Interpersonal Communication Skills in Accounting

Running head: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Business Communication
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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION1
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

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION2
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