Which Tech Skills Help Accountants Land Jobs?

Recent college grad Hunter Richards, an Accounting Market Analyst for a site called www.softwareadvice.com/accounting/, wrote this piece. I found it interesting and think you might, too. Thanks, Hunter --- we appreciate your willingness to allow us to republish here.

gll

============================================

Accounting students probably know that their chosen field is expected to remain robust throughout our uncertain economic future; the Bureau of Labor Statistics claims that, between now and 2018, accountants and auditors are likely to experience “much faster than average” employment growth. But to distinguish themselves from countless other applicants after graduation, students should seek out “real world” skills early on. Proficiency with business accounting software is critical to the modern skillset.

For the good of those bright young minds and others in the accounting field, I’ve gone over five hundred randomly selected accounting job postings from Monster.com, Career Builder, Craigslist, Simply Hired, and Accounting Jobs Today to see which software systems employers mentioned the most. Check out the results below.

Key Takeaways
This article would be a whole lot shorter, and a lot less interesting, if I focused on the one product you absolutely must know – Microsoft Excel. Nearly one hundred percent of these employers mentioned Excel skills as a necessity. If you’re an accounting student and you don’t know about Excel, I advise you to stop reading this immediately and go learn it.

For those of you who remain, here are some key research findings that will help you get the job:

• When finding your first job, look for a company that uses a “big name,” widely-used accounting system like SAP, Microsoft Dynamics or Oracle. That will improve your odds of getting hired next time you’re in the market for a new position.
• More and more companies are focused on business intelligence – the tools that analyze financial data to uncover business trends and opportunities. Try to gain experience in Business Objects, Crystal Reports, Cognos, etc.
• If you’re looking to work in a big corporation, you should learn systems like SAP and Oracle. If mid-size companies are your thing, learn Sage and Microsoft Dynamics. Quickbooks skills are always in demand, but especially by smaller companies.
• As the Microsoft Dynamics products converge, knowing any one of these systems will give you transferable skills across the entire Dynamics product line. For now, Dynamics GP appears to be in highest demand.
• Don’t get too comfortable with PeopleSoft or JD Edwards; although they make sizable slices of Oracle’s pie, they’re likely to decline in use as Oracle migrates to its Fusion apps. However, this won’t be happening any time in the immediate future.

Comments

[Jade]

Yes, accounting is aclaluty a good field to be in, in good times or in bad times because companies ALWAYS need to keep their books and financial records. (That is, until they go under.) So don't let the economic news affect you; go after accounting jobs in the businesses or industries that interest you.

[Zeynep]

In the cash basis actual riepect or payment of cash ( cash includes cheque) is accounted.Under the accrual method irrespective of the movement of cash, ( riepect / payment ) the Transaction is accounted on the due date. For example If Rent is not paid on the last day of the month, it is accounted by debiting Rent a/c crediting Accounts payable. As the inventory is already received and payment is not made, it is appropriate to follow the accrual method. The accrual method is good for the company having inventory.Yes For a bigger company it is advisable to follow the accrual system, otherwise it is very difficult to assess the actual financial position of the Company.By following the accrual system the correct profit and loss, payable and receivable ( creditors debtors position) can be ascertained at any time. This helps for a healthy growth of the company.

[True Religion Jeans Outlet]

It's entirely possible that one or more of these ideas could have been a big success had we given it the college try. Instead, these ideas died on the vine -- usually in one minute of a 1:1, a couple minutes before a different meeting got a quorum, or in a hallway conversation on the way to lunch. Generating good ideas is only as important as getting buy in for them. If you come up with ideas no one wants to act on, you're about as useful as someone who doesn't come up with any ideas (but you'll be a lot more frustrated and bitter).

[nike sneakers]

Nice, and thanks for sharing this info with us.
Good Luck!

[Supra Suprano High]

First come! Write well and happy New Year.

[Cheap Coach Bags]

The report says a major goal for kindergarten through eighth grade should be understanding fractions!

[Cheap Chanel Bags]

Roberta which is coming up way to quickly.....tee hee, but you know I work great under pressure, i will get it all done!.Works.

[Accounting Blog]

This is a very good topic for a research. For me, Accountants must be excellent in using excel because this is really important in computing and analyzing financial data's. Accountants must also learn to use accounting softwares for many companies now are using accounting softwares for their financials.

[Taobao in English]

Um...like the style of your writing.*_*

[Ugg Joslyn Boots]

Can someone please stone Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to death? I shan't tell Amnesty if you don't. It would be a blessing, really.