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The ‘Digital Age’ has seen the conventional business accounting industry be transformed through technology. The ability to leverage cloud-based technology platforms and other accounting software has heralded a new era in the accounting profession.


Accounting technology has allowed the accountant to move beyond the cluttered desk, complete tasks with greater efficiency and find new challenges and more to offer their clients. Read on to find out how technology has positively impacted conventional business accounting, and what you will need to succeed in this quickly-changing industry.


The role of accountants


Many businesses have transferred the work of accountants to automated software processes. This means that the role of the accountant has converted to a financial specialist, whose main duty is to analyse and interpret the data correctly. In the Digital Age, it is no longer enough for accountants to apply standards and crunch numbers.


Your clients will be expecting you to be able to utilize this information, to develop concise insights into the current and projected financial position of the company. This includes understanding how to utilize accounting software to compile historical or current data, whilst also being able to conduct predictive analysis and determinations of future financial returns.


Skills required


To increase their value in the Digital Age, accountants must utilize technology to offer strategic and informed advice. It will therefore be necessary for professionals to increase their understanding of the new accounting software programs and other business and finance applications.


Accountants in the future will need to be able to contribute to the business on a strategic level, developing holistic financial solutions using business acumen. Decision support is available at lower cost than ever before. First-tier financial information in the form of financial statements are immediately available and easy to access.


This places greater value on accountants providing second and third tier information, offering you the ability to predict non-performing accounts and derive additional data beyond ratios through assessments and predictions. Accountants have, therefore, been pushed to focus more on analytics and forecasting by clients who expect it now more than ever.


Other new skill requirements for relevance in the financial sector include; proficiency in data analysis, technology and process design, as well as data, project and risk management. Pursuing further education will help you remain relevant and up-to-date on the newest accounting procedures.


On-site consultations


On-site consultations were often utilized as a means of connection between the accountant and client . The use of the internet has facilitated constant access to information, reducing the number of visits in person to the client’s offices. As more accounting processes become automated, the ability to form business relationships in a shorter period of time, is of increasing importance to be able to land and retain clients.


At the same time, external memory storage has reduced the size of the equipment and the space required for accountants to work. The days of offices being filled with overflowing files and cluttered desks are gone. Nowadays, most tasks can be done from outside the company, increasing the possibility for more accountants to work under their own initiatives.


Mobile data


Being able to access tax and accounting data remotely is incredibly useful for clients and accountants and has required a shift in the way accountants work. Business clients are more likely to want to record expenses on the go, check their financial data and manage their accounts from their mobile device.

Because of this, businesses are starting to demand more from their software and the ability for their accountants to analyse the information at the same increased speed the software provides.


Accountants who are prepared to embrace and utilize new technology, fear not.


The Age of Digital brings endless possibilities for digital-savvy accountants ready to capture major growth opportunities.


If you don’t want to be left behind in the age of tweed jackets and desk calculators, further education is a great way of ensuring that you grab the opportunities that technology has made available within conventional business accounting.


Bio: Laura Costello is in her final year of a Bachelor of Law/International Relations at Latrobe University. She is passionate about the law, the power of social media, and the ability to translate her knowledge of both common and complex topics to readers across a variety of mediums, in a way that is easy to understand.

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