My must-see sessions and speakers at Accountex 2018
There are times when a supplier gets the mix ‘just right’. And that’s what we believe the team behind Accountex has done since year one.
As an event, it’s a clever cocktail of suppliers, content and leading speakers that accountancy firms, finance directors and industry professionals all love.
From the outside, the event line-up may seem like a happy coincidence, but when you take a closer look at the speaker line up, the theatres, the support from associations and media partners, you’ll start to understand why Accountex, at London's ExCel on 23-24 May, is unique.
Every accountant should attend
For that reason, we believe every accountant in practice or in business should attend.
To say there is always a lot happening is an understatement and, as a flagship partner, one way we can contribute is with a specially developed app that is available for all visitors to download on to their smartphones.
The 2018 edition is packed with information on all the keynote sessions, seminars and workshops and where to find exhibitors along with useful tools such as a Mileage Tracker and Receipt Manager. These will be invaluable in helping to keep track of receipts and in preparing expenses claims, following the show.
Here are our top 10 sessions
With a wealth of sessions running across both days, there is a lot to take in. Here's our top 10. For details of theatres and session timings, check out the Accountex website HERE.
- The Rocky Road to Success: ICPA Chairman, Tony Margaritelli explores how small practices can punch above their weight and become ultra successful.
- How to Gain New Clients and Build a Strong Digital Brand Author and marketing expert Amanda C. Watts will be sharing essential information to ensure that businesses are profitable, scaleable and potentially – saleable.
- Becoming a Profitable and Effective 21st Century Accountant: Author of 14 books and an expert keynote speaker and thought leader, David Oliver takes a look at the challenges, and outlines a simple and proven approach to remaining connected with clients and becoming a profitable and effective 21st century firm.
- App-stacks, Add-ons, Best of Breed & How to Make Them Really Deliver: Alan Woods, MD of Woods Squared, a multi-award winning practice looks at his best of breed solutions and how brings everything together in one place.
- Making Tax Digital: Theresa Middleton, director, Making Tax Digital for Business, HMRC, will provide information on the background of the Making Tax Digital programme and HMRC’s future plans.
- Making Tax Digital Work For You: Rebecca Benneyworth, lecturer and writer will update delegates on the implementation of Making Tax Digital for businesses and how to start tackling the job of converting clients to digital recordkeeping.
- How Your Firm Can Make More Impact Than You Ever Imagined: Paul Dunn, chairman of B1G1, reveals how the Power of Small can make an extraordinary impact on clients’ businesses AND, as a direct result, your own business, your community and our world.
- Stop Working so Hard, Give More Value and Make More Money: James Ashford, CEO, GoProposal, reveals the strategies he uses in his firm and has helped to implement in hundreds of other firms around the world, to help them to grow more profitably and have a greater impact on their clients.
- The Changes that Make the Biggest Impact: John Stokdyk, global editor, AccountingWeb will share proven techniques to boost practice performance and enhance the client experience.
- 11 Reasons to Launch a Tax App: Daniel Richards, an expert and keynote speaker on the power of mobile technology and apps in professional service firms, will be revealing 11 of the latest reasons to launch your own, branded Tax App.
To make sure that you get the most out of your visit to Accountex we have prepared a free guide for you. Get this free 20-page report and discover the 6 top tips that can make your visit more productive than ever. Download HERE:
MyFirmsApp will be exhibiting at Accountex 2018 at ExCel on 23-24 May on stand 873.
7 ways to boost efficiency with an app
Apps have become a critical channel and mobile is undeniably now the first screen with each user spending nearly 1.5 months using apps per year. Today’s apps can do so much more than just connect accountants with their clients. They are comparable to integrated suites of practice software that roll up tools, features and content and help firms thrive in the digital world.
Here are seven ways we believe an app can boost efficiency and help a firm grow:
1. Perfect tool for data gathering
The gathering of client data is set to become an important challenge as we move closer towards the introduction of Making Tax Digital for Business. There needs to be a simple answer to the challenge of getting information from those that want to use their Smartphones to communicate with their accountant. The solution lies in the newly developed, easy to use ‘Collect’ App that is ideally suited to recording simple transactional data.
