AAT Comment: It’s time to PowerUp your business skills and here’s why #AATPowerUp

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Whether it’s a sunny holiday or some extra money added to your annual salary, we all have goals we’re working towards.

An accountant or bookkeeper can be technically brilliant, but if they don’t have strong skills to communicate advice and offer solutions to their clients, they will have less impact than a less technical, but more rounded accountant.

Business skills are a must

AAT Comment said:

Imagine being sent to a clients’ office to advise on where they should be making savings and suggesting they stop working with a supplier they’ve been using for years. Or having to tell a director in another department they must cut operating costs by 20%. Or even needing to persuade your own team to do things differently.

All of these things require great communication skills. And they are an everyday necessity for bookkeepers and accountants, from students up to the most senior level.

Over the next three months, the AATPowerUp series will be focusing on your Business Skills with tips and tricks to improve your communication.

[Full article]

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Practical ways to improve your interpersonal skills

The growing prevalence of accountancy software and automation have, it could be argued, made the so-called ‘soft skills,’ such as communication, negotiation and conflict resolution even more important.

These are the sorts of attributes that help accountants stand out and make a difference and what separates us from the robots. Over the next three months, the AATPowerUp series will be focusing on your Business Skills with tips and tricks to improve your communication.

How can you cultivate your interpersonal skills and improve the way you communicate with your colleagues?

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How to boost your confidence at work

‘All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence and then success is sure’ said Mark Twain. Cynical, certainly – and ignorance never helped anyone’s career.

But it’s true that being confident and motivated at work could help.

Here we are looking at how to improve your confidence as part of the AATPowerUp series which aims to supercharge your Business skills.

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5 reasons you should care about creating a confident team

At a personal level a lack of confidence can often lead to missed opportunities – perhaps a lack of self-belief or a fear of rejection mean you don’t try new things.

Confident employees are good for business. They can make decisions faster, be more creative and more productive. They are also likely to stay with the organisation for longer.

Here are some ways personal assurance contributes to a team’s effectiveness – and what you can do to foster it.

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How to make your voice heard at work

‘Speak up, Johnson!’ I’ll never forget those words, oft-barked at me by my primary school teacher.

The thing is, it never did anything more than make the room louder as the other children began to giggle, then I’d stutter and fluster trying to ‘speak up’, and then wish the world would swallow me up. As part of the AATPowerUp series, we are looking at ways to make your voice heard at work.

[Full article.]

6 ways to hone your influencing skills

These days, the term ‘influencer’ seems to refer more to self-styled ‘public figures’ on Instagram than it does to powerful people in the workplace.

But influencing skills, such as collaborating with colleagues, negotiating with clients and managing upwards, are still essential attributes for any accountant who wants to stand out from the crowd. In this part of the AATPowerUp series we’ll be looking at how you can hone such skills and become an influential person in your industry.

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What skills do you wish your colleague had?

As upskilling becomes a key need and objective for many accountancy practices, what skills do you need to develop in the workplace and how can everyone in the team complement each other?

As part of our AATPowerUp series we look at the skills that are missing in the workplace.

We spoke to colleagues across the floor space at 1 Accounts Online, led by Director Paul Donno.

The company is unusual: it is entirely digital, and all clients use online software, mainly Sage One and Xero, and some on Quickbooks.

[Full article.]

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6 questions to ask prospective clients

Thoroughly understanding your client from the very beginning is imperative to building a strong relationship and achieving the best possible results.

True understanding is the result of asking good questions. Going beyond the surface, digging deep into what your client actually wants to achieve and understanding the challenges they face will allow you to provide value. The more questions you ask, the more you will learn.

Here we are looking at the top six questions you should ask prospective clients, in the latest of our #AATPowerUp TTgyour business skills series.

[Full article.]