Apart from differences in the perseverance in accounting and financial terms, the least we can predict is the future of both. The year 2020 has already been a year of financial loss and the loss did not hinder a state or a country, but the world has been suffering lately.
Nonetheless, we can assure the instability of the accounting numbers, it is possible to predict some of the incitements that could develop the future of accounting and finances.
It is not an untold story that accounting needs to be more impressive, facile and rigorous, but we can always be prepared for the worst that could happen and be ready for the future.
Let's know some of the things that accounting and finance hold for future
1. AI will replace traditional accounting
The Association of Chartered Accountants recommends accounting and finance professionals should stay updated with the industry trends and indulge themselves in the skill development process. It further adds that the accountants and professionals must keep an eye on the new tech trends and be sharpening their technical skills at the same time.
You might think what is the need of technology when it comes to accounting? What if advanced technology leads to jobs lost or replaced with the tech? What if the accountants will rely on tech-based services like QuickBooks hosting, or other software instead of human capabilities? But let us tell you, both the cases are partially favourable and technology will only serve for a better accounting future.
Accounting Today estimates that robots are anticipated to remove 40 per cent of core accounting tasks and Gartner Research found that, through robotic process automation (RPA) in their financial reporting processes, financial departments could save their teams 25,000 hours from avoidable repairs caused by human mistakes. At present, the technology has been extended to financial statements by only 20 per cent of finance departments using RPA. That means there's plenty of space for machine learning in the industry to increase productivity.
AI and ML are rapidly making their way into accounting and finance. Both the industries are using operations and solutions developed by AI to further boost their business. But this doesn't mean that AI will be capturing the human requirements in the industry; it will just make the process easier for humans to understand and develop better possibilities. With Artificial Intelligence, the teams will be more efficient and will take business-oriented decisions.
But as it sounds, the majority of the accountants and CPAs still hold back when it comes to usage of AI in their workspace as they lack expertise or mere confidence. This ensures that even if the AI is beneficial for the accounting industry and will play a part in future, it will take more time to be familiar with the technology.
2. The use of social media
People have been using social media for their own personal gain, to interact with others and to make the most of their social life. But with time businesses and organizations have started using social media to connect with customers and to cover business deals. In future and even now, the accounting firms and finance companies will use social media to do the same as other businesses.
They will be using social media platforms to research a firm where they can work, buy potential customers, and make global connections. The accounting firms will have developed social media strategies and absolute social media presence to draw customers attention and to enlarge their social media marketing game. This will develop further requirements of digital marketers and social media managers as the finance firms will hire more of them to exceed their social media game.
In 2021, social media will be an ace player even in the field of finance and accounting.
3. Candidate recession is a possibility
With a stronger accounting and finance market and the availability of lesser stable talents, it is possible that the accounting industry will go through candidate recession. With a more unstable market or wide options available for the right talent, there are chances that the accounting firms might not find a suitable talent for their organization. It is going to be difficult for them to find the right employee for their business and something that will be more difficult is keeping those employees intact in the firms.
But like every problem has a solution, the accounting firms will also have to find the right solution for their firm. They can revisit their candidate hiring criteria and also broaden their candidate list thereby ensuring a larger number of candidates applying for the job. Instead of having a long list of talent requirements, it will be beneficial to have a concise and clear pointed list and make sure that the candidate that suits the list must be hired.
It is not important that every time the right candidate will match your job description, sometimes if the candidate is competent he/she can learn the skills with time. So the accounting firms should not just stick to a single JD and move for the hunt, instead be patient while choosing their co-workers. Choosing with competency and credentials is a better way to hire a suitable candidate rather than going for a harsh criterion that scares everybody coming for an interview.
The accounting firms can be flexible while hiring and the chances of finding suitable candidates increases.
We clearly cannot state the future of the accounting profession but the above statements are a mere prediction of what could possibly happen in the field of accounting and finance in 2021. To be competitive, the accounting firms need to metastasize the value of flexible hiring, grow with AI and be social media experts.
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