Using a single simple app, clients can collect the information needed by using the in-built camera on their smartphones and tablets to photograph receipts and by taking photographs of their invoices. These are sent across to the accountant literally at the touch of a button enabling the MTD return to be produced quickly and easily.
2. Secure, effective and compliant client communication
Messages sent from within an accountant’s app using mobile phones are proving to be the one of the most effective ways of connecting with clients. Push notifications are short, text like messages, which are sent instantly and automatically, land on all App users’ phones or tablets. The beauty of this method is that most people have their phones with them all the time and messages don’t have to fight for visibility with hundreds of other emails in a crammed-full inbox or a pile of junk mail carefully filtered by a secretary or PA.
The result: a 90 per cent open rate compared with emails that have an open rate of around 4 per cent. They also provide a helpful, additional layer of protection and ensure any information relayed is totally secure.
3. Simplify GDPR compliance
UK business is braced for yet another challenging year of legislative change with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on the 25 May 2018. Apps can be a useful aid to GDPR compliance; making it easier to collect and verify data and gain the necessary opt in permissions. There is huge potential for an app to help in the sharing of privacy policies and also in the storage and management of data.
Client contact data, and segmentation held within the accountant’s App control panel, is totally secure and access can be restricted to selected members of the team. If a user wishes to be ‘forgotten’ then they can simply delete the app from their device and notify the practice that they do not wish to be contacted again. All their contact information can be easily removed from the control panel and a complete audit trail is available to demonstrate these actions have been completed.
4. Increase Visibility
Apps are the way forward for accounting practices that want to increase their visibility. Each time the client or prospect scrolls, unlocks, and uses their Smartphone, they see their accountants’ branding and name. This becomes a regular daily reminder that their accountant is on hand and increases the chance of more contact and more opportunity to sell value-added services.
5. Tailored marketing
Time and time again, the personal approach to marketing is shown to be more effective and mobile apps can deliver a lot of information about customers and prospects including demographics and geographical locations and preferences. Practices that use this information to market directly to their customer base with carefully selected news items or information on new services, gain a huge advantage over their competitors.
6. Build Brand Recognition
By simply creating an app with useful features such as tax calculators, mileage and expense trackers, clients will see this as their ‘go-to’ point for all information relating to finances. Rather than ‘Google’ the answer, the app steadily becomes an essential part of their day-to-day lives. And the more often they interact with it, the more likely they are to request more services.
Apps come with a sharing option where users can share your communication with their friends. This is the most valuable form of recommendation as it is perceived that a friend is personally telling you about a great service. Studies indicate that referrals and third-party sales are among the most valuable marketing strategies.
7. Increase Customer Engagement
All prospects need a way to reach a firm that they are interested in. If you are unreachable, you run the risk of losing that new customer. A mobile app can solve this with the potential to have a help desk where prospects and clients too, can post their questions and comments.
The fact that a mobile app sets you apart from the crowd cannot be over-emphasised. Take advantage of this effective communication and marketing tool and be one of the first in your area to offer clients an app. At the tap of a button, your clients are able to see your services and this ease of use can drive customer engagement and loyalty to an unprecedented level.
But more than that, a future-proofed app platform can help boost practice efficiency and save time when gathering data. With MTD literally just around the corner, apps will come into their own and provide the fastest and most efficient way for accountants to handle this latest challenge.
MyFirmsApp will be on stand 798 at Accountex 2018 at ExCel in London on 23-24 May.
Why master the art of networking?
“Your network is who you know. Your reputation is who knows you.” Rob Brown (Build Your Reputation)
In my work running in-house business development training academies for large accounting firms, I’m often asked what one skill, quality or talent, if mastered, makes everything else easier. The answer is NETWORKING.
For an accountant and for life, networking is a fundamental skill. It cuts across all aspects of business and ultimately defines your career opportunities and financial success. The ability to know and be known is vital for your choices, your reputation and your wealth.
