Jessica Veiga
Accounting isn’t just about numbers. At its core, a career in accounting is a career in people and relationships.
So for accounting professionals to find success, they must go above and beyond day-to-day accounting services. The key to unlocking this next level of performance is developing soft skills.
While hard skills are technical skills like Excel or proficiency in an accounting software, soft skills in accounting are more like personal attributes. They’re the intangible aspects of people that impact every aspect of work implicitly, and not everyone has them—especially your staff who are entry-level.
That said, building a team of accountants with both hard and soft skills is an important part of differentiating your firm. This also means they’re harder to teach. But by setting aside time to focus on developing accounting soft skills, your firm can flourish above the competition.
7 Soft Skills Accounting Firms Need
To get you started, here’s a list of 7 soft skills your firm needs and how to develop them.
1. Effective Communication
When talking to a business owner, some financial lingo can sound like a whole other language. To effectively communicate with clients, you need to learn how to simplify concepts and present it in a way that makes sense to them.
The best approach is to apply what you’re saying to real-life examples. They might not understand what a debt ratio is, but they’ll understand a story of a business accumulating an untenable amount of debt.
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2. Persuasion
Business owners look to accountants as advisors more than just the holder of financial records or the people who crunch numbers. They want guidance and tips from someone who can pull from their years of experience.
But advice needs to be presented with authority to be taken into consideration. The truth is, your client won’t remember the advice you gave if they ignored it. What they want is results.
To play more of the advisory role and boost client retention, accountants need to learn how to be persuasive. The good news is you don’t have to turn into a mafia don to persuade someone; you can instead focus on your past experiences to be authoritative.
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3. Adaptability
In any profession that provides a service to clients, there will be different expectations of what the end result will be. For some, accounting is the necessary evil for the smallest possible tax bill. Others will see accounting for the valuable information it provides every other time of year.
Accountants must adapt their services to their clients now more than ever. Identifying the business owners who are eager to discuss finances and looking for expert guidance allows you to focus your efforts on your most receptive clients.
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4. Dependability
Business owners need answers and reassurance when trying to understand the financial health of their business. While an accountant doesn’t serve peace of mind, it can be found in conversation with an accountant. This is where dependability is key.
You don’t need to provide every answer at a moment’s notice, but there’s an effective balance to find between being there for your clients and giving them the perspective they need to quell any anxieties.
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5. Problem Solving
Business owners have a sense of urgency when it comes to solving problems. After all, their business is their passion and their livelihood. But that urgency can cause them to make unfortunate mistakes, especially if they aren’t fluent in their own finances.
An accountant can provide immense value by not just providing the reports, but also highlighting the key points that the business owner should know. Having conversations about what goals a client has will help you distinguish important information from the minor details. The insights that an accountant provides can ultimately bridge where a client is to where they want to be, minimizing the struggle and stress.
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6. Time Management
As accounting moves toward being more of an advising profession, it guarantees complexity in the way accountants fill their time. Advisory will require more time dedicated to making inference and forming opinions. Both of those tasks don’t exactly have a concrete ending point, especially compared to something like closing the books or completing an audit. Managing capacity is a big aspect of offering more services in your successful accounting practice.
Time management is an easy skill to start working on, but it can be difficult to truly master. In some cases, the best time management tactic is leaning into automation to almost literally buy back time.
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7. Empathy
Business owners are constantly encountering new situations that challenge them. While they may not immediately think of their accountant as a source of reassurance (even though they should), the more they talk about their stresses and concerns, the more they see the emotional support provided.
It’s also a difficult thing to teach. We all have different personality traits that dictate how we operate, but by focusing on how to show empathy through communication and service, every accountant can be a reliable support for their clients in their toughest times.
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Prioritize People to Help Develop Soft Skills in Accounting
At the core of your job as an accountant is the recognition that your role is to help people. Developing soft skills will help your clients, and it will help set your firm apart from the competition. They elevate every aspect of your service and are key to getting and keeping clients.
There are plenty of resources available online to help you take your interpersonal and soft skills to the next level, like this great post from the Radical CPA Jody Padar that focuses on practicing accounting advisory with emotion. Click below to give it a read!
