You probably already know that the skills you need to be an accountant include some proficiency in mathematics and accounting principles. But accountants aren’t merely number-crunchers.  

It takes more than that to make it in this competitive field, for which the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects employment will grow 5% through 2034.  

Here are the 10 skills for accounting that matter the most, and why pursuing them early in your career (or studies) makes sense.

Key Points

• The skills needed to be an accountant differ somewhat by specialty, but all accountants start with a foundation of technical and soft skills. 
• According to the Intuit QuickBooks Accountant Technology Survey, the vast majority (95%) of accounting firms adopted new automation tools in the past year, and 75% increased their focus on tech skills when hiring.  
• Core accounting skills include math, accounting principles, and tax knowledge. Being well-organized, analytical, and capable of communicating complex concepts also helps. 
• You’ll need to keep refining your skills throughout your accounting career, but starting with the fundamentals will set you on the track to success.

1. Knowledge of Accounting Principles and Standards

Accounting principles are the rules that make financial statements legible across companies and industries. Without them, it’d be a struggle to compare a public company’s quarterly report to last year’s, or to a competitor’s. People often pick this up in a degree program, but accounting classes online typically cover some of the same ground.

Why It Matters

Without a working knowledge of accounting standards, you can’t do most of an accountant’s job. Two core accounting frameworks dominate the field: 

• Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP): The standard used in the United States, maintained by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). GAAP is rules-based, meaning it spells out specific requirements for how transactions should be recorded and reported. 
• International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): Used by companies in more than 160 jurisdictions, including the European Union and much of Asia and Latin America. IFRS is principles-based, giving accountants more room to apply judgment within a defined framework. US companies with international operations or foreign investors often need to work in both systems.

How to Build It

A degree program is the most direct path, since accounting principles are core to accounting curricula. If you’re going a different route, look for structured online programs that teach the accounting cycle, double-entry method, and the major principles (revenue recognition, matching, conservatism, consistency) through worked examples rather than abstract definitions. These concepts make a lot more sense when you see them applied to real transactions.

2. Tax Knowledge

Tax proficiency is 1 of the top skills for accounting. Whether you specialize in tax work or not, clients expect their accountant to understand how their taxes affect other financial decisions.

Why It Matters

Even accountants who don’t specialize in taxes need some level of tax proficiency. An auditor needs to recognize when a tax position looks aggressive, for example. And a management accountant needs to factor tax implications into forecasts.  

Here’s where it most helps to be tax-fluent: 

• Tax law (state, federal, local) 
• Federal and state tax codes 
• Filing requirements 
• Differences between business and individual taxes 
• Deductions and credits
• Tax liabilities and implications 
• Sales tax 
• Regulatory compliance 

How to Build It

The most practical way to build tax skills is to learn them in the context of preparing actual returns. Intuit Academy’s free tax prep program walks you through federal individual tax returns from start to finish, covers the common deductions and credits, and ends with a certification exam you can put on your resume.  

If you plan to prepare returns for paid clients, including as part of an internship or seasonal role, you’ll also need an IRS preparer tax identification number (PTIN). The application takes about 15 minutes online and costs $18.75. Anyone preparing federal returns for compensation needs it.

3. Proficiency in Accounting Software

According to an Intuit QuickBooks survey, 95% of firms use automation technologies in their daily operations. Software fluency is central to accounting work. And, consequently, it’s high among the skills you need to be an accountant. It’s how the work gets done, and how firms decide who to hire. 

Why It Matters

You’d be hard-pressed to find an accountant who doesn’t have some fluency in financial and accounting software. Software does the work that used to take entry-level accountants the longest, such as reconciliations, transaction categorization, data entry, and basic reporting.  

Not every accounting firm uses the same software, but core systems worth learning include: 

• QuickBooks, Xero, or Sage (bookkeeping) 
• TurboTax or Lacerte (tax prep) 
• Excel (modeling and analysis)

How to Build It

Most accounting software offers free trials, student versions, or free certifications. Start there before paying for anything. 

If you’re learning QuickBooks, check out Intuit Academy’s free bookkeeping program. It’s built around QuickBooks Online and teaches the platform through real customer scenarios. For Excel, you might build models from scratch using public financial data to learn pivot tables and financial modeling basics.

4. Attention to Detail

In accounting, the difference between a small error and a serious problem is often a single digit. That’s why practically any accountant job description lists detail orientation as a must-have trait. 