The obvious benefit of networking for accountants in practice is more sales and business. The winning /employability package is a technically strong accountant who is confident and effective at winning work. Such animals are rare, and usually get promoted, make partner, get hired and get chosen for the best work.
Drive opportunities for growth
If you ask top accounting leaders and influencers (as I do on the Top 100 Club podcast) what makes good accounting firms great, the answer is often the capacity to win more of the right kind of work. To achieve this, networking, referrals and reputation drive growth opportunities.
Aside from winning more business, raising your profile and enhancing your career prospects, there are plenty of other benefits to networking. Market knowledge, industry insights and fresh ideas come from networking. So do friendships, encouragement and support. So do new suppliers, advisors and providers. So do potential investors, business partners, new staff and specialist skills.
The trouble is, most technically strong accountants struggle with softer skills like engaging connections, building relationships and raising profile. That’s why I’ll be delivering this presentation at Accountex 2018 in a few weeks: "7 Different but Equally Effective Networking Strategies for Accountants to Raise Their Profile and Win More Work"
Unique networking strategy
The style of presentation will be with seven case studies showcasing seven accountants who each successfully adopted a unique networking strategy to achieve their goals. Each approach played to their strengths, built their confidence, raised their profile and, where required, helped them to effectively win work.
No previous networking is assumed, so you can be a complete networking newbie and get huge benefit from this. And if you are more experienced, this guide will take you deeper into what it takes to be a more confident and effective networker.
Whether you’re male or female, introvert or extrovert, young or old, it doesn’t take as much as you think to become a much more confident, effective and successful networker. It’s a coachable skill that everyone can improve on. And best of all, there is NO ONE WAY or NO BEST WAY of networking to achieve your commercial or career objectives.
I look forward to sharing with you how. So why not get in touch with me @therobbrown and let me have your one burning networking question? Who knows, I may be able to answer it in my Accountex session on Wednesday 23 May, 11am- 11-45am.
The dangers of a GDPR breach
Businesses must issue notifications of valid data breaches to the "local supervisory authority" within 72 hours of becoming aware of them.
Failing to report a breach can result in an investigation and/or penalty. Individuals also have the option to file a class action lawsuit if a business does not comply with GDPR.
The legislation applies to every business large and small in the UK - there will be no exceptions for small businesses.
Data breach plan of action
There is a mandatory breach reporting requirement, where employers must report certain types of breaches to the data protection authority. A personal breach occurs where a business’s security systems have been compromised leading to the "accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data".
A business must determine the level of the breach’s severity and the risk it could present to an individual’s rights and freedoms. If it is considered a risk then you must notify the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). If there is no risk then you do not have to report it.
However, businesses who do not report a breach should keep a record and be able to justify their reasoning behind their decision not to report it and document those reasons.
Make sure you have suitable procedures in place to notify the regulator where breaches have been reported and identified. Inform all staff of the correct procedure to follow should a breach occur.
Check with your IT team or staff to ensure your computer systems allow for your employees to securely delete and manage personal data in line with the GDPR legislation.
Non-compliance and penalties
The ICO will take non-compliance very seriously with significant fines and penalties in place for businesses who breach the GDPR legislation. Fines will be incurred of €20 million or 4 per cent of a business’s turnover, whichever is the greater amount.
The level of fine being imposed will depend on the type of breach that a business has committed. The fines are designed to punish any business that wilfully ignores their GDPR obligations after the May deadline.
However, fines can be mitigated against if there is evidence that shows that a business has prepared and worked towards GDPR compliance.
GDPR Free Guide
What you need to know about consent, emailing payslips, and your legal obligation
Businesses are legally obliged to protect payroll information on behalf of their clients/employees. The guide will uncover the ins and outs of the impact of GDPR on your payroll processing, highlighting the biggest areas of concern including emailing payslips, employee consent and your legal obligation.
Brightpay will be exhibiting at Accountex on May 23-24 at ExCel in London, on Stand 430.
