5 Trends To Eliminate Your Technophobia
By Carrie Dagenhard (Tech Writer)
Technology (and therefore accounting) is advancing at breakneck speeds. It’s exciting, it’s thrilling, and it’s… a little mortifying.
While we all “ooh” and “ahh” over every new gadget unveiled on a Silicon Valley stage, there’s one troublesome question on everyone’s mind: “Will there come a time when technology will replace my job?”
Accounting professionals have witnessed technology creeping into their turf for decades. Whether you are a CPA, or a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, you’ve worked hard to stay ahead of the curve — learning everything you can about new software and tools designed to help you work more accurately and efficiently.
Still, technophobia is brewing. You can’t help but feel it’s only a matter of time before accounting technology takes over and the need for experienced, expert, human accounting pros will dwindle.
Your restless mind is in good company — for time immemorial, people have feared the implications of technology.
Ready for some good news? Technology has a habit of creating far more opportunities than it consumes.
Here’s an example:
In 15th century Europe, German blacksmith Johannes Gutenberg unveiled the first printing press — an invention that rocked the Holy Roman Empire, expanded access to information and paved the way for the Age of Enlightenment.
But it also scared a lot of people.
“The poor scribes,” they lamented. “They’ll lose their jobs. How could anyone ever compete with a machine?”
This technological advancement didn’t bankrupt scriptoriums or leave scribes without a vocation. In fact, the rapid spread of information and rise of bureaucracy produced even more work. And as the demand for mass printed materials grew, so did the need for trained professionals to run the press.
In other words, continuing to embrace technology and becoming an early adopter will help you rise above your competition and ensure you always have a seat at the table.
Now that we’ve assuaged your fears (or bored you with a history lesson), you’re probably wondering: What tech trends should accountants, CPAs and Quickbooks ProAdvisors care about most?
Here are our top predictions for the near future:
5 Tech Trends In Accounting
1. Continued Shift to the Cloud
For several years, you’ve been hearing about “the cloud” — arguably the most popular buzzword of the modern era. But what the heck is it? And why does it matter for accounting pros?
In short, cloud computing uses remote servers that store, process and manage data over the Internet (instead of on a personal computer or local server). The cloud makes it possible for accounting pros and their teams to access data from anywhere at any time, which promotes flexibility and, often, increases productivity.
While migrating business operations to the cloud is often a complex and lengthy process, small to medium-sized businesses should aim to run 80 to 90+ percent of their workloads in the cloud.
2. Better Automation of Monotonous Tasks
Most accounting pros know the struggle of reconciling differences between records in siloed databases. It’s tedious, time-consuming and just plain unpleasant. Blockchain, a technology that originally emerged as a public ledger for bitcoin transactions, serves to eliminate this headache.
In short, blockchain is a decentralized database that allows several entities to access a shared, encrypted ledger. And while it’s still classified as an “emerging technology” (i.e. only being used by a small number of early adopters), the hope is that it will help create completely traceable audit trails — and make audits much faster, easier and less painful.
3. Adoption of Blockchain Technology
Blockchain is one example of how technology can assist accounting pros by automating those not-so-fun jobs. But what about other important-but-mundane duties — like tracking your team’s hours so you can properly invoice clients?
Time tracking solutions have come a long way over the past few years, and you can expect greater sophistication in the near future. Many tools already allow for easy stop/start toggling. Well-designed solutions (like SherpaDesk) integrate with existing accounting systems (like QuickBooks) and generate automated reports and timesheets so managers can see exactly what their team members are working on each day.
This improved visibility helps accounting pros optimize their time, operate more efficiently and waste less of their workweek building reports.
Greater Use of Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
Quite simply, OCR takes images and translates them into editable text. It has all sorts of helpful applications, but there’s one reason accounting pros are falling in love with this technology: It will eliminate the need for painstakingly hand-entering massive envelopes of receipts at the end of every month. Instead, you or your client can snap a photo of a receipt and the data will magically appear as readable text.
Expect to see an uptick in adoption of OCR apps this year — and, hopefully, fewer late nights and stiff drinks during tax season.
4. Increase in AI Tools
Artificial intelligence. Just hearing the term conjures up more images of evil, self-aware robots than any science fiction writer could dream. But in real life, it’s used for much less nefarious applications. From machine learning (which allows computer systems the ability to “learn” and improve from experience) to speech-based programs, facial recognition software and more. AI is probably — literally — in your back pocket right now (or wherever you keep your smartphone.)
While AI for accounting is still in its infancy, large firms like Deloitte are already seeing benefits from AI applications, like quickly analyzing thousands of contracts to interpret a company’s risk, or assessing massive datasets in a fraction of the time it would take a human team of CPAs (but never fear, remember the scribes?)
5. The Near Future
When it comes to technology, there’s no shortage of exciting new trends on the horizon. And while powerful new tech is initially a little unnerving for many, accounting pros will see plenty of benefits — such as increasing efficiency and productivity.
As a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, familiarizing yourself with these emerging technologies and how they’ll integrate with existing systems can help ensure you’re prepared to hit the ground running and outpace your competition in the new year.
How are You Getting Ready for the Near Future?
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