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 have to communicate with others often as an accounting clerk
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 learn to multitask effectively in your accounting clerk training
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!