There’s a horror story from the world of investing that has enjoyed internet fame for years now. In 2005, a Japanese trader accidentally sold more than 600,000 shares for just one yen, when he meant to sell one share for more than 600,000 yen. The mistake ended up costing the company more than 40 billion yen.

Though a situation of this magnitude is incredibly rare, errors in accounting are not, and can be frustrating or harmful to individuals and businesses. For would-be accounting professionals, finding ways to stay as accurate as possible is therefore an important thing to do.

Want to ensure your work remains free of mistakes? Here are some ways to accomplish this.

Let Software do Most of the Heavy Lifting, But Pay Attention

One of the best aspects of a modern career in accounting is that there are all kinds of useful applications out there that streamline the process and handle much of the cognitive load of calculation. Programs like Quickbooks and Sage 50 are designed to make accounting work simple and straightforward; enter numbers into the right spaces and the software will take care of the rest.

The best way to prepare for working with these sorts of tools is just to get started using them. An accounting school that lets you get hands-on with accounting software early and often is the best option for turning computerized accounting into something you’re very comfortable doing. Just be sure not to let your mastery of the programs make you careless, and pay close attention every time you enter data, just to be sure that you are inputting everything correctly.

Use Your Accounting School Savvy to Keep From Falling Behind at Work

One of the go-to reasons people have for making mistakes is that they were in a hurry. It’s a perfectly valid explanation. After all, rushing might mean a greater likelihood of a finger hitting the wrong key, or less time for review of the work that was done.

Occasionally, this might be unavoidable – nearly every workplace has its busier periods – but there are still steps that employees can take to make life easier for themselves. Being diligent about completing work on time, making the most of each day, and even trying to push a little to get ahead when possible can give you a little more slack to work with when the busier periods do arrive. Fortunately, this isn’t the most difficult thing to do. Just stay focused on your professional ambitions and your determination and persistence should come naturally.

Graduates of Business Accounting Courses Should Trust Their Experience

Working with numbers for long enough will allow graduates of business accounting courses to have a sense of what they should look like when all is said and done. This instinct is a valuable tool, and should be trusted.

Be extra careful when checking over any figures that don’t seem right, and if they check out and still don’t seem right, consider having someone else at the company take a look as well. Catching a mistake early on is important, so most people will be glad to help at times like this.

It takes a bit of time to develop this sort of intuition, so to start, consider reaching out to instructors from your training program for their advice on tricks for spotting issues. Their years of experience mean they will likely have some useful insight that can help you out in the earliest days of your new career.

Do you want to become an accurate accounting professional?

Contact Discovery Community College about our accounting and finance certificate!