You don’t need to be a maths genius to work in accounting. Most of the time, the maths involved is fairly straightforward:
- Basic arithmetic – adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing
- Percentages – for things like VAT, discounts and interest
- Ratios – used to analyse financial health
- Simple formulas – for depreciation, margins, taxes and more
You’ll also be using tools like spreadsheets and accounting software that do most of the number crunching for you. What matters is your ability to understand what the numbers mean – and how they affect a business.
Basic maths skills required for accounting
Even though you won’t be doing rocket science, you still need to be confident with numbers. Here are the core skills every accountant should have:
- Comfort working with decimals, fractions and percentages
- Ability to estimate and spot errors
- Familiarity with using formulas in spreadsheets
- Confidence converting units and currencies
- Logical thinking and attention to detail
These skills come into play every day – whether you’re balancing books, checking invoices or analysing cash flow.
