Career Path Series: 10 Top Skills to Succeed in Bookkeeping

Every company in Singapore takes its bookkeeping seriously, so the standards are high for this career. You need to equip yourself with good bookkeeping skills to excel and become a valuable asset to the company. To thrive in the bookkeeping career path, ask yourself these questions: how strong is your accounting knowledge? How meticulous are you? How fast can you type?

What is bookkeeping?

To understand what skills you need in this field, you must first understand the role and its function in the bigger picture. What exactly is bookkeeping? Why is it so important?

Bookkeeping deals with the consistent and accurate recording of every financial transaction. Every receipt or invoice a company receives? It goes to the bookkeepers. Every purchase or sale you make? The bookkeepers will track it. Bookkeepers note how the company's money is flowing. They monitor the finances so that companies stay financially healthy and spend within budget.

Think of yourselves as the librarians of numbers. In short, businesses rely heavily on bookkeepers to give them reliable data on the business' finances. If you're a good bookkeeper, you could end up with a comfortable position and salary with a company that values your skills. If that's your goal, here are all the skills you need.

Good Bookkeeping Skills You Should Master

1. Mathematics

Bookkeeping is all about numbers, so having excellent skills in math should be a no-brainer. But this job is not just about formulas and equations. You must know how to execute different ways of calculating assets. Whether it's straight-line depreciation or accelerated depreciation, some methods are better depending on the situation.

Moreover, you must understand inventory valuations, general ledgers, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and other accounting terminology. Bookkeepers should know the requirements for both the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (SFRS) and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).

If you plan to work abroad or you're a global talent, being familiar with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is also a must.

2. Organisation skills

You will juggle a lot of numbers as a bookkeeper. The bigger the company, the bigger the numbers. So, you need to stay on top of every financial transaction by taking down every single detail. To do this, you must have superb organising skills. Create a system for recording, classifying, and reporting data. You can have various to-do lists or multi-coloured folders. Maybe you prefer compartmentalising everything in your mind. Find out the best organising system for you and your company.

3. Attention to detail

With the amount of data, reports, and invoices coming your way, not only should you be organised enough to handle massive amounts of information—you also need to be particularly meticulous and spot any errors in the details. The company bases any financial decisions on the reports you provide, so your information must be accurate and reliable. Look out for discrepancies. Manually check that bank statements and invoices are consistent with the business transactions and information entering the accounting software.

4. Transparency

As we mentioned before, a bookkeeper's financial statements are the foundation of every business' financial decisions, so all information you produce must be accurate. To accomplish this, you must be honest and transparent with your data. It helps you to spot discrepancies and come up with ironclad reports. All of the skills we recommend are interconnected in some way. Your sense of transparency will also help you communicate better.

5. Communication skills

Transparency requires good communication skills, so nothing is ever lost in translation. Bookkeeping might be a desk job, but that doesn't mean you don't get to talk to other people in different departments. You must interact with people to get information and clarifications. It might occur online or via email, but even online communication is social interaction, so you will need to brush up on your interpersonal and email writing skills.

6. Problem-solving skills

Remember what we said about discrepancies? It is where you need your problem-solving skills. If you spot an error in an invoice or an entry in the accounting software, you should not just let it slide. You should come up with a solution to address the issue. Whether it's simply reading up on standard operating procedures or knowing when to consult your advisor, bookkeepers must spot errors and find ways to correct them as soon as possible.

7. Time management

There can be a lot to do in a single day, so bookkeepers must know how to manage their time. Set deadlines ahead of deadlines so you are always ahead of your to-do list. Divide your schedule so you give enough attention to all of your tasks. Make a list of priorities to you know what to address first. If it's a long-term project, pace yourself so you don't fall behind on your short-term projects. Time is such an underrated asset in everyone's arsenal. If you know how to manage your time, you can surely reach optimum productivity.

8. Good memory

Dealing with plenty of information, most of which will be numbers will take a lot of memory power. It is why bookkeepers should exercise their memories or learn how to take shorthand notes so that they don't miss any detail. Memory is a skill, not a superpower. So, you can train it over time with proper health habits. For example, sleep is great for your memory! You can also try stimulating your brain with mental exercises.

9. Computer Skills

Be grateful that bookkeeping no longer has to be done with pen and paper. Every so often, new accounting software is released to make the job of bookkeepers more efficient. That said, you need to be tech-savvy enough to keep up with different forms of accounting software. Different companies use specific software, whether they are Xero, ABYSS, Oracle, or any other software out there.

Knowing how to function at least one or two of these will be great additions to your resume, as well as expert knowledge in MS Office (particularly Excel).

10. Typing Speed

Another often underrated skill for bookkeepers is typing! You are handling numerous documents, data, and data entries, so you must be able to type fast to get things done. As a skill, this is something you can level up on with typing speed apps and software to can increase your words per minute (WPM). Fast typing skills will save you plenty of time and stress and lead to even more productivity.

With all of our tips, you can develop good bookkeeping skills to add to your Jobstreet resume. To find bookkeeping jobs near you, go to Jobstreet to begin your search.