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Accountant Essay

In: Business and Management

Submitted By admin2015
Words 645
Pages 3
Working as an accountant is more complex than simply crunching numbers. A successful accountant must possess a particular set of skills, both with handling massive amounts of money-related information and with navigating the sphere in which he works. This is because accountants can work in one of several fields, including working for the public, the government or major corporations. According to the IFAC, international federation of accountants, “the attitude and skills professional accountants require are grouped under five main headings: (a) Intellectual skills (b) Technical and functional skills (c) Personal skills (d) Interpersonal and communication skills and (e) Organizational and business management skills. Above all, an attitude of continual inquiry and life –long learning is essential. An attitude of accepting and seeking continual improvement, both of self and the profession will lead to life-long learning.”
Intellectual skills enable a professional accountant to understand the determining forces in a given situation and to predict their effects. Other intellectual skills include the capacities for inquiry, abstract logical thinking, inductive and deductive reasoning and critical analysis. The ability to identify and solve unstructured problems in unfamiliar settings and to apply problem-solving skills in a consultative process is also an important intellectual skill to possess as an accountant. A professional accountant encompassing these traits will have the ability to solve problems, make decisions and exercise good judgment in complex organizational situations. Of course, an accountant must first and foremost be skilled with math. Technical and functional skills consist of general skills as well as skills specific to accountancy such as numeracy. Numeracy is mathematical and statistical applications. Substantial aspects of numeracy also

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