Why It Matters

Being detail-oriented is vital to doing your job well, given that accounting work involves long chains of small decisions. A mistake as tiny as a misplaced decimal point or a missed deduction could mean hefty penalties or a client being audited.  

The cost might show up in other ways, too. An accountant who misses small errors risks getting assigned simpler work because partners don’t trust them with the complex projects. The accountant who consistently catches them could land the high-stakes engagements and better clients.

How to Build It

Detail orientation is a skill you can build. Here’s where to start: 

• Review your work in sections. You might take a pass for math, another for categorization, and 1 more for completeness, rather than 1 general check at the end. 
• Use checklists for recurring work. Creating lists for high-stakes tasks like month-end close, quarterly filings, and year-end procedures can help keep things from slipping on busy days. 
• Slow down on the routine-looking parts. Many missed errors hide in the work that’s easy to skim, like data entry or account coding. 

Outside of a real job, you could practice on real material. For example, you might pull a public company’s 10-K from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) EDGAR database and try to reconcile reported figures against the underlying notes.

5. Analytical and Critical Thinking

Recording transactions is the entry-level part of accounting. Making sense of them is where the work gets interesting. That’s why the BLS rates analytical and critical thinking skills highly among the skills needed to be an accountant.  

Why It Matters

Accountants need to be able to look at a set of financials and notice what doesn’t fit, whether that’s a margin trend that contradicts what sales is reporting or an expense category outpacing revenue.  

With increasing automation in the field, analytical work is where firms have the opportunity to grow. The Intuit QuickBooks survey cited earlier found that 79% of accountants expect strategic advisory work to grow, and that work is almost entirely analytical.

How to Build It

Read financial statements with a question in mind. The notes are where the analytical work lives, as they explain the choices behind the numbers. 

To practice, you could pull 3 years of a public company’s 10-Ks and look for trends the company doesn’t highlight, or compare 2 competitors and trace why their financials differ. SEC enforcement actions also read like forensic accounting case studies. The same skill set transfers into budgeting and forecasting.

6. Communication Skills

Accountants might spend more time explaining numbers than producing them. Translating financial information for people who don’t read balance sheets for a living is a big part of the job. 

Why It Matters

Clients, executives, and cross-functional teammates rarely have an accountant’s financial fluency. If you can’t explain what a variance means or why a deferred revenue adjustment matters, you risk your work not landing. 

How to Build It

The fastest way to build this core accounting skill is via a client-facing role. A role in virtual tax preparation, for example, gives you ample runway to practice on the job by explaining real tax situations to real clients. If a client role isn’t available yet, you could practice translating on your own: 

• Rewrite a financial report’s key findings in plain language for a hypothetical non-financial reader. 
• Present analysis to coworkers outside finance before any official deadline and watch what trips them up. 
• Pay attention to repeated questions. If 3 people ask the same thing, your presentation might be more of a problem than their understanding of it.

7. Organization and Time Management

Accounting’s busy season remains characterized by aggressive deadlines and long hours, even with many firms reporting that their workloads are becoming more manageable through technology. Even outside busy season, multiple deadlines can stack on top of an already-full workload. Strong organizational and time management skills are crucial to keeping up with your responsibilities. 

Why It Matters

Accounting is highly deadline-driven. You’ve got month-end closes and tax filing milestones scattered throughout the year. And then there are audit schedules to contend with. 

All of this is in addition to your everyday workload. Even when things aren’t as busy, you’ll be juggling multiple projects and deadlines. Each comes with significant paperwork, which can be a lot to manage. And that’s why organization and time management skills are your greatest allies.

How to Build It

Implement organizational or task management systems into your workflow. Automating routine tasks like invoice processing and client onboarding can help you stay on top of everything and potentially save you time. The same goes for batching tasks, which can simplify your day-to-day. 

If you’re coming up against multiple conflicting deadlines, try to stagger your work accordingly. It’s better to finish tasks early rather than later or not at all.

8. Ethical Judgment and Integrity

Accountants see the parts of a business that its owners don’t share with anyone else. That access is the entire basis of the work and the reason ethical judgment is a job requirement. 

Why It Matters

Accounting runs on the assumption that you can be trusted with that information and that you’ll push back when something crosses a line. An accountant who can’t be trusted on either count is likely to be unemployable, regardless of how good their technical skills are. 

