5 traits of a great accountant

Image by William Iven from Pixabay 

• Ensure buy-in from management:

No matter how good you are with your work, slogging away at that balance sheet and budget reports you will not head anywhere until you get the management to come on board with your vision and accept your agency for the work. This means transparent direct communication and a good professional rapport with your senior management. Accountancy is not just reporting of numbers anymore. In today’s world, it’s predicting what they mean for now and the future. You need to come up with solutions to the business’s problems and those solutions needs to be heard and taken on board.

• Be creative:

You are asked for a report for revenue trends. You pull out the automated report from the company’s CRM, maybe even plot it on a graph and throw in your two cents on it. It won’t fly in the long run. Get creative. Why does the graph trend the way it does, what could be impacting it? Get the factors impacting it and plot it on that chart as well. If A and B are asked give C and D as well. This will show you aren’t just an unimaginative data monkey.

• Be a great manager:

A great manager brings out the true potential of the people in his team. It may mean getting your hands dirty or it may mean delegating. It may mean offering flexible homework solutions or it may mean office micro-management for junior staff members. Facilitate your team to be the best they can. Be a teacher, a mentor, a friend or a guide, but whatever you do, don’t be the king of the castle asking for blind obedience and loyalty. Help your team to help you succeed.

• Own your mistakes:

To err is human. Every once in a while (hopefully not that often) you might slip and thankfully in accounting no one dies on the operating table. When you’ve made that mistake in the numbers own up to it, correct it and move on with your head held high. Blaming someone else, covering it up or denying it ruins your good will and brand. Be honest and open about your work problems to build trust. If you’ve made the mistake because you have too much on your plate and thereby you’ve hurried that report, discuss this issue with the management and offer a solution at the same time.

• Stay two steps ahead:

When you have those free fifteen minutes, instead of checking your latest face book feed or day dreaming as the kettle boils, think of what else the business may need and work on it. Pull the bunny out of the hat at that next board meeting. It may come back as a surprise question anyway or it may just serve to impress.