Accounting and finance professionals require similar skills like time management, communication, leadership, and IT literacy, but their roles and knowledge differ. Accounting focuses on recording business transactions and generating financial statements, while finance analyzes investments and raises funds. Their jobs also differ, with accountants handling tasks like auditing and bookkeeping, and financiers performing roles such as financial advising. Both fields require adhering to ethical principles like integrity, objectivity, confidentiality, and competency to maintain trust and protect sensitive information.

1. TOPIC: Differentiate the skills and knowledge required by both the accounting and
finance field and how ethics plays an important role for each of this field. Give your own
opinion with references and justification.
Introduction
Nowadays, there are a lot of jobs in the world however accounting and finance
become very famous because the skill and knowledge required for is very useful when
come to long-term planning. When we talk about the accounting and finance
professional, the first thing come up to our mind is money and investment. However, the
subject of accounting and finance professional are cover a lot of knowledge and skill but
not money and investment. According to Anderson (2015) the demand for accountants
and finance professional are growing and a lot of employers are interesting to hire
graduates to fulfill the position due to shortage in candidates and most of the students
acknowledge that the opportunity employment for accounting and finance graduate are
very high in the market and they choose to study the subject of accounting or finance.
The prospect of paid for the accounting and finance fields will increase fast in the future
and the current hours rate for the financial analysts is about $36.82, it is growing 7% over
the last three years and for an accountant or auditors are getting $30 an hour, it is grew by
5% over the last three years (Palmer, 2014). An accounting and finance fields can find a
hot jobs easily in both the private and public sectors, even thought you can land an
accounting job with the Internal Revenue Service during tax season (Evans, 2012).
Besides that, as a finance and accounting students we must know the subject of
accounting and finance professional is one of the preferred subject for college students
because it is a subject which can teach you what skill and knowledge are required by
accounting and finance professional. Why an accounting and finance professional is very
important and what is the difference and similar skills and knowledge do they required
and how ethics plays an important role to them?

2. Skill for accounting and finance
As an accounting and finance professional, they are required to develop their own
intellectual abilities such as prepare the training of skills which can provide intensive
employment opportunities and facilitate efficient performance on their job. I agree that
some of the skills and knowledge that an accounting and finance professional required for
both are similar. In generally, they must have the skill of Time management, critical
thinking, communication, leadership and Information technology (IT).
I.) Time management Skill
First, when we talk about time, what do you think? 24 hours or limited? How people
produce more productivity with limited time? I agree that time management skill is
required for accounting and finance fields because it help them to accomplish their work
on time and easily. Time for accounting fields are very important, they have a lot of tasks
need to do and need to do it in limited time, so time management for accounting
professionals are very important. For example, Accounting professionals set a small tasks
deadlines and follow-through, when they finish their small tasks they will fell good rather
than do everything but no one can finish on time ( Winston, 1990). In additional, time
management hacks for finance fields to increase productivity, reduce stress, and reap the
benefits of effective time management( Schlapia, n.d.).
II.) Communication Skill
In addition, Morgan (1996) Said that though the survey report they know that an
accounting and finance professional are required the skill of communication in their
workplace. For example, sometime accounting professional are required to present the
financial status of the company to a group director and some of the organizations. Besides
that, Finance professional must expert in communication skills to interact with their
clients and colleagues in their business. (Rossetto & Murphy, 2010) For instance, finance
are required the knowledge and abilities of interpersonal communication with a staff
member and present the financial health or plan of the company to potential clients.

3. III.) Leadership Skill
Leadership is an influence process that used to facilitate a collective task performance
(Yukl, 2013). I agree that accounting and finance professional are required the skill of
leadership to manage their team. As we can see, every companies department must have
one leader to lead the team to make sure the operation of the companies are smoothly.
Companies concentrate on finance leadership to support the performance of the company
and accounting professional must responsibility and increase their own strategic and
decision making (International Federation of Accountants, n.d.).
IV.) Information Technology Literacy Skill
Information technology literacy are being advance in the world because it can help
people to create more productivity and to help accounting and finance professional finish
their job efficiently and speediness. For example, they can do the accounting statement,
budgeting and planning with a spreadsheet. According to Fluency (2014). Finance
professionals are required to using the excel to do their job and there are required some
knowledge of IT because there are a lot of formats you need to know how to use and it
will help our job done efficiently due to less mistake and save time. Furthermore,
Accounting industry require a greater computer literacy and normally they are commons
with a spreadsheet in their work ( Joyner, n.d.). Please imagine if without an IT, how long
we need to complete our job and how many time the mistake we will make by using
handwriting.
V.) Analytic Skill
Analytic skill is very important for accounting and finance profession when comes to
analysis the financial statement and performance of the investment. Finance professional
depend on analysis to help them reach their investment deal (Hong & Kubik 2003).
Besides that, according to Zavadszky (2013) accounting professional are required the
skill of analytic skill for financial analysis or carry out the solvency, profitability,
liquidity, and stability.

