To succeed in tomorrow’s accounting, finance and audit environments, council members said professionals need a wider range of skills than at any time in recent memory. Well-developed financial and technology abilities remain essential, but strong interpersonal and analytical skills are increasingly crucial for success, they noted.
Today’s practioners are increasingly asked to interpret data in a way that helps executives use financial information to make sound business decisions and chart strategy. In some settings, accounting, finance and audit staff also spearhead compliance initiatives, which often requires educating nonfinancial personnel about regulatory requirements, internal controls and risk management.
Considering the expansive professional repertoire expected of tomorrow’s professionals, council members were united in their belief that universities cannot adequately prepare students on their own. Employers will continue to play a key role by providing additional training and mentoring opportunities to accelerate learning and growth. In addition, professional associations can help practitioners at all levels close knowledge gaps.
Nurturing Critical Thinking
Progressive university educators are employing innovative teaching strategies to help students sharpen critical-thinking abilities. These approaches often include structured exercises through which students are guided to understand concepts and arrive at conclusions on their own, as opposed to instructor-centered teaching.
Businesses can reinforce analytical and critical-thinking skills on the job by offering projects that require a similar process of knowledge discovery. Panelists discussed the need to set the expectation for financial professionals to be more analytical – that is, to not simply produce financial reports or spreadsheets or perform a calculation, but to identify and explain what is meaningful in their data or findings.
