Automation and Process; The Future of Accounting

Is Automation the Future of Accounting?

One phrase in business that shows stagnation is “…but we’ve always done it that way.” Fortunately, or unfortunately for some, the changes in technology and communications have forced businesses either to innovate or die.

One area of innovation is accounting automation. Adding automation to your accounting practice provides growth, increased efficiency, and makes your firm more effective. The pivot to automation is necessary and not as daunting as one may think.

Automating your firm can be broken down into three areas; your people, your tools, and your processes.

Each one builds off of and sets expectations for the other areas.

Automate Your People

Automation can address time-consuming tasks and remove associated delays. To reap the benefits of automation, your team needs to be able to automate tasks in a way that sees the long-term benefits automation. With the wrong people, that may as well be void. To put this into perspective, 92% of CPA’s say that they are not future-ready.

Finding the right people to fill these roles becomes challenging, especially in a tight talent market. How do you know the right people when you see them?

Rick Richardson, an accounting futurist, says to look for inquisitive minds that are data-focused. The CPA’s of the future will ask questions like: “Who owns it? How do you get it? How good is it? Where is it kept? How secure is it? How do we analyze it? How can we take that analysis and turn it into intelligence that provides us with better business decisions?”

Automate Your Tools

The tools should fuel your work, not be a crutch to lean on. At Dinamis, we have talked fairly extensively about tools for modern accounting. There are also some other great pieces on AccountingWeb.

Beyond talking about specific tools, there’s a more pressing issue. A large percentage of firms aren’t taking a technology-first approach. While 67% of accountants prefer cloud accounting, only 58% of large companies use it. And those numbers only show the surface of the issue.

Early adoption is a necessity as we approach a technological tipping point. At that tipping point, those well-prepared firms become better off in the long run.

Automate Your Processes

At the crux of automation is a focus on processes. Try to figure out why you are doing what you are doing. Do the pedantic, hard work of documenting step by step by step.

Once you do that, you will have a better idea of the right people, the right tools, or if there’s a better solution out there all together.

You will also come to the realization that “what got you here, might not get you there.” In other words, change is a necessity to capitalize on new technology. If you are looking to create better margins, you have to be open to new challenges.

Automation can be done more easily and more efficiently once you know what you are doing and why you are doing it.

Download The Five Fatal Mistakes of Outsourcing eBook

How to Manage Your Outsourced Accounting Team

With businesses moving to a remote environment, there is a common question about how you manage an outsourced accounting team. How do you make sure their work aligns with your objectives? How do you form a healthy work-relationship with remote accountants? How do you...

5 Business Tasks You Could be Outsourcing

Too many business owners think they don't need help with their tasks. They think that getting more hands involved means way more expenses for the company. Little do they know, outsourcing could actually help their business grow. (And save them money!) Repetitive or...