4. Knowledge for accounting and finance
There are different knowledge required by accounting and finance professional which are
occupation, task, and knowledge.
I.) Occupation
I had done some survey for an occupation of accounting and finance before, I agree
that there are some of the job can apply for both, however, for the high level, there are
many difference types of job and the students are not to undertake the job without holding
professional designations such as Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
(ACCA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP). For example, jobs for finance are chief
financial officer, financial director, financial adviser, financial planning and so on and the
job for accounting are Auditors, senior accountant, accounts payable specialist, accounts
receivable specialist and internal audit manager and so on ( United States Department Of
Statistics, 2014).
II.) Task
As a finance student, I think that the task of accounting and finance are difference.
According to Sharma (2016) Venkat said that recording of transaction in a systematic
manner are concern by an accounting for example, recording the business transaction
such as business event in a monetary form. Besides that, the function of an accounting are
include recording the transaction, checking the prime book and also generate the financial
statement. However, raising funds for company to meet companies needs and help client
to planning their financial are concerning by finance ( Tay & Quek n.d.) . The function of
finance is to collect the cash flow information from accounting records and to prepare a
cash flow prediction to use in future for example preparing budgets compare with the
actual result through the financial sources.

5. III.) Knowledge
I agree that the knowledge of the accounting and finance are very important because it
can help the company to manage the financial of the company. However, the knowledge
of the accounting and finance are different. According to success factors (n.d.)
Accounting are required the knowledge of summary the report requirement, show
accounting data into usable formats and summary it and outline the major accounting
principles to complete their work and the knowledge for finance are to summarize
functions of corporate finance and planning to achieve the financial goal of the corporate
and reporting the financial plan of the company and to outline a new projects.
Ethics for accounting and finance
The first time I hear about ethics, I though that is some things like law, however, it is
not same as I though. According to Solomon Ethics basically concern on individual
character, social rules and ultimate rules such as wrong and right (William, 2005). Do you
think ethic and business ethic are similar? According to Shaw, 2005. The study of what
make right and wrong, good and bad, and human behavior in the business context is
consider business ethics. Nevertheless, how ethics plays an important role for accounting
and finance field? According to Murphy (n.d.) They think that as a professional they must
provides a good services to client and provide fantastic practical business advice fit to
customer and develop relationship with their client with code of ethics such as integrity,
objectivity, professional competency and confidentiality.
I.) Integrity principle
Integrity mean to build the trust and provides the reliance on their judgment to public.
Every company and businesses are more rely on accounting ethics because they think that
all the financial record keeping practices that prepare by the accounting professional are
reliable, aboveboard and consistent with integrity standard (Petryni, n.d). For example, all
the companies must honestly report their income and loss to public and not to change the
information to attract the investors (Nordin, 2012) Besides that according to Erhard &

6. Jensen, (2014). From the result of negative consequence on the value and social welfare
are reducing due to adding integrity to paradigm of financial economics. For instance,
financial professional is to help people protect their wealth so that trust and relevant
information is very important and principle of integrity can make sure financial
professional to provides information to potential client and this will avoid bad headlines,
reduce reliance on regulation and to create a reinforcing culture (Seven Pillars Institute
for Global Finance and Ethics, 2013).
II.) Objectivity principle
Principle of objectivity are the highest level of professional objectivity in evaluation,
gathering and communication information about activity and examined. For example,
accounting and finance professional needed to maintain a high level of verifiability and
reliability in financial statement and report. As an accountant and finance professional,
they must provides a good services to customer and to provide the reliance advice to
customer so that they can make more beneficial.(Murphy, n.d).
III.) Confidentiality principle
Confidentiality principle are to protect the value and ownership of the information that
company received and cannot disclose the information to other person without the owner
permission. I agree that it is very important to accounting and finance professional.
Accounting are doing the financial statement of the company and they are not allow to
disclose the company information to external people and other person. According to
Nordmeyer, (n.d.) The role and responsibilities of the accountant in trust are to protect the
clients information from unauthorized disclosure or release to public due to follow the
confidentiality principle. Besides that, finance professional also must follow the
confidentiality principle to protect the clients information and do not disclose to other
people.
IV.) Competency principle
I agree that accounting and finance professional must follow the competency
principle. Competency principle mean accounting and finance professional must utilize

7. their knowledge, skill, and experience in the performance of service. Accounting
professional required the skill and competency to handle financial accounting and
reporting (Damelin correspondence, n.d). Besides that, finance professional are using
their knowledge and experience to help the client to gain the most beneficial to achieve
their financial goal.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I believe that all the skill that I mention in the essay such as time
management, critical thinking, communication, leadership and Information of technology
are very important for accounting and finance fields and It was required to practice by
daily life and studies. As same to me, I do not know actually we are required these skill in
my field and I realize it when I am taking accounting and finance professional subject.
Besides that, all the skill are not only learn from studies but also through all the
assignment student had done and working experience. Not only skill but also knowledge,
accounting and finance fields are required difference knowledge, such as finance are to
analyze how to earn the maximum income and achieve our finance freedom by utilize our
limited resources. However, accounting are more focus on the daily business transaction
such as how much is the expense of the company and calculate the loss and profit and
liabilities of the company. In addition, the job for accounting and finance are difference.
Moreover, the job and accounting professional is difference because they are studying the
difference course and having the difference knowledge. Last, ethics play an important
role to accounting and finance fields because it to protect the labors of the company and
the company itself. Without the professional ethics code, a lot of conflicts such as bribes
and kickbacks, violation of confidentiality and so on will happen in working place.
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