The purpose of this article is to examine the effects of life-skills on the academic achievement in an accounting course with project-based learning(PBL). Life-skills considered essential include communication, problems solving, and self-directed learning skills. A course in Financial Statement Analysis was offered to undergraduate students and the students were required to complete team-based projects on evaluating business performances and financial conditions of real companies. Two surveys were conducted, one at the beginning(pre-assessment) and the other at the end(post-assessment) of the course, to determine whether the three skills, measuring individual competency needed in communication, problem solving and self-directed learning, would create a positive synergy effect on students’ learning outcomes. In doing this, we eventually aimed to assess the effectiveness of the PBL approach on enhancing students learning in Financial Statement Analysis. The results show that both the exam grade and self-evaluation were higher for the group who showed an improvement in communication and problem-solving skills than for no improvement group during a one-semester PBL course. However, no significant differences in academic outcomes were found between the improvement group and no improvement group in self-directed learning skills. It implies that better communication and problem-solving skills will lead to higher academic achievement in accounting courses based on the PBL approach, but self-directed learning skills do not seem to have a noticeable effect on students’ performances. Since tasks in the PBL mode require an active team-based process of learning, interpersonal skills such as communication and problem-solving skills appear more critical in student academic achievement than personal skills such as self-directed learning skills.