5 warning signs you've outgrown your accounting software
When you’re running a growing company, change is inevitable. But when your business needs change, it’s important to ensure that your systems are still fit for purpose. Here are some signs that you may have outgrown your existing accounting software:
1. Consolidation complications
Do you find consolidating your month-end accounts a breeze, or are you getting bogged down in complicated work-arounds? Your accounting software needs to work for you, which means coping with the routine data management your business requires every month.
If your software is struggling to give you instant access to the information you need from different branches or subsidiaries, it’s probably time to make your life easier and upgrade to a more sophisticated system.
2. Spreadsheet city
Spreadsheets are great, but they can be a warning sign that your accounting software isn’t up to the job. If Excel spreadsheets rule your life, and you’re having to create extra files in order to keep track of all your accounting, you probably need a new system.
An accounting system that’s fit for purpose will allow you to do everything, with no need to resort to external record-keeping. As well as being a slow, frustrating and inefficient way of working, supplementing your database with extra spreadsheets also increases the possibility of human error creeping into your calculations, and denies you access to a comprehensive picture of all your financial information, all in one place.
3. Inflexibility
Can your accounting system handle new challenges? Say you want to access your accounts on the move or collaborate with other users ‘live’ on the system: a basic accounting package just won’t cut it.
Cloud-based systems are flexible by their very nature, being accessible from any location and always up to date. By switching to the Cloud, your business will benefit from a system that adapts to your specific needs, instead of making you bend to fit the technology available.
4. Incompatible apps and programs
Many companies use a variety of separate software programs to manage each aspect of the business. But if these different proprietary systems can’t link up, you could be missing a trick. Think how much more efficiently you could run the business, if your financial software package could ‘talk to’ your booking system or CRM database.
No more manually extracting data to get a full picture of your business activity; instead, an integrated system could give you instant access to real-time information that reflects everything that’s going on in your company.
Upgrading to a cloud-based accounting system would also allow you to say goodbye to periodic, expensive software updates; in the cloud, software updates happen automatically, without the need for you to lift a finger or shell out anything extra.
5. Lack of business experience
If you want to know how a particular product is selling, or compare regions to find out which is performing the best, can you do this easily with your existing software?
Detailed and accurate business intelligence is essential if you are to make informed and strategic decisions about your next moves, so if your accounting system can’t provide this, it’s time to make the switch.
Drilling down to find real-time information on key performance indicators is easy with cloud-based systems such as AccountsIQ.
AccountsIQ will be on stand 810 at Accountex 2018 on 23-24 May, at ExCel, London. MD Darren Cram will be speaking in the How To Theatre on Wednesday 23 May at 5pm and in the FD Forum at 3pm on 24 May. His topic is: "Evolve your digital strategy, embrace mobile and cloud apps to digitise your finance function."
Are you getting the marketing basics right ?
Accountants are now bombarded more than ever with advice on how best to attract new clients. Some of the strategies really work and others… They would be effective if you were flogging double glazing to the general public, but not if you’re promoting a highly skilled, professional service to businesses!
Industry influencers will offer you “50 Proven Sales Tips”, all of which are perfectly sensible in and of themselves but the authors rarely differentiate between what is crucial and what would be nice to do if you have the time and budget!
Usually when you get a long list of tips, each idea is accredited equal worth and with the best will in the world, 99% of practitioners simply will not get around to implementing all of them – if they even read to the end of the guide!
Let me therefore simply state the most important strategies you can put in place straight away throughout your existing marketing efforts, to gain and keep new clients – at next to no additional cost:
Benefits:
Don’t just list the services you offer; explain how it benefits the customer to use your service rather than a similar service offered by a competitor.
What problems do your potential clients have, and how will you solve them?
This solution-focused stance should feature in all your communications, from your website to your literature, to the bespoke quotation you send out to each prospect, explaining how your firm will meet their individual needs.
Don’t fall into the trap of creating dull, dry content listing your services and hoping for the best!
