Accounting Professors Share the Value of Soft Skills and Technical Skills for Students

For many accounting students, a clear career path becomes apparent while attending college. And educators often play a key role in helping them attain the skills they need, particularly soft skills and technical skills.

To help students succeed, Holly Hawk, PhD, MAcc, CPA, CGMA, clinical assistant professor, Clemson University, noted that it’s vital for them to tailor their coursework to their interests as they start their college career.

For example, she pointed out that a student might “pair their accounting degree with a specific foreign language or multiple foreign languages … to help build their own curriculum” and prepare them to work in the global economy.

Or if a student is interested in emerging technologies, they could pair their accounting degree with courses or a degree in IT, management information systems, or computer science.

On top of the knowledge they learn in the classroom, Kelly Richmond Pope, PhD, MAcc, CPA, Dr. Barry Jay Epstein Endowed Professor of Accounting, DePaul University, asserted that students also need to have the right mindset. According to Pope, firms are looking for “people who are eager to learn, are willing to work in teams, and can be flexible and adaptable quickly.”

Beyond focusing on their interests, students should also zero in on soft skills and technical skills, which was cited by firms in an AICPA poll as the two most important skills for new accountants to focus on as they continue working toward CPA licensure. Fortunately, there are many avenues for students to acquire these skills.

Soft Skills: Communication, Leadership, and Team-Building

Public speaking and presentation skills are two of the most important soft skills taught in the classroom. In Wendy Tietz’s smaller graduate-level classes at Kent State University instead of submitting papers, students produce group videos, which gives them the opportunity to improve their presentation skills, while also speaking in front of an audience.

Markus Ahrens, CPA, CGMA, professor of accounting and chair of the accounting and legal studies department at St. Louis Community College-Meramec, also focuses on soft skills in his classes. He considers leadership an essential soft skill and says that it’s important for students to take the lead in group projects. “In the real world, individuals who do well in this type of leadership are the ones who are more successful and get promoted more quickly,” he said.

Students can also gain experience with soft skills outside the classroom. Pope suggested joining student organizations such as Beta Alpha Psi, the university’s accounting club, or affinity groups that provide an opportunity to learn these competencies.

“You can get public speaking, leadership skills, and team-building skills from some of those extracurricular activities, which not only help you develop soft skills, they add to your resume as well,” Pope said.

Technical Skills: Data Analytics, Data Visualization, and Excel

On par with soft skills are profession-related technical skills, such as data analytics, which can give students an advantage as they enter the workforce. Nearly nine in 10 (87%) of the firms participating in the AICPA poll said advanced analytics skills, such as data mining and visualization and predictive analytics, were very important for new hires to acquire.

“Data analytics is huge now, and if you really think about it, the base of a lot of data analytics tools is understanding Excel,” Pope said.

Kent State’s Tietz, PhD, CPA, CMA, CGMA, CSCA, agreed, adding that “Excel is used in virtually every organization in some way or another; it’s the common denominator among organizations.”

She also emphasized that students should take as many technology classes as possible. “To develop technology agility … take courses that cover data cleaning, because data doesn’t come to you ready to use,” she said.

Similarly, Tietz said students should embrace artificial intelligence. “The people who are going to get ahead are those who can use AI to their advantage,” she said.

Ahrens added that students need to develop a data and technology mindset in college. “Many courses are going to have data visualization models that students will need to interpret,” Ahrens said. “They are also going to have other courses that will allow them to develop data visualization models so that they can communicate information to others.”

Beyond these skills and their interests, Hawk said it’s also important for students to tailor their coursework to the needs of the firm.

“Firms want to know that students have a good foundational knowledge of accounting and technology,” she said. “The earlier you can be exposed to data, the more you can build that skill set, which is going to set you up for success within your firm.”

In her data analytics classes, Hawk uses a variety of data to show students that it’s not only used for emerging technologies.

“We look at financial data, we look at managerial data, we look at all different types of data sets. … Being able to show students that this is a skill set embedded across all accounting topics, that’s what’s going to help them,” she said.

For students, obtaining technical and soft skills while still in college will better prepare them for emerging opportunities in the accounting profession.

Skills firms viewed as valuable for new graduate hires, per the recent AICPA poll:

• Soft skills (99%)
• Data analysis, tools & techniques (99%)
• Advance analytics (87%)
• Advanced taxation (83%)
• Technical research (83%)
• Information security, confidentiality, and privacy (78%)
• Information systems and data management (77%)
• Advanced accounting (72%)
• System and Organization Controls (SOC) engagements (55%)
• Governmental accounting and auditing (52%)
• Personal financial planning (48%)