What’s more essential to being an effective leader, time or money? According to the money people, the answer is time.

In a recent survey of accountants by Ajilon Finance and the Institute of Management Accountants, 29 percent of respondents said what leaders most need to be effective in their positions is more time. Only 14 percent said leaders need more money.

The accountants also suggested that leaders need to draw on different skills, depending on the state of the economy. When times are good, their top priority should be recruiting and retaining skilled workers (cited by 47 percent of respondents), followed by pursuing growth opportunities (42 percent), and maintaining a competitive edge (42 percent).

But when the economy is down, accountants say leaders should be prepared to focus on improving productivity or finding ways to do more with less (49 percent), followed by motivating workers (44 percent), and then pursuing growth opportunities (33 percent).

Overall, the survey subjects ranked having the ability to inspire and motivate others as the most important leadership quality of the 21st century (cited by one-third of respondents). Having strong communication skills ranked second (15 percent), and having good people-management skills ranked third (13 percent).