Tech Revolution: Opportunity or Threat to Accountants?

"Is technology a saviour or executioner "for the accounting profession? "According to a recent study, "300,000 accountants have left the profession since 2020. "That's a staggering 17% drop. "Automation, AI, machine learning, blockchain, "they're all reshaping the profession, "but what does it mean for accountants? "Are accountants dying at breed? "Are they on the way out or could it be "that those embracing these technologies "are gonna dominate in the next few years?" I'm gonna give this a little treatment here on the future of accounting. By answering this question, is tech a force for good or the death knell for accountants? This is the Accounting Influencers Podcast. I'm Rob Brown. This is the show that keeps leaders, managers, influencers in the accounting world ahead of the curve. We're here to give you some executive presence, some authority, some credibility inside and outside your firm by looking at certain topics and giving you the treatment about what this means for you and your leadership role. So, as I chair many conferences throughout the world, there's a lot of talk about the forces, the disruptions that are shaping the profession right now and technology and people are always at the top. They change not only how we work, but what work is left for accountants. Repetitive tasks are going out of the window. Automation is driving downward pressure on compliance fees, but it's also creating opportunities for those accountants that are willing to adapt. So, I guess in answer to the question, is it the savior or the executioner? It can be a bit of both, depending on which kind of accountant you are. So, I wanna unpack these a little bit and give you some hope really to navigate the tech-driven landscape because most accountants didn't sign up to be accountants, to become geeks and nerds and technology experts, but you cannot escape it these days that the modern-day accountant knows more than how to turn a computer on and off. We stopped short of being able to write code, but the geeks, the nerds, the average accountant will need to know 100 pieces of software, 100 different apps to serve their clients and do their job, probably more. You've got all of that going on in your firm, all of that being integrated into what you're doing. So, the impact of technology and accounting is impossible to ignore. You can't do your job without tech, but you also, we can do the job without tech because we had, even before Excel spreadsheets, we had pen and paper and calculators and advocacy. So, I know it's progress, but here's what we're facing. According to many reports, the AI, the automation tools, they're already reducing the time accountant's spend on manual tasks like data entry, basic audits. We know that, and there's no going back to those times, but there is a kicker. It doesn't necessarily mean a reduction in accounting jobs. So, for those that leverage those tools, it's an opportunity for you to add, offer higher value, advisory services, interpretation of the data that you're going through. And clients, we know are hungry for strategic insight and future planning, which is something that machines can't provide yet. Let's take AI for a moment. I'm not an AI pushing the envelope kind of person, but I am embracing it to an extent. These tasks that are done on AI, data analysis, tax preparation, compliance checks, interpreting regulations, what used to take accountants hours and days can now be done in minutes. They can handle spreadsheets. They can do most things an accountant can do, and it's not just driving efficiency. It's the accuracy that these tools can bring in to avoid human error, to ensure better compliance, to interpret the ever-changing regulations. I'm not saying it will wholly replace accountants, but you probably heard the phrase. AI won't replace accountants. It will replace the accountants that don't use AI. That's a pretty common phrase right now. The question remains, obviously, what happens when AI starts to chunk into the more complex tasks? Will we need accountants at all? We've seen some plays by, and I won't mention them software providers, trying to bypass the accountants because they hold all the data on the client now, and they say, "You don't need an accountant, you just need us." So, there's a fight for relevancy in accounting, for sure, and is tech helping that, or is that marginalizing that? I had a situation recently where a big business had hired not an accounting firm, but a team from a software company that were accredited with that software that did 95% of the accounting work that that business needed. So, essentially, they bypassed the accountants all by themselves. Now, they may have needed some accountant or some lawyer to submit the accounts. I don't know how that works. I am a self-confessed non-accountant. I'm a former high school maths teacher, but the reality is, AI is hitting the most tedious parts of accounting, and so the value add for accountants with clients who have ever demanded expectations has got to be in the softer skills, the interpretation, the analysis, the client relationships. So, tech is eating up the compliance work. I'm not saying compliance is dead. It's still a bread and butter for many firms, and audit is alive and kicking. We know that, but accountants, is