We are already at the dawn of a new industrial revolution. Everyone wonders who the first workers to be replaced by robots or automatons will be. Will truckers be affected first with the arrival of self-driving vehicles?
In short, everything is moving at an incredible speed. The accounting profession is no exception. It needs to evolve. Like many people right now, those who work in accounting may be asking themselves the question: "When will a robot replace us in our work?”
One thing is certain: computers and software are omnipresent in our lives and won't be leaving us any time soon. This suggests that technology will continue to occupy an increasingly important role in the professional world, especially with all the advances in artificial intelligence.
Technological advances and their impact on the accounting profession
At T2inc.ca, technological innovation and improvement have always been a source of inspiration, but above all a source of gratitude. Indeed, the accounting profession was not very enviable in the 1950s when everything was still done by hand. Imagine the life of accountants without an Excel spreadsheet to record data and automatically calculate amounts. How long would it take to do the same job without tax and accounting software, databases, scanning and electronic document management tools? How could accountants communicate quickly without email? All correspondence would be sent by mail and the information would be disclosed during physical meetings. In short, without electronics, the life of accountants would be unbearable.
And so no, at T2inc.ca, we are not afraid for the future of the accounting profession. On the contrary, we would rather see accounting technologies evolve even faster to improve the productivity of Canadian entrepreneurs and accountants. This will allow them to save more time and money so that they can invest more in value-added services.
Accounting and taxation: the current situation
The reality is that at the moment, in September 2018, technologies are not yet advanced enough to say that a human's work as an accountant can be completely replaced, even if only for data entry. This task is always necessary to have the required figures to meet the basic tax obligations, i.e. taxes and tax reports. So, there is still too much reliance on data entry and tax obligations and, as a result, less time available for high value-added accounting services.
In other words, accountants have very little time to export the data to financial reports and analyze them. There is also insufficient time to validate the financial model's forecast budgets with actual results due to limited budgets.
How to adapt to new customer expectations
Client expectations of accountants and tax specialists are changing. People no longer necessarily want to pay a lot to put an expense invoice into accounting software but are willing to pay for advice on whether or not the expense is tax deductible. Those who deal with an accountant also want advice on the analysis of their actual figures entered into the accounting system and the outcome of the financial model adopted.
We want accountants who are even more skilled in modeling companies' financial models and who can use the data analysis that the tools permit, rather than just entering the accounting transaction into a software application. Consider the "blockchain". This will allow the validity of transactions to be authenticated without manual verification. Imagine how this can transform the accounting audit industry.
The future of the accounting profession lies in the analytical consulting service
As indicated with big data, deep learning and advanced artificial analysis and intelligence systems, the future of the accounting profession will undoubtedly depend on the ability to interpret and use the information in these tools. It will also be necessary to be able to use these analyses to improve the financial performance of companies.
In conclusion, the technological future has never been so near! At T2inc.ca, we are very excited about what the future of the accounting profession may hold for us.
If you would like to have information about the accounting profession or simply want to talk to one of our experts, contact us now.
Frédéric Roy-Gobeil
CPA, M. TAX
As President of T2inc.ca and an entrepreneur at heart, I have founded many start-ups such as delve Labs and T2inc.ca. A former tax specialist at Ernst & Young, I am also a member of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés CPA and have a master's degree in taxation from the Université de Sherbrooke. With a passion for the world of entrepreneurship and the growth mindset, I have authored numerous articles and videos on the industry and the business world, as well as on accounting, taxation, financial statements and financial independence.
