Raewyn Court
ccountants may appear to be on the endangered species li st in this era of rapidly- increasing automation, but Adam Davy, head of advisory for BDO New Zealand, says accountants just need to think differently and stay relevant if they want to assure demand for their services in the future.
“As Star Trek’s Mr Spock might say . . . ‘ It’s accounting Jim, but not as we know it’,” Davy says.
Although there’s no doubt automation has had huge benefits for the accounting industry in eliminating the need for tedious “bean counting”, Davy says it’s not about saving time and doing less. “Rather, it’s about allowing people to create more value. The key challenge for us is to navigate this explosion in accounting and business- related technology and best advise our clients on it. In a sense this i s a new skill- set, particularly for those lacking any IT background.”
Experience and understanding of internal finance roles and how well solutions can enhance functions is a large chunk of what’s required, he says. “Efficient and quality com- pliance will never totally go away and i s still an important fundamental offering. But the point is, we can’t just hire good bean counters. Our advisers also need the attitude and potential to be client- facing advisers who will succeed in an ever- changing environment.”
Davy says the challenges facing businesses lately have been nothing short of dramatic. The explosive growth in technological enhancements has made for difficult decisions around investment. And although BDO’s clients are seeing great opportunities abroad, the challenge is in being able to take advantage of them.
“The costs of operating overseas and the required structures and resources are often underestimated by business owners.”
Rapid growth i s another challenge, with few strategic business plans these days involving slowly grinding away for decades to build a loyal customer base, says Davy.
“Dynamism is a fundamental component of many of our successful clients, and the required strategy can dictate short timeframes for growth and market penetration. This means we really need compliance and reporting to run like clockwork, with the data available at our fingertips. Neither we nor our clients can afford to waste time on historical results and we need to be available when our clients really need us for the next step.”
Davy says successful organisations and happy staff are no coincidence, with it long being the case that com-