GROW WITH ACCA

How an individual can grow in his/her accounting career before and after completion of ACCA.

ACCA is the key professional qualification for every accountant. Although it may not entirely be the only requirement for someone to attain career growth.

In addition to pursuing your ACCA qualification, there are some other things you should put focus on.

1)Have Exceptional performance at your job.

This is the number one reason why some are promoted and others are not and why people at the same level in the same organization may earn different salaries. For every job that you take on, make sure you are delivering your best and your work should be outstanding to attract the attention of decision makers in the organization.

2) Keep up-to-date with the technology.

Accounting is one of the most evolving profession and many of its aspects are being replaced with advanced technological methods. Today nearly every medium sized organization uses accounting software's, Microsoft excel and other new tools. Many of them are being developed internally and externally.

?Recently, we saw the introduction of EFRIS and every organization is now adopting it. It is mainly up to us accountants to make it happen.?Equipping yourself in such areas makes more relevant and opens new doors for career growth.

3) Focus on your soft skills.

Technical competence is not enough to get you ahead in your career; to progress through the ranks, you need to hone and develop your soft skills. By soft skills, I am talking about any interpersonal skills that allow you to function effectively as a team member or as a leader of a group of employees. These are primarily communication, empathy, decision-making, time management, and conflict resolution. As you aspire to grow in your career to become a senior or a manager, invest your time to develop these areas.

4) Ask for a promotion

Not many accountants think of asking for a promotion when they think about how to move up in accounting ladder, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get. If, and only if, you have a great reputation, you do high-quality work, you have a strong brand, positive attitude, and you’re a team player and a role-model employee, should you ask for a promotion. You also have to be prepared to give examples of great work which contributed to the growth of the firm and shows your progress too.

5) Find a mentor

Having someone who you is ahead of you and has walked the same journey you are on, provides tremendous benefits. You need a mentor to help you with technical matters, but most importantly, to offer advice and guidance on your career progression. Just like athletes, footballers and other sports persons?have coaches. Having a coach or mentor will fasten your career journey and will help you avoid unnecessary mistakes along your way.

Muhammad Ali Khan ACCA

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