4 steps to prepare for the future of accounting

Time is running out to begin preparing for the technologically transformed, new-world accounting profession that is rapidly evolving. Because the rate of change will continue to accelerate, you must act quickly to avoid falling behind. Here are a few things you can do now to guarantee you're ready when the technology arrives.

1. Get on the cloud

Unlike the other items on this list, "The Required Step Before AI and Blockchain," moving to the cloud is something you can and should do right now.

The ability to access data and computing resources at any time and from any location is perhaps the most crucial cloud benefit. When you provide your clients with cloud-based access to real-time financial reports, they can make operational decisions based on the most up-to-date data available from their accounting system. When information is shared with you, cloud technology also allows you to provide continuous monitoring rather than sporadic analysis. Shareability and connection are crucial components of our daily lives in a world where you may start an episode of your favourite TV show on your PC and finish it on your phone. These are made possible via cloud computing.

2. Understand automation

The introduction of computing power, which could render data entry obsolete, is perhaps the largest sea change facing the accounting profession. In this aspect, artificial intelligence (AI) is the technology that is leading the drive. AI is already being used in a variety of ways by all four of the Big Four corporations. One of the most often discussed AI use case ideas in the news is the self-driving automobile. When you enter an address into a GPS software, the car's artificial intelligence calculates the optimum route for you based on data like driving habits, wait times, and incidents.
As accountants have access to automated, real-time reporting of client business data, they will be able to provide customers with actionable insights that will help them manage their businesses more efficiently. To take advantage of this opportunity, CPAs will need to create new processes and procedures in their firms to decide which data is automatically entered into the accounting system and which data requires manual entry and/or correction.
CPAs may devote more time to helping customers grow and prosper if they spend less time reconciling the numbers. CPAs can best do this by asking questions and conducting research to gain a better understanding of their clients' businesses. CPAs with the right insights and data can help clients with forecasting, cash flow management, evaluating the sustainability of a merger or acquisition, and launching a new service line in their company.
This has a financial consequence as well. As a profession, we have set our rates based on the amount of time it takes to complete a task rather than the value of the answers we deliver. Clients, on the other hand, are far more concerned with the value of the information provided by their accountants than with the amount of time it took to obtain it. Accountants will not be able to add value to their clients in the future by doing hours of data entry.

3. Start considering cryptocurrency

Whether or not you opt to learn more about bitcoin, there's no doubting that blockchain-based, decentralised cryptocurrencies will continue to play a significant role in financial markets. Having crypto-friendly services will become increasingly important as more businesses begin to accept these alternative currencies as readily as they do good old-fashioned money.
Merchant accounts, the most prominent of which is Coinbase's, allow you to take bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, such as ethereum, without taking on the risk that comes with these new, volatile forms of currency. You may instantly convert all cryptocurrency payments received into dollars when you use a merchant account. Accountants will need to understand how to report on merchant accounts as they become increasingly popular.

4. Keep learning and communicating

This piece of wisdom is timeless, yet it's extremely pertinent in today's changing workplace. Technology is not going to slow down, as we have seen, and we can no longer deny that future innovations will have an impact on the profession. Because technology evolves at an exponential rate, our professions (and our lives) have the potential to change more in a few years than they did over our forefathers' whole working careers. Keeping track of those developments, even if they never materialise, allows you to communicate effectively with your clients and alleviate any concerns they may have about the future. This will keep you in the forefront of your clients' minds because they'll know you're on the lookout for the latest trends and can counsel them, or at the very least point them in the right way.
Digital technology's ever-increasing capacity will not replace accountants, but it will alter the nature of our work. You may be ecstatic about the changes, or you may choose to wait and see, but either way, you must select which road to follow. Your clients will have the certainty that they hired the correct advice if you opt to look at these developments and seize the future potential they provide. You may assist them not just with what is happening now, but also with what is to come.