Securing an entry level accounting job would be difficult for candidates who aims to start their careers in the accounting and financial sector. In Canada’s competitive landscape of 2024, Candidates must demonstrate a distinct accounting skills set that today’s employers are seeking to stand out from the crowd. This article is a comprehensive guide to go through the top five key essential competencies crucial for advancing your accounting and financial career that you should list on the resume to leave an outstanding impression in the accounting sector.

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Is Accounting or Finance a good career in Canada?

The answer is “Yes”. While accounting is a compulsory component for almost every business to analyze corporate finances performance and productivity, it offers a wide range of job opportunities relating bookkeeping, auditing and payroll administration for people to start their accounting career path. According to Job Bank Canada, corporate accounting and finance professional jobs are expected to continuously grow by 5% within the coming five years, with an estimated 88,000 new accounting-related positions projected, driven by the strong growth in marketing needs and business expansion.

And the average salary for accounting participants is closely around CAD 60,000, depending on province, skills level and work experience. If you are a job seeker or planning to start a career in the accounting sector, consider acquiring the following 5 key competencies to enhance your resume and secure accounting jobs.

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5 Essential Accounting Skills On Your Resume

Proficiency in Accounting Software

In today’s digital era, proficiency in accounting software is one of the compulsory skills for accounting professionals to streamline their work processes. Accounting tools, including QuickBooks, Sage 50 and SAP, significantly facilitate accounting professionals’ work efficiency and accuracy in financial tasks. Employers are increasingly prioritizing candidates who take advantage of those technologies to automate daily work tasks, including filing tax returns, financial risk analysis and development best financial practice, to generate insightful reports from financial data. Resume demonstrating proficiency in these accounting tools showcases your technical competence and adaptability to a fast-paced industry environment, making you a valuable asset to the accounting position.

Knowledge of Tax Laws and Regulations

While accounting professionals’ work responsibilities are to handle corporate financial analysis and ensure the companies comply with federal and provincial unique tax requirements, a comprehensive understanding of tax laws and up-to-trend regulations is important. Compared to other countries, Canada and its provinces have independent and complex tax systems, including GST/HST, income tax and corporate profit tax. Accounting workers who are familiar with the tax system could prepare accurate tax returns, identify tax-saving opportunities, and avoid legal pitfalls.You won’t want to miss these highlights on your resume to help employers prioritize your accounting job application.

Data Analysis and Management

Data analysis and management become a vital foundation in the accounting profession for corporate making profit-driven development and decisions to bring a positive impact on a company’s financial health. If you are seeking an entry-level accounting jobs, you are better to acquire technical skills on computer business applications, such as Excel, SQL and various data visualization software to analyze financial data, provide actionable insight and enhance work efficiency. As Canada businesses are rapidly adopting database and accounting technologies, showcasing your ability to manage and interpret large datasets can set you apart from other candidates.

Financial Analysis

Financial report is an important part of accounting and financial analysis for companies to examine financial statements, budgets and forecasts to keep the business on the right track. These skills include trend analysis, and financial ratio analysis to assess profitability, liquidity, and solvency to help improve companies’ competitiveness and identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with business objectives, analyzing variances between actual and budgeted figures, and providing actionable insights that drive strategic decision-making. If you have financial knowledge from your educational background or previous work experience, it is really beneficial to enhance your opportunities to be picked by employers.

Business Communication Skills

As mentioned above, accounting jobs involve frequent communication between business partners, well- developed business communication skills are essential for accounting professionals. In Canada, where businesses often operate in multicultural environments, strong communication skills also involve being able to navigate and respect diverse perspectives. Candidates with deep understanding of business writing could demonstrate ability to build strong professional relationships with clients to advance business to a higher level.

4 Advantages of CCC College Accounting Diploma

Tailored Program Design To Achieve Success in Accounting Sector

CCC College 2-Year Accounting Diploma is designed to prepare students to acquire comprehensive fundamental accounting skills, including accounting principles, business law, Sage 50, QuickBooks, bookkeeping, payroll administration, taxation, finance, to meet skills requirements of the ever-evolving accounting industry. The program combines lectures, assignments and co-op work placement to achieve a robust foundation aligned with the standard of the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Public Business Accountancy, to advance their career path upon completion of the diploma.

100% Full-Time Co-op Work Placement

The Accounting Diploma program at Create Career College offers a comprehensive and practical learning experience, culminating in a 100% full-time co-op work placement. The co-op work placement is designed to enhance employability by giving students full-time work opportunities to work in related accounting fields for local businesses, gain insights into industry practices, and build a network of professional contacts. CCC College is confident that graduates are well-prepared to apply their classroom knowledge for a prosperous career in accounting.

Canadian Professional Bookkeeper Canada(CPB Canada) Partnership

CCC College proudly announced the partnership with Canadian Professional Bookkeeper Canada(CPB Canada) in 2024 to ensure the diploma is certified to meet high standards in the field of bookkeeping. This will raise graduates’ competitiveness in the accounting industry by demonstrating the proof from nationalized institutions. Meanwhile, graduates will have access to student membership benefits, which provides access to continuing education and networking opportunities with bookkeeping professionals across Canada.

All-Round Career Support

At CCC College, we value our students’ success in both academic and career. Our Co-op Specialist will provide a solid plan for you through every step of your career journey, from co-op opportunities to job fairs and workshops, resume and interview preparation, and expert HR advice. If you are planning to start your career in accounting or related fields, please feel free to contact our Admission Department student advisor for more course detail and career support.

Conclusion

With the growth of Canada economic environment, companies are expected to hire more accounting and financial jobs, especially entry level position, to fulfil the their business expansion needs. It is a great opportunities for you to secure the entry level accounting job as the start of your career path in the field with the suggested accounting skills above.

If you have no accounting knowledge but planning to take the first step into accounting field, CCC College 2 Year Accounting Diploma with Co-op work placement could provide comprehensive accounting concept and skillset for you yo achieve a quick success career in the industry. Our student advisors are here to offer all-round assistance on study and working path to meet your career goal. Your success is always our first priority.

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