That is a sure-fire way to lose business to a firm down the road who will actively state how they will make life easier for their clients, by streamlining their processes, saving them money, boosting their profits and so on.
Aim to stop the reader in their tracks when they are perusing your website, so they don’t simply click on to the next firm’s site.
Audience:
Everything you create content-wise, from your website, to your social media, to blog posts should be written with a specific target audience in mind. Who are the businesses you are best suited to acting for?
This is the audience you want to appeal to, so demonstrate how you are experienced in dealing with their type of business. Why would they look elsewhere?
Testimonials:
Glowing reviews from existing clients with similar circumstances to those you’re targeting will play a vital role in reassuring prospects that you can easily meet the accounting needs of their particular business. Similarly, if you’ve recently won an award, make sure the world knows about it!
Brand Image:
You need a precisely defined way to present your firm, which all your staff adhere to in their interactions with clients, from the reception desk up to Senior Management. Ensure that your brand image focuses on your firm’s Unique Selling Points. People should know how you differ from the competition long before they start doing business with you.
‘Subliminal’ Marketing:
Marketing novices often don’t realise that marketing extends beyond the content of your literature and your social media posts. It is woven into every aspect of a prospect’s contact with your practice, from a cursory glance at your engaging website, to a warm telephone conversation with your receptionist, to the informative, tailored proposal document you issue.
In summary, if you do something well, it is essential to communicate that to your potential clients through every marketing medium you use. Any additional marketing campaigns you run will then be vastly more effective if you already have the basics in place!
Feebooster Accountancy Marketing Specialists are at Accountex 2018, Stand 273.
How to find the right business finance options
Since the 2008 financial crisis, banks have been reluctant to lend to small businesses. But many firms will still go straight to their bank when they need finance, and won’t look at any other options.
Technology has enabled accountants to take on a more advisory role, by freeing up time they used to spend on administrative activities.
New tech also means accountants can predict their clients’ financial needs even faster, using cash-flow tracking, budgeting and forecasting.
Suitable business finance options
But since the business finance market is quite varied, it can still be difficult to find the most suitable funding option for your client. Here are a few tips for helping clients find the right business finance. Identify individual need
To get an idea of what type of finance is needed, you can ask your client what the funding is for. By specifying the purpose you’ll get an idea of what aspects are the most important. Speed? Flexibility? Something for the long term? Funding for equipment? Or even a loan to pay a tax bill?
There are finance products specifically designed for these kinds of issues. For example, if your client needs a fast loan to bridge an unexpected cash-flow gap, a revolving credit facility may be what they’re looking for.
It’s similar to a business overdraft, so your client can draw down funds as and when needed, and this type of finance is usually quick to set up too.
Look at the business structure
Another thing to consider is how your client’s business is structured. Do they invoice their customers? Are they trading overseas? Do they process payments with a card machine?
These are all scenarios where the business finance market has found ways to tackle the problem at the source. Instead of a business loan, your client could use invoice finance to unlock cash from unpaid invoices.
Trade finance, on the other hand, could help your client pay their suppliers and close the payment gap at the start of the trading cycle. And if they use a card machine, a merchant cash advance could be the right way to get funding.
Different business loans
The point is, there are lots of options out there that many business owners don’t know about.
Many will look at a few different business loans, compare rates, and go for the cheapest one — but there are many more products out there that might be a better fit.
You should also bear in mind that with all these niche forms of alternative finance, APR isn’t always the best indicator of overall costs.
For example, a tax bill loan might be for just three months, which means the yearly interest rate isn’t very useful, and there are various other flexible products which vary in cost depending on how they’re used.
Get the documents ready
When assessing your client’s eligibility, lenders will look at trading history, business bank statements, profit margin, annual turnover, and credit rating.
By helping your client prepare all the documents, you can sometimes significantly accelerate the application process, which could lead to a quicker approval.
Fundamentally, if the business’s financials are neat and tidy, it makes it easier for the underwriter to see the big picture, and makes it less likely that you’ll waste time sending over more information at a later stage.
