To best evaluate your abilities, begin by identifying and defining the various skills to be assessed. These will normally include personal, management, and technical skills. A professional can also be characterized as possessing, at a minimum, the following attributes: sound judgment, consistent ethical behavior, strong interpersonal skills, a level of knowledge in prescribed specialized areas, dedication and loyalty to the profession and to colleagues in other professions, and a responsibility to serve the public.
DO A SELF-APPRAISAL
Personal qualifications consist of aptitudes, interests, and characteristics. These are not easy to appraise or to describe in definite terms; how-ever, they should be evaluated, and there are certain techniques that can be applied to give a good idea of the probability of an individual's success in an accounting career.
Although self-appraisal is difficult, this is the first step that should be taken. Comparing your aptitudes, interests, and characteristics with those of practicing accountants as outlined in this chapter will assist you in arriving at a sound decision regarding a career in accounting.
Self-appraisal can be accomplished in several ways. High schools and colleges generally offer students counseling services based on a series of intelligence, preference, and aptitude tests. If these counseling services are not available, or if you wish to get further evaluation and recommendations, there are numerous approved vocational guidance agencies where batteries of tests are given to help individuals make career selections based on their indicated interests and aptitudes.
The accounting profession itself, through its professional organizations, has also devoted considerable research to the determination of personal traits and aptitudes desirable in accountants. These groups have developed a series of tests that measure aptitude for accounting, and these have been found to be remarkably accurate in predicting whether an individual is likely to do well in accounting courses and, ultimately, in an accounting career. The series includes tests for use in high schools and colleges. These tests emphasize the ability to identify and solve problems. Information concerning the tests can be obtained from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10036.
LIST YOUR APTITUDES
Aptitudes are natural abilities or the capacity to acquire readily those abilities that enable us to do certain things well or understand a given subject. Accountants should have the following aptitudes:
- A feel for figures
- A sense of orderliness
- An analytical turn of mind
- An appreciation for accuracy
- A healthy curiosity
- Vision and constructive ability
- Determination to carry things through to a conclusion
- Ability to handle mass detail without losing perspective
Appreciation for accuracy, which stands high among aptitudes accountants should possess, does not relate only to accuracy in figures. Accuracy in word usage and presentation of facts, both orally and in writing, are equally important. Ambiguous terminology or omission of a material fact can cause a financial statement to be misleading, and thus inaccurate, even though all the amounts appearing in the statement may be correct.
Accountants and auditors usually work with data recorded and summarized by others. A single figure on a financial statement or production report may represent hundreds of individual items. An example of this is the number of items that are summarized to arrive at the dollar amount of an inventory shown on the balance sheet of an automobile company having several factories, branches, and warehouses. That figure represents a summary of individual inventories taken at each factory, branch. and warehouse of automobiles ready for sale, partly assembled cars, tires, tubes, parts, and such raw materials as foam rubber for seats and upholstery.
Although it is not the responsibility of the accountant or auditor to take the physical inventory or to price it, it is the responsibility of the controller to formulate procedures to ensure an accurate inventory and the responsibility of the public accountant to make sure that the inventory was properly taken, valued, and summarized. You will note that handling such mass detail and directing the work of others require several of the above mentioned aptitudes.
Professional accountants work at executive levels whether they are engaged in public or private accounting. Many of their personal characteristics, therefore, are common to executives in other occupations.
For those planning to make public accounting a career, it is especially important that they like people and enjoy working with them. The duties of public accounting require its practitioners to meet and work with different people as they go from one client's office to another. Accordingly. They should be able to "size up" people quickly and deal with them effectively. Good leadership ability is very beneficial to accountants because such ability inspires confidence from others. Of course, public accountants must be tactful and present a neat appearance, which creates a good first impression.
Private accountants must possess these same traits, the only difference being that, since they are more likely to be with the same business associates for longer periods, strong ability to meet new people frequently and to evaluate them quickly becomes a less important factor.
There may be a few isolated specializations in accounting where introverts are preferred, but certainly not many. This fact is overlooked by many high school and college guidance counselors. Most successful accountants tend toward extroversion. They are gregarious, self-assured, and somewhat aggressive. Additionally, most have a liking for new, challenging situations; a readiness to innovate and lead; and an interest in working with others. Contrary to the popular misconception accountants-are the least effective and successful ones-do not prefer secure, unchanging, always predictable assignments. Rather, they are self-starting individuals who are always alert for opportunities to test and improve their professional skills.
