Accounting might be a field based around numbers and dollar signs, but people skills are just as important. Why? Because beyond simply crunching numbers, entering data, bookkeeping, and performing other basic clerical tasks, you’ll need to know how best to deal with the people you communicate with daily, both inside your office and out.

Not only will you need good oral communication skills as an accounting clerk, but you’ll need to know how best to harness them. In fact, good accounting clerk courses include human relations as part of the coursework. Here are some reasons why human relations skills are so important to have while you’re studying to become an accounting clerk.

You’ll Communicate Effectively with Consumers After Accounting Clerk Training

Aside from calculating and processing invoices, budgets, and other such financial documents, you may also be expected to communicate with consumers. More specifically, this could mean answering calls and responding to consumer inquiries, dealing with any issues that may require sending them refunds (and issuing those refunds as quickly as possible), or notifying them of unmade payments and delinquent bank accounts. For example, if you were to work as an accounting clerk at an educational institution, you may be responsible for refunding tuition fees, as well as reviewing student accounts to keep track of other fees and necessary payments. Your job may involve a lot of solitary bookkeeping, but you’ll be dealing with the public more often than some might think, and it’s important to maintain a solid relationship with consumers, vendors, and suppliers.

You Will Master Your Multitasking Skills in an Accounting Clerk Career

Not only will you communicate with consumers, but you’ll have several other tasks on your hands, involving correspondence with others from within the company. Your job might involve responding to inquiries specific to accounting, helping senior employees with certain tasks, communicating with the reconciliation department, and discussing invoices and expenses with employees in various areas of the company. Furthermore, you’ll be expected to interact with upper management, including direct communication with them to resolve any issues, scheduling conference calls, and getting approval from management on cheque and invoice requests. Since you’ll likely be working in an environment with tight and urgent deadlines, it’s important to choose an accounting clerk training program that will help you learn to manage both the tasks you do on your own as well as the ones where communication across the company is needed.

You’ll Be Able to Network More Efficiently

In many industries, the name of the game often isn’t what you know, but who you know. If you find yourself at a corporate event or in the presence of industry experts who may be able to help you get where you want to be professionally, the importance of a good first impression cannot be stressed enough. Strong communication skills are important in the accounting world, but even more so when you happen to meet people associated with companies who are searching for candidates in the industry. Furthermore, you’ll be able to exchange knowledge and stories with people who have more industry experience than you, which can prove to be invaluable. Studying accounting and bookkeeping at a career college can give you technical knowledge, and who you meet after that can put you over the top.

Are you interested in taking an accounting clerk course?

Contact KLC College to find out more!

When looking for career training, you might know that you want to enter the workforce equipped with a practical and valuable education, but also feel unsure of which program to choose. It helps to look at your aptitudes and personality traits as they stand, then see if they apply to the profession you might pick. The things that interest you, come naturally to you, and matter to you are excellent indicators of what career would have you feeling the most fulfilled, actualized, and engaged. It’s also probably important to you to choose an education and career path that makes the most of your best qualities. Read on for some good ways to know if an education that can lead to bookkeeping and accounting department management is appropriate for you.

Numbers Matter in the Real World, Not Just in an Accounting Clerk Course

An aptitude for numbers and a genuine interest in math is very important for a career that requires a lot of number-crunching. You won’t just encounter a large volume of math in your courses – you’ll experience it in your future career as well. If you are someone who is comfortable working with numbers and can perform basic arithmetic with accuracy, an accounting program might be a good fit. It is best to be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide quickly and accurately without a calculator in hand. If you find yourself very quickly solving mathematical problems with ease, you might make a great accounting clerk student. Additionally, if you have responsibilities to balance while getting your education, it could be worth looking into what a quick, partially self-facilitating accounting clerk course has to offer.

If You Pay Attention to Detail, Accounting Clerk Training Might be for You

Do you notice small details that others often don’t? Are you able to catch typos, inconsistencies, mathematical mistakes and misquotes because you are good at paying close attention? Accounting is an exact science, without wiggle room or the opportunity to take shortcuts. For example, when you record transactions, you must make sure every detail is properly recorded, with exact amounts, whether payment was given, and what the payment was for, in addition to other details. If you are able to pay close attention to everything in front of you, your work will be less prone to error and much more efficient. Inconsistent recording and math can put an accounting clerk on a fast track to jumbled records and a huge amount of stress. Additionally, the more detail-oriented you are, the better you will be at picking up on mistakes made by other people, before they become a big problem. To fine-tune your attention to detail as it specifically applies to accounting, a career training program can offer small class sizes and hands-on training to give you experience for the real world.

Honesty and Trustworthiness is an Important Trait for Accounting Clerks

Are you good at keeping sensitive information away from prying eyes? Are privacy, confidentiality, and professionalism some of your core values? In an accounting career, you will often be handling confidential documents, such as bank statements, payroll records, and files containing other company information. Integrity is a foundational quality for a career in which you will be handling funds. If you have integrity, you will be of great value in the field and to the companies you may work for. Professional office procedures and business law are parts of a career college accounting diploma program, which you can apply to your level of professionalism and respect for confidential info during your career.

