It's almost essential for those in accounting jobs to have these skills, especially considering the number of records that are being kept in programs like Excel. The thing is: Excel isn't a program that you can just pick up and learn. It can sometimes take years of practice to actually get the hang of it, as there are all kinds of intricate commands and functions, some of which can actually involve visual basic scripting.
Accounting careers have definitely become more complicated, but they just get more complicated as you work your way up the corporate ladder. While moving upward used to just be dependent on business knowledge and the ability to speak, now you need all of that, and the ability to work some of the more complicated systems. One of these systems is SAP, a piece of database software that many companies use to keep track of their expenses, employee records, and compliance information.
It is important for those in accounting careers to know that SAP is not an easy program to operate. While you don't need to be able to code it, you do need to be able to extract data from it and be able to get work done. On top of that, you're going to need to know more than just the basics of the computer, you're going to need to have an in-depth information about how it works, that way your work flow won't be interrupted if something happens to go wrong.
Fortunately there are many different technology related courses you can take in order to be up to speed. There are SAP certification tests and courses which can be taken as well, and these will definitely make you more promotable within a company. On top of that, they will actually make you essential to the company as most of those in clerk jobs are not SAP certified, or at least not to a huge extent.
Now that you know what it takes to be successful in clerk jobs and accounting jobs these days, you need to act on it. You can do this by learning everything you can, regarding technology, making sure that you focus on database software. To add to this, you need to fill out your resume in a manner that highlights your computer skills along with your accounting skills. As always, make sure that you have an attractive cover letter which tells your employer what type of resume he's about to look at. With any luck you will get the employer excited, which is almost a guarantee that you'll get the job, so long as the excitement doesn't stop after the first line of the resume. There are plenty of accounting careers out there, just make sure that you're prepared to get the one you want, and you can prepare by learning as much as humanly possible!