Interpersonal Communication Skills in Accounting

This paper sheds light on the interpersonal skills of communication in accounting. It elaborates on explaining the three interpersonal communication skills of listening, feedback and questioning along with their importance in the field of accounting.

Running head: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Business Communication
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Communication skills are not only crucial in daily personal life but are also essential
for excelling in every field and discipline be it hospitality, retailing or accounting. They help
in planning, managing, organizing, promoting and innovating different management,
marketing, systems and the process of construction (Kwiatkowski, 2019). At the same time,
are also crucial for marketing and promoting businesses. However, interpersonal
communication skills are the face-to-face communication skills that are usually used by the
people for exchanging feelings, information and meaning by either verbal or non-verbal
messages or both. They are crucial in the workplaces. This paper shall shed light on the
interpersonal skills of communication. It would elaborate on explaining the three
interpersonal communication skills of listening, feedback and questioning along with their
importance in the field of accounting.
As stated earlier, interpersonal communication refers to the process of exchanging
feelings, information and meaning utilizing verbal or non-verbal messages. It is to note that it
is not only about what is said or about what language is used (Arnold et al., 2015). Instead, it
is all about how it is reported. The non-verbal messages are sent through the voice tone, body
language, facial expressions and the body gestures of the people. According to Gallois and
Giles (2015), developing strong interpersonal skills has long been a priority for accounting
professionals. In the contemporary world, strong interpersonal skills are essential for
employers as most of the jobs today require people to interact effectively with the customers,
suppliers, clients etc. These skills are vital for the success of every organization today.
Practical skills of interpersonal communication are required for forming connections and
establishing relationships (O’Sullivan & Carr, 2018). It is to mention that there are many
types of interpersonal skills, right from verbal communication, active listening, body
language, openness, negotiation skills, skills of conflict resolution, problem-solving and

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decision making skills to a team working and giving feedbacks. All these skills are of equal
importance for the employees to possess in every field.
Active listening refers to the skill of listening beyond the words that have been spoken
by a person and understanding the message that is being communicated (Stewart & Arnold,
2018). At the time of conversations, most of the times, good listeners think about the way that
they are going to respond instead of paying concentration and focus on what is be saying by
the speaker. Active listening can help in providing more thoughtful answers for the part of the
listeners that could have the possibility of taking the opinions and thoughts of the speakers
into account (Arnold et al., 2015). Unlike the other jobs in the professional service industries,
the position of accountants follow some strictly defined processes and procedures. There has
been an increase in the number of accounting employers who are seeking for the candidates
of all the levels to not only be skilled with good scores and numbers but at the same time,
communications as well. The essential financial tasks like budget preparation, reporting,
recording income, bill paying and payroll are presented accurately for management and
others are required to be meaningful and useful in an accounting firm. One of the most
crucial communication skills that have grown in popularity is the skills of active listening
(Brundiers & Wiek, 2017). It is particularly more important in the field of accounting as of
the fact that accountants need to ensure that the people around them understand that they are
being valued and appreciated. It is to note that active listening skills are one of the most
demanding soft skills that the employers look for among the candidates during the interview
sessions. They seek such accountants as the one who possesses these skills can understand
and capture all that is being said instead of just passively hearing the speakers' messages.
Furthermore, the skill of giving active and frequent feedbacks increase team harmony
and productivity within an organization. However, it is to note that as opined by Qian et al.
(2017), feedback is related to listening actively and is about taking time for analyzing and

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then thinking of the best possible solution for performing better. In the field of accounting,
the skill of giving feedback is very important as it provides positive and productive criticism
and at the same time, allows oneself for seeing what everyone could change for improving
their results and focus (Stewart & Arnold, 2018). With the same, it also allows the accounts
to ensure healthy communication flow. Feedback is considered to be the best tool for
managers in every industry. However, it is only useful when it is delivered correctly. For
several years, managers have been using feedbacks for praising and criticizing the employees
for whatever they do. According to Schneider and Mooney (2015), the primary purpose of
giving feedback is improving the situation, and the performance of a person and this cannot
be accomplished by being harsh, offensive and critical. Accountants are likely to get more
from the people when their feedback giving skills are positive and are focused on
improvement. However, it does not mean that giving feedback needs to be kind always, but it
is that it should be fair, proper and well-balanced. It needs to be a regular process that seeks
constant attention. When something is required to be said, it must be told. It helps people to
know where they are standing actually and what more they need to improve.
Lastly, the skill of questioning is the critical skill of communication (Moss, 2017). It
is beneficial in several applications including coaching, designing, making questionnaires,
interpersonal relations and interviewing. It is to note that accounting is an intrinsic part of
every business and therefore, excellent skills of communication are vital in this field as they
are essential in any other areas. The crucial financial tasks like budget preparation, reporting,
recording income, bill paying and payroll are presented correctly for management and others
are required to be meaningful and useful. According to Laine et al. (2016), the best way of
communicating the accounting information is by doing it in the writing format and report
format. Also, in case of questions, accountants are required to ensure that any critical
schedules or backup documentation are available. For proper information communication in

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the field of accounting, reports are needed to be organized with the most summarised version
on the top and others that are following it at the bottom. Furthermore, it is also to mention
that accounting is that field where the accountants are required to develop the skill of
problem solving and critical thinking. Questioning skills can improve it.
Hence, from the above analysis, it is to conclude that interpersonal skills are highly
required in the field of finance or accounting. Accountants are critical people as they manage
a huge number of responsibilities in every firms and accounting is also an intrinsic part of
every business. Notably, the skill of listening, giving constructive and useful feedbacks and
the ability of questioning have the potential of leading to success in the accounting field.
They not only increase the level of job satisfaction but at the same time, also make it easier
for the accounting professionals to build themselves towards their long-term career goals.

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