Pledge to be an asset to your company, dear CPAs!

Any company, irrespective of the industry it is functioning in, will always value qualified employees. After all, it is the crème de la crème staff that drives business growth and propels the company to greater heights of success!

In a bid to engage and sustain employees, an accounting firm has to take numerous steps, out of which one of them is to provide proper training to allow CPAs and finance professionals to grow their strategic-thinking skills, and another to provide bonuses and paid vacations, whenever possible.

However, the onus of strengthening an employee’s profile doesn’t just lie on the company. Even the employees have to analyze their strengths and weaknesses to be able to focus on areas that need some fine-tuning. Question yourself:

1. Are you equipped with soft skills?

A survey by the Institute of Management Accounts and the American Productivity & Quality Centre revealed that 87% of finance employers agree that communication skills are needed by their departments. In an age and time when the world of accounting is going paperless and more and more tasks are getting automated, the most entry-level accounting positions require more sophisticated skills.
The accounting profession isn’t just restricted to sitting behind a computer screen anymore. Your job also involves networking with people and staying in touch with clients.

2. Are you adaptable?

The accounting industry is dynamic in nature. Therefore, it is important for CPAs to bend any new development to their advantage. If you feel helpless every time a tax law gets updated, then you won’t be able to provide your clients the service they actually deserve. Therefore, you should consider every day as a challenge. This will enable you to adapt to changes faster.

3. Are you a part of a cross-functional team?

If you are not, then you should probably ask for such a change. Why? Because collaborating with colleagues from different functions in the company will enable you to broaden your organizational view and to learn new approaches to resolve problems.

4. Are you just striking off tasks from your to-do list?

Because if you are, then there’s a problem! Don’t be in a job just for the sake of having a job! Try to understand the company’s goals and mission to find ways to contribute better to its growth. If you really want to be seen as a valuable employee of the organization, you have to be enthusiastic about your job.

5. Are you open to technology?

You have to be, in case you are confused! Cloud accounting technology has many benefits. It provides an excellent back-up service. It reduces the cost of installing anything. It’s a safer option than any other software. Data on cloud is accessible from any part of the world. A 2016 report by Accountex stated more than 90% of small and medium-sized businesses will be using cloud accounting software by the year-end. Are you embracing it already?

6. Are you networking enough?

Open a treasure box of new opportunities for yourself by networking. Attend conferences and seminars, share your experiences and insights, and grow your network! Bring business for your company. It takes hard work but the results are worth it!

Over to you

Strive to consistently work upon yourself. The harder you work, the more confident you will become. And that will eventually fetch you (and your company) results.