks and prioritize your work appropriately.
10. Integrity and Ethical Awareness
Being a Certified Public Accountant requires high ethical standards since you will be providing advice and recommendations to people about their financial matters.
It is important that CPAs possess a strong sense of integrity so they can do the right thing without being pressured by their own team or leadership.
For instance, even if a company requests you to help them evade taxes or hide some numbers, it is important that you decline because doing so would violate your professional standards and ethics.
Being ethical also means having strong moral principles. CPAs must stand their ground even when faced with pressure from other people.
Moreover, possessing integrity also requires having enough emotional intelligence so you can be aware of how your decisions may affect others’ lives both directly and indirectly.
Conclusion
Being a Certified Public Accountant requires one to have a variety of skills that will help them be successful in the field.
The skills listed above are in no way exhaustive but are some of the most important ones that you need to succeed in this industry.
It is also necessary to note that while some skills can be learned through formal education, most will have to be gained through experience.