RecordMove

Sales support assistant to accounting assistant

A sales support assistant already meets 16% of what the accounting assistant role asks for. The move turns on 16 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional

From sales support assistant

Distant match

To accounting assistant

5 You already bring

16 Still to learn

40 Skills in the target role2

Learning distance A rebuild

80.4/ 100

adjacentmoderatesubstantialcareer change

1 How much of what an accounting assistant is expected to do is already part of a sales support assistant’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the accounting assistant role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

An accounting assistant role treats 4 of its required skills as things a sales support assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

bookkeeping regulations
check accounting records
issue sales invoices
perform business research

What stands in the way is 16 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 5 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An accounting assistant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a sales support assistant background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area

already held check accounting records information skills
already held perform business research information skills
already held bookkeeping regulations business, administration and law
already held manage accounts management skills
already held issue sales invoices management skills

All 5 carried skills, including the 4 the accounting assistant role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 35 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier

01 information skills 5 required, 8 supplementary

still to learn follow up accounts receivables required
still to learn identify accounting errors required
still to learn maintain financial records required
still to learn perform account allocation required
still to learn prepare trial accounting balances required

optional, not held calculate tax optional
optional, not held interpret financial statements optional
optional, not held maintain register of shareholders optional
optional, not held maintain statutory books optional
optional, not held manage payroll reports optional
optional, not held manage the general ledger optional
optional, not held prepare financial statements optional
optional, not held prepare tax returns forms optional

02 business, administration and law 5 required, 5 supplementary

still to learn accounting department processes required
still to learn depreciation required
still to learn accounting entries required
still to learn accounting techniques required
still to learn tax legislation required

optional, not held company policies optional
optional, not held banking activities optional
optional, not held consumer goods industry optional
optional, not held financial statements optional
optional, not held labour legislation optional

03 management skills 5 required, 3 supplementary

still to learn allocate bills required
still to learn attach accounting certificates to accounting transactions required
still to learn manage corporate bank accounts required
still to learn use accounting systems required
still to learn use office systems required

optional, not held manage cash desk optional
optional, not held handle financial transactions optional
optional, not held perform cost accounting activities optional

04 assisting and caring 1 required

still to learn follow the statutory obligations required

05 communication, collaboration and creativity 2 supplementary

optional, not held disseminate information on tax legislation optional
optional, not held perform dunning activities optional

06 natural sciences, mathematics and statistics 1 supplementary

optional, not held statistics optional

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries an accounting assistant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 5 skills that carry over

Skill Type

already held bookkeeping regulations knowledge
already held check accounting records skill
already held issue sales invoices skill
already held perform business research skill
already held manage accounts skill

19 supplementary skills, helpful but not required

Skill to pick up Tier

optional, not held company policies optional
optional, not held manage cash desk optional
optional, not held banking activities optional
optional, not held calculate tax optional
optional, not held consumer goods industry optional
optional, not held disseminate information on tax legislation optional
optional, not held financial statements optional
optional, not held handle financial transactions optional
optional, not held interpret financial statements optional
optional, not held labour legislation optional
optional, not held maintain register of shareholders optional
optional, not held maintain statutory books optional
optional, not held manage payroll reports optional
optional, not held manage the general ledger optional
optional, not held perform cost accounting activities optional
optional, not held perform dunning activities optional
optional, not held prepare financial statements optional
optional, not held prepare tax returns forms optional
optional, not held statistics optional

18 held skills the accounting assistant role does not ask for

Skill Type

not needed by the target role analyse customer service surveys skill
not needed by the target role carry out sales analysis skill
not needed by the target role customer service knowledge
not needed by the target role draw up marketing and sales plan skill
not needed by the target role electronic business knowledge
not needed by the target role forecast sales over periods of time skill
not needed by the target role handle mail skill
not needed by the target role implement sales strategies skill
not needed by the target role keep records on sales skill
not needed by the target role order supplies skill
not needed by the target role perform clerical duties skill
not needed by the target role perform office routine activities skill
not needed by the target role prepare sales checks skill
not needed by the target role process refunds skill
not needed by the target role produce sales reports skill
not needed by the target role sales activities knowledge
not needed by the target role supervise sales activities skill
not needed by the target role use sales forecasting softwares skill

11 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier

still to learn accounting department processes required
still to learn depreciation required
still to learn accounting entries required
still to learn accounting techniques required
still to learn tax legislation required
optional, not held company policies optional
optional, not held banking activities optional
optional, not held consumer goods industry optional
optional, not held financial statements optional
optional, not held labour legislation optional
optional, not held statistics optional

Index

Other moves recorded from sales support assistant

Full index of moves from sales support assistant

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a sales support assistant become an accounting assistant?

Yes, and it is a career change move. A sales support assistant already covers 16% of what an accounting assistant is expected to do: 5 skills carry over, 4 of which the accounting assistant role treats as required.

What skills does a sales support assistant need to become an accounting assistant?

16 required skills are missing, plus 19 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is accounting department processes.

How hard is the move from sales support assistant to accounting assistant?

Its learning distance is 80.4 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.