These are just a few of the ways you can support your client on the lookout for finance. If you need assistance with the search, or want to see what’s available, Funding Options can help.
Funding Options will be at Accountex 2018, stand 776, along with 9 Spokes.
How to streamline your advisory roll out
‘Advisory’ has been a watchword for accountants for some time. Yet, while it’s being embraced by many firms, it’s still a bit of an enigma for some.
For those who are still wondering about the best approach to change, it’s important to understand the importance of education. From upskilling staff to teaching clients the importance of forecasting, everyone involved needs to be shown the huge benefits that come from advisory services.
Lead with education
Brighton-based forecasting software firm FUTRLI launched an advisory certification course last year and have had some great feedback so far. The course teaches you to master the platform and roll out advisory both internally and externally. It’s CPD-certified and will educate your team quickly and efficiently.
A varied way of learning and progressing, CPD often means a break from the day-to-day. Getting the team out of the office and to events like this means they’ll be networking and creating professional relationships. Your team are likely to be learning from these fellow accountants and digesting the insights from talks and discussions.
Events like Accountex count towards your CPD, too. This year’s event will give you eight hours’ worth, helping you progress your career and contributing towards your accountancy body accreditation.
Learn the ‘why’ not just the ‘how’
CPD schemes keep your practice relevant and keep your team ahead of the curve. What differentiates the different courses out there is their focus. Most CPDs focus predominantly upon the ‘how’ of converting your firm’s skills to advisory level. This is a great thing to know and learn, however often you’ll find there’s no explanation of ‘why’.
We believe in arming advisers with knowledge to share with clients. Niall McGinnity from Nuvem9, a cloud-based advisory firm, says he found the course helped him take his client meetings to the next level.
“Certification makes sure you’re learning every element of forecasting – costs, revenues, past results. It has certainly closed knowledge gaps and saved me bucket loads of time because I’m now using FUTRLI in the most efficient way.”
Ensure you have the right resources
When expanding the offerings of your accounting firm, it is important to make sure you have the right resources in place to allow you to effectively scale.
Our community of CIMAs and CPAs say one person ‘going solo’ won’t lead to the best results. You need a small team, even if it is just two people, to get the ball rolling and make some noise internally. From there, scale and reap the rewards.
So take advantage of industry-leading events such as Accountex, and start building your team’s knowledge. If you want to find out more about helping your team, drop by the FUTRLI stand.
FUTRLI will be exhibiting at Accountex 2018 on stand 1141.
Wales raises its profile as financial hub
Wales is an emerging force in financial services; increasingly host to the leading businesses and services that underpin the UK’s world-leading financial sector.
Ever improving transport links mean the Cardiff area has become a natural hub for investors looking for a more affordable location than London.
This trend will develop Wales’s reputation as the home for innovative fintech start-ups as well as for established, household names such as Admiral, Principality, Deloitte, and Lloyds banking group.
Accounting recruitment thrives in Wales
The Welsh finance sector contributed over £2 billion to the UK economy in 2016.
According to the Welsh government, Cardiff’s financial and professional services sector employed 46,700 as of 2014, almost a quarter of the city’s total employment — up 4,000 from 2011.
In 2015, the UK government designated South Wales a financial centre of excellence.
In recent years, skills shortages in accounting and finance have been widely reported, with a clear demand for suitably-qualified professionals not just in Wales but in the UK as a whole.
Cyber attacks create risk analysis openings
Audit and risk is a particular area rising in demand due to businesses seeking to mitigate the risk of cyber-attacks.
The latest Employer Skills Survey, carried out by the Department for Education (DFE) in 2015, highlighted a trend towards recruitment from abroad in finance professions. Other reasons include a continuing negative perception of the industry following the financial crisis and a knock-on economic effect regarding cuts on graduate programmes.
But there remains a strong and steady increasing employer demand for accountancy skills within the financial sector.
In demand, are skilled applicants who have their pick of roles across the board and who are more likely to quickly receive alternative offers with the ability to pick and choose their next step.