this their time? Is it your time to step up as a trusted advisor and offer the insights that technology cannot? If you can't do that, then yes, tech will be the death of accounting. Young accountants enter in the profession today. They do have a different mindset. They're born with tech, they're tech natives, aren't they? So, they will know already how to use the technology to eliminate the mundane and focus on what matters, which is helping clients make strategic financial decisions and impacting the growth of the businesses. So, yes, there's challenges, but massive opportunities. So, it's gonna be a savior and an executioner for some accounting firms. Sometimes they're lagging behind in adoption and the future looks grim for them. I often ask people when we interview them on the show, what does the future look like for accountants that either are unable to embrace the technology or unwilling to embrace the technology? And they just say it's irrelevant. It's redundancy, it's death, it's dying. So, remember your clients are getting younger and younger. So, they're wanting a conversation about technology and accounting. They are seeking out tech-savvy firms that can offer a faster, more accurate services and better interpretation. And without any investment or a poor investment in the tech or a non-strategic investment in the tech, firms are gonna find themselves unable to compete and that work's gonna go to more tech-savvy firms. I saw this data, it said 57% of accountants believe that tech literacy, that's not numeracy, so much tech literacy, financial literacy is a different thing. Tech literacy is now the most critical skill for future professionals, surpassing even traditional accounting skills. We could have the argument about whether accounting qualifications are fit for purpose, but I don't wanna labour the point. We know that tech is a force for good and a force for evil. So, the answer to our original question is both. For those that are willing to involve, technology is a massive opportunity for more exciting work and taking the profession forward. Embracing the digital tools, accountants are gonna shift from transactional to strategic relational advisors, bringing huge value and profits because they can offer many more services, risk management, financial planning, environmental assessments, all those kind of things. On the flip side, we do have this cohort of accountants that are risk averse. They are gonna become irrelevant. They're not gonna be efficient. They won't embrace cost-effective solutions. And the good news is that the human touch still matters, doesn't it? Technology automates processes, but it can't replace creativity, innovation, emotional intelligence, strategic thinking that accountants should be bringing to the table. So, you leaders, you set the standards. You adopt the technologies while maintaining those relationships. And if you're investing in training and development and tech adoption and people development, you will compete. And you, as a leader, we teach you to be influential and have authority on this show. You can prepare your team for the future. You can get them invested in their own professional development, tech development, not just technical competencies, but technological. Get them embracing the analytics and the AI and the automation. And lead by example, however old you are as a leader, show that you're willing to navigate these disruptions, try new things. Technology isn't something to fear, it's something to leverage. And the generations coming through now, they are way ahead with AI. They've chat GPT in the heck out of everything. And they say the future is the gig economy, the freelance world of people that are doing this and then in a good living. So you've got to cultivate as a leader that adaptability, that mindset in your friend that you're going to embrace this stuff. So key takeaways here, tech isn't the death of accountants, it's the evolution of accountants. If you adapt, you're going to find yourself more valuable and more cherished in and more interesting roles than ever before. Second, the real value for accountants lies in the advisory, the relationship building, areas where tech can't compete. And finally, as leaders, it's your job to set the standard. Yes, invest in the technology money-wise, but time-wise too and foster that learning culture where everyone's prepared to learn and invest in the future. If you're serious about maintaining your influence and building a personal brand in the accounting world, this is the kind of content you need to master. So is your firm set up for the tech revolution? Are you leading the charge? Are you an advocate? I'd love to hear your stories if you want to reach out to me on LinkedIn, and share any insights and strategies and help me keep this conversation going. You can also check us out on our YouTube channel. This is the Accounting Influencers podcast, and if you found some value from today, and it's encouraged you to embrace what is coming up, the tsunami of tech that's coming up. There's no way around it. You can get out of the way or you can jump on a surfboard. Do reach out to us on LinkedIn and on YouTube. Stay tuned for more insights on how to dominate the accounting world with your leadership, your authority, your personal brand in this fast changing world.