Careers > Accountants and Auditors

Accountants and Auditors

$78K Median Salary 135K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 6.9% Job Growth

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About This Career

Examine, analyze, and interpret accounting records to prepare financial statements, give advice, or audit and evaluate statements prepared by others. Install or advise on systems of recording costs or other financial and budgetary data.

Reported Job Titles

Accountant, Accounting Officer, Audit Partner, Auditor, Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Cost Accountant, Financial Auditor, General Accountant, Internal Auditor, Revenue Tax Specialist

Career data shown for:

Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Deductive Reasoning

Mathematical Reasoning

Number Facility

Oral Expression

Written Comprehension

Problem Sensitivity

Written Expression

Inductive Reasoning

Information Ordering

Near Vision

Oral Comprehension

Speech Clarity

Speech Recognition

Category Flexibility

Selective Attention

Flexibility of Closure

Fluency of Ideas

Originality

Knowledge

Economics and Accounting

English Language

Mathematics

Administration and Management

Customer and Personal Service

Law and Government

Administrative

Computers and Electronics

Skills

Active Listening

Reading Comprehension

Critical Thinking

Speaking

Writing

Mathematics

Judgment and Decision Making

Complex Problem Solving

Active Learning

Monitoring

Time Management

Systems Analysis

Persuasion

Coordination

Social Perceptiveness

Negotiation

Service Orientation

Technology Skills

Accounting software

Word processing software

Financial analysis software

Tax preparation software

Enterprise resource planning ERP software

Compliance software

Data base user interface and query software

Analytical or scientific software

Medical software

Document management software

Business intelligence and data analysis software

Human resources software

Electronic mail software

Development environment software

Office suite software

Spreadsheet software

Customer relationship management CRM software

Operating system software

Data base management system software

Data base reporting software

Object or component oriented development software

Time accounting software

Presentation software

Data mining software

Project management software

Risk management data and analysis software

Enterprise system management software

Desktop communications software

Desktop publishing software

Video creation and editing software

Enterprise application integration software

Transaction server software

Cloud-based data access and sharing software

Transaction security and virus protection software

Inventory management software

Process mapping and design software

Information retrieval or search software

Tools

Photocopiers

Scanners

Notebook computers

Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers

Laser fax machine

Desktop calculator

Desktop computers

Personal computers

Tablet computers

Abilities

Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

Knowledge

Economics and Accounting: Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Mathematics: Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Law and Government: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Administrative: Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Mathematics: Using mathematics to solve problems.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Systems Analysis: Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Negotiation: Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.

Technology Skills

Accounting software: Billing software; Bookkeeping software; Intuit QuickBooks; Sage 50 Accounting
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Financial analysis software: Delphi Technology
Tax preparation software: ATX Total Tax Office; Creative Solutions UltraTax CS; Intuit TurboTax; Petz Enterprises V-Tax
Enterprise resource planning ERP software: Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne; Oracle PeopleSoft; Oracle PeopleSoft Financials; SAP software
Compliance software: ESS Compliance Suite; Mannus Compliance: EHS; Primatech AUDITWorks
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Analytical or scientific software: Statistical analysis software; TapRooT
Medical software: Henry Schein Dentrix; Medical condition coding software; Medical procedure coding software; MEDITECH software
Document management software: Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat; Filing system software; Records management software; Transcription system software
Business intelligence and data analysis software: BrightEdge; Conductor Searchlight; IBM Digital Analytics; Searchmetrics Suite
Human resources software: ADP Workforce Now
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Development environment software: Adobe Systems Adobe Creative Suite
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Customer relationship management CRM software: Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge; Microsoft Dynamics; Salesforce.com Salesforce CRM
Operating system software: Microsoft Windows
Data base management system software: Apache Solr; Elasticsearch; MySQL
Data base reporting software: SAP BusinessObjects Crystal Reports
Object or component oriented development software: Oracle Java
Time accounting software: Timekeeping software
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Data mining software: Google Analytics
Project management software: Mavenlink; Microsoft Project
Risk management data and analysis software: ArcSight Enterprise Threat and Risk Management; McAfee Enterprise Security Manager
Enterprise system management software: IBM Power Systems software
Desktop communications software: Edmodo
Desktop publishing software: Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign; Microsoft Publisher
Video creation and editing software: YouTube
Enterprise application integration software: Electronic Data Interchange EDI systems
Transaction server software: Customer information control system CICS
Cloud-based data access and sharing software: Dropbox; Google Drive; Microsoft SharePoint
Transaction security and virus protection software: McAfee; NortonLifeLock cybersecurity software
Inventory management software: Assisi Software Assisi Inventory
Process mapping and design software: Microsoft Visio
Information retrieval or search software: LexisNexis

Tools

Photocopiers: Photocopying equipment
Scanners: Data input scanners
Notebook computers: Laptop computers
Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers: Personal digital assistants PDA
Laser fax machine: Laser facsimile machines
Desktop calculator: 10-key calculators
Desktop computers:
Personal computers:
Tablet computers:

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