Career journey to the next role
How can we encourage a broader range of prospective accountancy candidates to consider the finance industry as a career? Acorn Recruitment says developing the right employment package to attract talent is key. Many employers Acorn works will now offer training alongside a day-to-day role, leading to AAT qualification or chartered status.
This is undoubtedly a much-needed requirement to develop the skills needed to carry the Welsh financial sector through this period of growth and ensure that it remains strong – particularly as we head ever-closer towards the unknown after Brexit.
Brave new world will transform the role of accountants
The traditional image of the steady, cautious accountant is set for a shake-up. New technology, new software, and new regulations mean the role of the accountant is ready for an overhaul.
Artificial intelligence, automation, cloud accounting, open banking, Making Tax Digital all promise to transform the accountancy and advisory profession, and, by extension, create huge new opportunities for the businesses they serve. So, what is driving this change? What is the significance for accountants? And what will be the impact for businesses?
Key drivers of change
Financial information is flowing faster and freer than ever. Greater access to data, automation of processes and integration of software and tools is putting more power at the fingertips of key decision makers inside businesses, allowing for more responsive and better-informed decisions.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning in software and apps promise to unearth far greater insights than manual analysis can currently offer.
Increasing automation of processes around invoice management, credit control, cashflow forecasting, and reconciliations, to name but a few, will reduce the time accountants need to spend on these traditional duties, freeing up resources and expertise to focus on more value-adding projects.
Cloud Accounting packages such as Xero and Quickbooks are bringing together these capabilities and offering businesses access to these accounting services from anywhere and at any time. But there is also a proliferation of financial technology and software. And this is only going to grow, aided in part by the launch of open banking this year.
With UK banks now forced to open up their data, verified third-parties will have access to information to offer new products to help businesses and customers. This will allow customers and businesses greater to power to pick and mix the solutions that meet their needs best.
These developments will clearly have wide-ranging and transformative effects on accountants and businesses.
Impact on businesses
Many of the benefits for businesses are clear. Businesses, no matter how small, will have access to real-time financial information and reporting. This will allow them to take pre-emptive action or to react instantly to evolving situations.
And the greater access to data and more powerful tools could lead to better insight and decisions around budgeting, forecasting, analysis and resource management. For example, applications such as Fluidly are leading the way for SMEs, offering both credit control and automated cashflow forecasts powered by AI.
This could be particularly transformative for small business owners who may have previously relied on intermittent, or even annual, access to financial reporting, analysis and forecasting. The prospect of having real-time and month-end reports without the cost of employing management accountants could be very welcome to many.
There is, of course, the potential for big savings in terms of time and costs, with many of the traditional, time-consuming tasks of accountant being hoovered up by AI, automation and Cloud Accounting solutions. Does this mean a bloodbath for accountants? Far from it…
Implications for accountants
How businesses choose to react to these opportunities will of course be very individual. Reductions in head counts and overheads, and the use of outsourcing, will be tempting for some, especially the embryonic businesses and sole traders.
But many will opt to redeploy their resources - liberated from many administrative duties - to focus on their core expertise, as well as building the business. With more powerful tools at their disposal around planning, forecasting and analysis, they will be able to take an increasingly strategic role in identifying threats and opportunities.
As such they will be able to take more of a business partnering or management consulting approach, with greater input around pricing, costs, markets and future direction. And what is more, the new software and technologies are expanding the services they can offer, which will only serve to bolster accountants and advisors’ armouries through which they can assist their clients.
Therefore, there are huge incentives for accountants to shed their cautious image and embrace the tech scene. Those that can navigate this new Fintech landscape, advise clients on the optimal stack of different solutions, and utilise them to deliver for their business could be at a great advantage.
The primary role of qualified accountants, of course, is that of delivering the financial information to stakeholders and helping to ensure businesses are profitable, compliant with regulations and remain as a going concern. But the proliferation of new technology, software and regulation, promise to offer some exciting opportunities for accountants and businesses.