Top 5 Accounting resume skills. Finance Skills by 2025. Fourth Industrial Revolution

Top 5 Essential Accounting resume & Finance skills Certificationcourses to complete by 2025

Employability skills for finance professionals in the Fourth industrial revolution

Adaptability' and a lifelong approach to learning new skills are the two essential personal qualities for future accountants.

In today's rapidly changing business environment, it is more important than ever for accountants to have employability skills. As the fourth Industrial Revolution progresses, new technologies are emerging to help finance professionals streamline their work. By learning to use these technologies, accountants can stay ahead of the competition and improve their job prospects. This post will discuss some of the most important employability skills for finance professionals in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.  

We did look at some of the reports by leading consulting firms to discuss the skills required by finance professionals by 2025

• Gartner - https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/lack-of-skills-threatens-digital-transformation
• Deloitte's CFO Signals Report
• ACCA - Accounting for a better world 2022

Critical summary of the findings

• Accounting professionals aged 30 and above are worried about technology replacing them.
• 40% of accounting professionals are now working harder than their peers to update their skills and knowledge about emerging technologies 
• 63% of the time allocation for the finance workforce in three years will shift toward analysis, prediction, and decision support.
• Employees who lack an understanding of digital skills will either be replaced or get lower-paid jobs.
• Finance professionals must predict and analyze data instead of scanning and accounting for historical data.
• ACCA predicts Blockchain, AI and RPA as mandatory skills to add to your CV by 2025

Do also read our blog on Top 6 skills required to transition from Controller to CFO

Digital Skills for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Through digital technologies, accountants can access previously unobtainable data in real-time, improve data quality through greater accuracy and timeliness, and improve information assurance for decision-making. For these advantages to materialize, accountants must possess new skills, mainly regarding data analytics. At the same time, the acceleration in the adoption of digital technologies is expected to automate a substantial part of accounting tasks.

We look at some of the must-have skills that Finance professionals must equip themselves with by 2025 to maximize their employability and earnings potential.

The top 5 Essential finance skills to add to your CV by 2025 are

1. Data Analytics
2. Robotic process automation
3. Managing cybersecurity
4. Understanding digital currencies
5. Microsoft Power BI 

The Data Analyst is one of the most critical positions in any business structure, as they help leaders make informed decisions to drive the company forward. They do this by analyzing data and providing insight into what's happening within an organization or its surroundings, improving efficiency while increasing profits for your firm- all with a little more knowledge about how things work! 

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has highlighted data analytics as one of the essential skills for finance professionals in its 2020 report, "The future of work: The trends that will shape the profession."

Data analytics is the process of transforming data into information and insights. It's a critical skill for finance professionals because it allows them to make better decisions by understanding the data. As technology advances and businesses become more reliant on data, the need for finance professionals with data analytics skills will only continue to grow. 

Read our detailed blog on data analytics and how its shaping the finance profession.

Certifications available from accounting authoritative bodies

• AICPA has five courses explicitly designed for finance professionals. These range from basic to moderate intensity levels.
• ACCA Certificate in data analytics 

Robotic Process automation 

With recent technological advances, by 2025, 40% of manual accounting tasks are predicted to be automated. This can ensure a competitive advantage for your company and save significant hours when the rollout is timely! 

An RPA certification program will provide you with the skills and knowledge to deploy RPA successfully in your organization. You will learn how RPA can be used to automate business processes, including finance and accounting, human resources, and operations. Upon completion of the program, you will be able to:

- Explain what RPA is and how it works

- Identify suitable business processes for automation with RPA

- Select the right RPA software for a given task 

Certifications available from accounting authoritative bodies

1) AICPA RPA fundamentals for finance professionals

2) AICPA RPA strategy for business leaders

Managing Cybersecurity

There are a few key reasons why finance professionals should learn about cybersecurity. First and foremost, as our world becomes increasingly digitized, the amount of sensitive data being shared and stored online continues to grow. This makes organizations and individual finance professionals a prime target for cyberattacks.

Another reason is that financial systems are becoming more global as our world becomes more interconnected. A successful cyberattack on one organization can have wide-reaching consequences, potentially impacting the financial system.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has recently emphasized the importance of cybersecurity for finance professionals. In light of recent data breaches and cyber attacks, the AICPA has issued new guidance on protecting your client's confidential information. As a finance professional, it's essential to be familiar with these guidelines and to take steps to secure your computer systems and networks.

Certifications available from accounting authoritative bodies

1. SOC for cybersecurity
2. Cybersecurity certification for finance and accounting professionals

Blockchain - Understanding digital currencies 

According to a recent report by Gartner, blockchain technology is currently experiencing a high level of interest and will soon become ubiquitous. The report also states that around $3.7 trillion will be generated through Blockchain by 2030. As finance professionals, it's essential to understand this technology and its potential implications for the industry.

Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that allows for secure, transparent and tamper-proof transactions. It can revolutionize how finance is conducted, making auditing, reconciliation and settlement much faster and more efficient. Additionally, digital currencies (such as Bitcoin) built on top of blockchain technology have the potential to disrupt traditional payment systems. 

Read our detailed blog on how blockchain can be used in accounting

Certifications available from accounting authoritative bodies

AICPA certification on Blockchain for finance professionals

Learning courses from accounting authoritative bodies

• How to account for Digital currency under GAAP
• How to tax cryptocurrency
• ACCA Bitcoin and blockchain basics

Microsoft Power BI 

Gartner has positioned Microsoft Power BI in the Leaders category of their Magic Quadrant for business intelligence and analytics platforms. This is due to Power BI's ability to "help organizations realize value from data through easy-to-use self-service capabilities."

Finance professionals should learn Microsoft Power BI because it is a robust platform that can help them quickly get value from data. It is also easy to use, which makes it ideal for those who are not experienced in data analysis and want to be able to do more with data on their own. 

Microsoft BI Courses

1. AICPA Microsoft BI course (students can avail this at India pricing through eduyush)
2. ACCA data analysis for accountants - 

Closing comments

In today's rapidly changing business environment, it is more important than ever for accountants to have employability skills. As the fourth Industrial Revolution progresses, new technologies are emerging to help finance professionals streamline their work.  

By learning to use these technologies, accountants can stay ahead of the competition and improve their job prospects. 

Eduyush offers a variety of courses to help finance professionals learn the employability skills they need to succeed in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. 

With our partnership with AICPA and ACCA's cutting-edge course material, we can help you get ahead of the competition and assist you in arming the skills required to become a CFO. 

Visit our website today to learn more about our courses or speak to our counsellors