Are you interested in knowing more about accounting clerk training?

Contact KLC College for more information.

Internships are often referred to as long interviews since they can sometimes lead to actual job offers. Even those that don’t turn into permanent jobs, however, still provide interns an excellent opportunity to gain on-the-job experience, which employers highly value.

Students of KLC College who successfully complete their accounting clerk and bookkeeping courses complete a 100-hour internship. Here’s how to stand out during your internship so that you can give your career a head start.

Do Your Research and Treat Your Internship Like a Real Job from Day One

While your internship may be unpaid, you should still be treating it like a real job. After all, your performance is likely being evaluated and it could have a real impact on your future career prospects. You can show your supervisors you’re serious about the role by researching the company beforehand, including how large it is, how long it has been around for, and what it does. With this research, you’ll come across as better prepared for the position and you’ll feel more comfortable in your new surroundings.

Another great way to show that you are taking your internship seriously is by dressing professionally. Even if the dress code says that jeans and a T-shirt are acceptable for interns, it rarely hurts to choose a more professional look. Dressing the part of a professional will help you feel more confident while also helping you stand out as somebody who could potentially be considered for a future hire.

Volunteer for Projects That Put Your Accounting Clerk Training to Use

Your internship is your chance to apply what you learned during your accounting clerk training to the real world. To get the most out of your internship, you should volunteer for opportunities that align with your training. For example, during your training you’ll learn how to use a number of software programs, like Simply Accounting and QuickBooks Pro. If you see a chance to put these skills to use in the office, then volunteer to do so. You’ll gain valuable experience and you’ll be showing your supervisors that you have job-ready skills.

However, when volunteering for new tasks, it’s important to only take on what you can handle. Showing your supervisors that you can follow guidelines and do a job well is better than trying to finish as many tasks as possible without regard to quality.

Build Up Your Network by Introducing Yourself to Everyone in the Office

When it comes to career advancement, who you know is often just as important as what you know. In fact, one LinkedIn survey found that 80 per cent of professionals consider networking to be important for success in their careers. Your internship following career college is a great opportunity to build a professional network.

Start by introducing yourself to everyone in the office. Getting to know your coworkers helps you establish connections that could potentially lead to opportunities. Many of your coworkers may go onto careers at other companies. If you make a memorable impression today, they could keep you in mind for openings at those companies in the future. Furthermore, by taking an interest in your coworkers, you’re proving that you’re part of a team.

Are you ready for a new career?

Contact KLC College today to learn more about our accounting clerk course.

Our personal and professional lives are all driven by communication. It is an important skill that we rely on to express ourselves, establish expectations, state problems and find solutions. Communication is one of the core activities involved in the accounting profession because it is the main way to share information clearly and concisely.

There is, however, more to communication than you may think. From verbal to written communication, and active listening to objectivity, communicating effectively involves many different components. If you are a good communicator with an interest in accounting, read on to find out why your skills make you a perfect fit for accounting courses.

1. Accounting Professionals Engage with Active Listening

Accounting clerks must use their active listening skills to make sure they fully understand whomever they are communicating with, whether it is their boss, another colleague or a client.

Active listening involves grounding yourself in the present moment and hearing what the other person is saying in a meaningful, attentive manner. Professionals with accounting clerk training understand that there will be times when they need to go over information with co-workers or managers to ensure that operations are running smoothly. In order to do that, they must use active listening to respond with appropriate questions, rephrasing to make sure they’ve heard something correctly, and keep everyone on the same page.

2. Verbal Communication Can Enrich Your Accounting Clerk Training

One of the most common barriers to communication is often, simple misunderstanding. Verbal communication skills make your points or concerns clear to all parties involved.

Whether you’re explaining a policy to a client or updating a colleague on a situation at the office, verbal communication skills are a primary means of keeping yourself and others informed, and decrease the chances of a misunderstanding. Accounting clerks may often have to simplify complicated accounting terms to someone who may be less familiar with the topic, and know to keep their explanations brief, concise and polite.

3. Writing Communication is a Key Part of Success after Career College

Communicating in writing is sometimes overlooked, however, written communication is still a necessary skill during career college and beyond.

Written documents such statements or inventory reports must be prepared in a specific way in order to properly pass on the information they contain. Accounting clerks may find themselves having to answer clients’ emails or provide a brief synopsis of a document, and in these areas your ability to communicate through your writing is crucial because a misunderstanding can easily come up if you don’t pay attention to the tone and content of your writing.

4. Accounting Clerk Professionals Know to Keep Perspective

Perspective can be a subtler aspect of communication because it doesn’t necessarily share your thoughts, but instead influences the way you receive information and input from others.

Communication is more than expressing yourself, however. It also involves being able to appropriately give and receive feedback, which allows you to focus on skills you need to grow as a professional. If someone has a different perception than you of a problem or concept, you can use your perspective skills to better understand their position and work together to find a solution.

Are you ready to put your communication skills to good use?

Contact KLC College for more information about beginning an accounting clerk course.