Accountants’ role evolves as software deals with drudgery
Accounting is undergoing the most rapid evolution the industry has experienced, driven by new technology and business culture. The result is that its very role is beginning to change.
This was the powerful message underlying this week’s Xerocon 2019 conference in London, where the world’s fastestgrowing accounting software maker, Xero, unveiled its new offering.
The keynote addresses all focused on purpose, community and making the world a better place. On the other hand, the role of software, in taking over drudge work, will give accountants time to focus more on business improvement than on business compliance.
“The more technology provides, the more that human dimensions matter, the more the people connection will matter,” Steve Vamos, global CEO of Xero, told an audience of more than 3,000 delegates.
“Even when presented with the best technology that says this is the information you need to make the best decisions for your business, most small business owners will not pay attention, because they are too busy doing what they’re doing every day. It’s the human insights the accountants provide that are going to make the most difference.”
In an interview with Business Times, he elaborated, saying the profession had to become synonymous with business coaching.
“From the insights an accountant would have on a small business, based on what the data is saying, they have the opportunity to help business owners become accountable for taking the actions that need to be taken to improve the performance of that business,” he said. “You call that coaching because, essentially, coaching is about holding you accountable for your connection to whatever that bigger purpose or objective you have.”
Vamos, who is Australian, suggested that the best analogy to the complexity of business was American football.
“If business was sport, this is how it would work: there’s a coach who walks in at the beginning of the season, and says, ‘Hi guys. Our objective is to win the competition this year. You’ve all got your positions. You all understand what your positions are. You’ll get on OK. Right, I’ll see you mid-season.’ That’s it. It’s the most complex thing anyone ever does, and it’s like, away you go mate, good luck.”
Some businesses do wake up to the need for executive coaches, but few embrace it in the context of the person with the most extensive knowledge of the data underlying business performance — the accountant.
“That’s the opportunity for many accountants: to move to this world of holding small businesses accountable for taking action that the information on hand is saying they must take.”
Not everyone will go with the new flow, however.
“Inevitably, as the functions of accounting become more automated, there’ll be some who will work through this transition, some who will decide that they want to stick with what they’re doing, or retire. There’ll always be that spectrum of those who adopt technology and those who believe that they can make a difference to their clients in their business performance.”
The accounting profession has to become synonymous with business coaching