Accounting Skills: What Accountants Need to Know

Key takeaways

As an accountant, you need a solid foundation in accounting principles and a range of workplace and technical skills to progress in your career.

• Accountancy jobs are growing faster than average, with a 5 percent increase expected between 2024 and 2034 [1].

• As an accountant, you need different skills at each stage of your career, which you build through education, certifications, and experience.

• You can specialize in a certain accounting area or move into a management position at a company as your skill level increases.

Learn accounting skills for each level of your career, from beginner to expert finance professional. Then consider enrolling in the Intuit Academy Bookkeeping Professional Certificate. You’ll have the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of accounting and bookkeeping, which can help you become career-ready. In addition to developing a solid foundation in accounting principles, you can build various skills, including financial analysis and reporting, bookkeeping, and using tools like accounting software. On completion, you’ll earn a career certificate from Intuit Academy.

What are accounting skills?

Accountancy as a career requires a range of workplace and technical skills. For example, in your role as an accountant, you may need advanced mathematical skills to be able to keep track of payments and expenses, as well as analyze and report on financial data. Additionally, you’ll need proficiency with relevant software and accounting tools. 

However, accounting is more than just knowing your numbers. You also have to work with other people, sometimes under pressure, with a high level of focus and accuracy. To be an accountant, you must have skills that support you in applying the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). These skills will guide you as an accountant, because they form the foundation that all United States professionals must understand and comply with:

• Basic accounting principles: Ensuring that financial reporting is accurate and transparent

• The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB): Sets the GAAP that accountants in the United States must adhere to

• Accepted industry practice: Different industries have different rules and guidelines for reporting that you must follow

Core accounting skills for today’s accountants

The core accounting skills you need to be an accountant include the ability to work with numbers and organize documents and data. Additional technical skills specifically relating to the job, that are integral to your role and the accountancy skills you want to highlight on your resume, include the following: 

• Financial reporting: You must be able to report a company’s finances, which includes reading and understanding existing statements, as well as gathering and analyzing data to write new statements. This may include writing balance sheets, cash flow statements, and income statements.

• Financial analysis: You’ll need to know how to analyze a company’s or an individual’s financial status by reviewing financial statements, accounts, revenue, and expenses, and trends.

• Bookkeeping and general ledger skills: Bookkeeping forms the basics of what you do as an accountant. You must be able to record income and expenses, and track invoices, receipts, and all transactions.

• Tax fundamentals: Filing tax documents for clients means understanding relevant tax codes, tax forms, tax deadlines, and all the laws and regulations governing tax.

• Data modeling: You may need to create financial models to simulate scenarios and predict future trends, budgets, and outcomes.

• Regulatory awareness: You’ll be dealing with company finances, so you need a solid understanding of regulations governing public and corporate finance to ensure compliance.

• Accounting software and technical skills: You’ll need to use technical tools, software, and spreadsheets to record and analyze information, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for payroll information. You may also need familiarity with artificial intelligence (AI) tools and systems, which are becoming increasingly common for improving efficiency and accuracy. 

Accounting skills vs. bookkeeping skills: What’s the difference? 

As an accountant, you’ll need to have bookkeeping skills and will often oversee bookkeeping, but the two related, yet distinct, skill sets do differ in several ways. Bookkeeping skills primarily focus on recording financial transactions and organizing data. In contrast, accounting skills also encompass the interpretation and analysis of financial information, as well as reporting on the data. 

Workplace skills that support accounting work

In addition to technical skills specific to your role as an accountant, you’ll also need a range of essential workplace skills. These are transferable skills that you learn throughout your life and career, such as how to work with people, solve complex problems, and lead a team. Workplace skills allow you to manage the job day-to-day, fit into company culture, and may help future-proof your career. They include: 

• Attention to detail and accuracy: Accuracy is essential when working as an accountant. You need to make sure all reports and financial statements are accurate and that all figures are accounted for. 

• Problem solving and critical thinking: You’ll be gathering data from multiple sources, questioning inconsistencies, assessing risks, and drawing conclusions. For this, you need to cultivate abilities that allow you to remain innovative, analytical, and open-minded. 

• Time management and organization: Accounting involves multiple documents, spreadsheets, dates to remember, regulations to comply with, and possibly several clients at a time. Excellent organizational and time management skills are essential, allowing you to stay on track by prioritizing the most important and time-sensitive tasks first. 