Both certified public accountants (CPAs) and non-credentialed accountants face real ethical decisions on the job, such as a client asking you to reclassify expenses aggressively or a colleague who’s cutting corners on documentation. Knowing where the lines are and being willing to hold them is critical.

How to Build It

Even if you don’t become a CPA, take the time to study the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA) Code of Professional Conduct. If you’re planning to work in tax, learn the IRS Circular 230 as well. They detail what it means to work in compliance with tax law and to handle conflicts of interest and client confidentiality.

9. Adaptability and Continuous Learning

Tax law changes annually. Accounting standards get updated. Software gets replaced with newer software. And AI is changing what entry-level work even looks like, with 88% of organizations now reporting regular AI use in at least 1 business function. Adapting to industry shifts and treating education as never-ending are key to keeping your skills marketable. 

Why It Matters

For CPAs, continuing professional education (CPE) is typically a must. Most states require about 40 CPE credits each year to maintain licensure. But a lot of learning happens between the formal requirements, too. New tax legislation and evolving software and AI tools, for example, all reshape what accountants do on a daily basis.  

How to Build It

Build learning into your routine the way you’d build it into your workflow: 

• Tune in to industry trends. The IRS, FASB, and AICPA all publish news and updates.  
• Experiment with new tools. AI features in TurboTax and QuickBooks (and other professional software) are advancing fast. The accountants who experiment with new capabilities early help set themselves apart. 
• Take CPE seriously. Pick courses that build skills you don’t have rather than those that just fill credit requirements with what you already know. 

The goal is to stay curious enough that nothing in the field catches you off guard.

10. Understanding of Business Operations

Doing the job well requires understanding the business behind the numbers, including how it makes money and where the pressures are.  

Why It Matters

You might not find “business acumen” or “business operations proficiency” in the skill requirements of an accountant job listing. But many employers value it. 

Those who understand business operations can better support strategic planning processes and provide insights that drive innovation and growth. This includes ways to mitigate risk and preserve a company’s overall financial health. 

Honing your skills here makes you that much more essential to the business. This makes you harder to replace and might open future opportunities.

How to Build It

Look beyond the surface for deeper insights into how the business runs. Ask questions like: 

• Why did costs suddenly increase? 
• Why are numbers different from quarter to quarter, or season to season? 
• What drove the revenue change? 
• Is this line item a 1-time event or a pattern? 

The more industries and company sizes you work across, the faster you build the instinct for what to ask. If that’s not viable at this stage in your career, consider taking a business class. Or apply for internships at public accounting or business firms.

How to Start Building Your Accounting Skills

You can build the right accounting skills through a combination of formal and informal learning. Hands-on experience takes it further. Not all of it has to be paid. Even a volunteer gig or an unpaid internship can be incredibly valuable. 

If you’re prioritizing learning right now, Intuit Academy offers free, self-paced training in tax prep and bookkeeping. That means you can build several core skills simultaneously in an applied, practical context. 

And when you’re ready to look for paid work, the median pay for accountants and auditors is $81,680, with the top 10% earning over $141,000. A CPA license, specialization, or strong technical skills will help you advance your career toward the higher end faster.

Take the Next Step with Intuit Academy

You don’t have to wait for the perfect moment to start. If you’ve worked through the bookkeeping or tax prep training, you can apply for entry-level accounting roles at Intuit directly. 

FAQs

Do the skills required for accountants differ significantly between small businesses and large corporations?

The same skills translate across businesses of different sizes. However, specialized skills may be required if you’re in a specific domain, like forensic accounting or auditing. If you want to move into more strategic roles, for example, you might start by building your skills in business operations. 

Which accounting skills are most at risk of being replaced or reduced by AI and automation?

Repetitive tasks like data entry and account reconciliation are most likely to be automated. The same goes for any basic numbers work and reporting. But preliminary research shows that AI is actually augmenting accountants’ efforts rather than replacing them. Those who use it spend 8.5% less time on such routine tasks, freeing up time for quality assurance and advisory work. 

How important are soft skills compared to technical skills when it comes to career progression in accounting?

Accountants need a good blend of hard and soft skills to thrive. Proficiency in financial reporting, taxation, auditing, and accounting systems enables accountants to do their jobs. But soft skills, like communication, adaptability, empathy, and leadership, are what separate good accountants from great accountants.