By Lina Martinez

No matter where you currently are in your accounting career, if you’re reading this article, it’s likely that you want to take it to the next level. Unless you have a mentor guiding you, however, it can be hard to know where to start. In this article, we’re going to take a look at three of the areas you can address in order to get started.

Experience

Whether you want to progress in the company you are currently in or want to start your own accounting firm, experience is vital. While experience in every part of the business is useful, it can be best to specialize depending on what you want from your future career. For example, if you want to run your own accountancy firm, you’ll want to gain experience in the different areas of running a business. However, if you have aspirations of running the tax department, you’ll want to gain as much experience as you can in tax.

One way to do this is to ask senior colleagues to delegate tasks to you. This will help you to build confidence in the areas that matter to you. If it’s not possible to do this in your current role, consider volunteering your services. Lots of charitable organizations are calling out for people to help them with their accounts.

Qualifications

Most accountants in the USA hold a minimum of a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) certificate. However, you can stand out even more if you take the time to gain more qualifications. A bachelor’s degree in accounting is a good start and you can take this even further by gaining your master’s. An online accounting degree can be studied towards on the evenings and weekends, so there’s no need to give up your current job to progress.

Depending on the line of work you want to progress into, you may also want to look into alternative qualifications. For example, those who want to take on a finance or analyst planning type role may want to study for their CFA. Internal auditors may want to take a CPA and CIA combination course. It all depends on the area you want to progress into.

Skills

In addition to experience and qualifications, it’s also a good idea to brush up on some key skills. The more senior a position you obtain, the more important certain skills will become.

One of the most important skills for accountants, and one that is regularly overlooked is communication. No matter where you are working, you will need to be able to discuss accounts with clients who have no financial background. The ability to analyze financial information is also important. Accounting doesn’t just involve reporting figures; it involves looking at them and seeing if you can find ways to save your business money while remaining within the law. Accountants with good analytical skills are always well sought after.

Progressing in your accounting career is exciting. If you keep the above advice in mind, you should stand out from the rest.