• Communication and collaboration: As an accountant, you’ll communicate with clients, colleagues, and other financial professionals both verbally and through reports and presentations. Interpersonal skills and the ability to collaborate are of high importance. The role also involves translating complex financial information to clients in a way that they can understand. 

Accounting skills by role and career stage

Accounting is a career that requires education and experience to enter. Once qualified, you’ll find various routes that you can take to progress in your career and specialize. At each stage of your development, you’ll work on honing different skills. 

Entry-level accountant skills

At the entry level, you will be working in an accounting position, but as a trainee who has not yet qualified. You’ll focus on the following skills:

• Tax regulations and compliance

• Financial statement creation and reporting

• Financial administrative tasks

• Organization and time management

• Communication and working with others

Mid-level accountant skills 

As a mid-level accountant, you’ll typically have between three and seven years of experience behind you and will have mastered entry-level skills. As you take on more responsibility, you may also need to work on:

• Understanding regulatory standards

• Advanced reporting focusing on financial modeling

• Problem-solving and decision-making

• Leading teams and managing projects

Senior, managerial, and specialized accountant skills

To work at the most senior level or in specialist accounting positions, you’ll need advanced skills that you’ll build over years of experience from managing corporate finances and leading organizational change:

• Tax compliance and strategy

• Financial planning and finance advisory skills

• Risk assessment and crisis management

• Using AI and accounting automation 

• Business decision-making

• Stakeholder management and advanced communication skills

If you choose to specialize as you work up the accounting career ladder, you might consider a role such as:

• Budget director

• Chief cost accountant

• Chief financial officer

• Internal auditing manager

• Corporation president

What are considered basic accounting skills?

Basic or core accounting skills are those that you might learn in training as a foundation for future knowledge as you grow in your position:

• Financial reporting

• Tax principles

• Financial analysis 

• Auditing

How to develop accounting skills over time

To begin your career in accounting, you’ll start earning qualifications and certifications, and you’ll build your experience on the job over time. To maintain your license to practice, you may need to complete several hours of study, as part of your continuing professional development (CPD) or continuing professional education (CPE) annually, although requirements vary by state. 

Education, certifications, and structured learning

Accounting jobs are growing faster than average, with a 5 percent increase expected between now and 2034 [1]. It’s a competitive career path that requires a bachelor’s degree in accounting, business, math, or a similar field as a starting point. 

Depending on your accounting career goals, you might consider a master’s degree in accounting or business administration to build your skills and knowledge further. You can also use a master’s degree to learn skills that help you specialize, such as forensic accounting or internal auditing. 

To really advance in your career as an accountant, consider completing a certification to become a licensed certified public accountant (CPA). Not only does this give you a credential, but it also requires you to accrue 150 hours of coursework and to sit for an exam that verifies your expertise. 

To pass the CPA exam, you must pass the three following Core Exams:

• Auditing and Attestation (AUD)

• Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR)

• Taxation and Regulation (REG)

You must also pass one of the three Discipline Exams, of your choosing: 

• Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR) 

• Information Systems and Control (ISC)

• Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP)

Building accounting skills through experience

As an accountant, you often build upon your foundational skills to develop necessary abilities through experience. You’ll do this first by earning a degree, then by working as a trainee, and finally by studying to become a CPA and gaining your license. As you work through each stage of your career, you learn new skills and take on more responsibility. 

As a trainee, you’ll learn the basics, including tax calculations, tax regulations, and budgeting. As you progress, you learn more specialist skills, such as cost or forensic accounting. At this point, you may choose to specialize in a certain area. Further experience can lead you into management and executive roles.

How do I list accounting skills for my resume?

When writing your accounting skills for your resume, it’s important that you highlight your skills in relation to a role in accounting. Tailor your resume to provide examples of how you use your relevant skills. Your skills should run through all sections:

• Skills section: List your accountancy skills.

• Experience section: Highlight the skills you have gained through your experience with measurable examples.

• Education section: Include the skills you have gained through degrees and credentials you’ve earned.

Read more: How to Write an Accountant Resume

Explore our free resources for learning accounting skills

Subscribe to Career Chat, our weekly LinkedIn newsletter for updates on skills, tools, and certifications. Continue learning about accounting, including taking your CPA, and get other career guidance when you check out some of these free resources:

• Learn accounting terms: Accounting Terms: A to Z Glossary 

• Watch on YouTube: What Is Bookkeeping? A Simple Guide to Getting Started 

• Hear from an expert: Reimagining Work and Learning with AI: Expert Insights from Dr. Jules White

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