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Ep: 14 Top experts answer: "What, if anything, will significantly change accounting in the next few years?"
The Accounting Answers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, asks critical questions of the experts, leaders and influencers who shape the decision-making of accountants, CPAs and finance professionals. Today we ask:
What, if anything, will significantly change accounting in the next few years?
You'll hear insightful and passionate answers from these 5 experts and influencers:
Karen Chalmers | interVal's VP Marketing, helping firms grow revenue efficiently with AI
Kate Serpe | Former CAS leader and recovering accountant, current SIAP Partner Executive
Katie Thomas | Helping accountants stand out online and owner of Leaders Online
Ken Schmitt | Recruiter, Author, Podcast Host and Founder of TurningPoint Executive Search
Kevin Steel | Founder @ ClarendonFS: Fractional CFO & Strategy for B2B Service Companies
Tune into more on this daily show for short, sharp episodes that keep you informed of what's happening in the accounting world and the whole ecosystem of consultants, organizations, vendors and advisors who serve them.
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Brought to you by Rightworks, the ACCOUNTING ANSWERS PODCAST is hosted by Rob Brown, co-founder of the Accounting Influencers Roundtable (AIR).
On this weekly show with short, sharp episodes, Rob asks 110 experts and influencers the critical questions shaping the accounting profession. It keeps you informed of what's happening in the accounting world and the whole ecosystem of consultants, organizations, vendors and advisors who serve them.
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Host Rob Brown is a renowned presenter, facilitator and chair of high-level conferences, panels and events globally for the accounting and fintech profession. He is retained by many professional networks, alliances, associations, practices and vendors to chair their events and provide high-level interview content for their communities. He is a dynamic speaker and accomplished expert on trust, reputation, employer brand, talent, career development, succession, gen z/generations, employee advocacy and executive presence. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrown/
Rob is author of the bestselling book Build Your Reputation (Wiley) and his TEDx talk ‘The Personal Brand of You’ has been viewed over 300,000 times on YouTube. He is a stroke survivor, has epilepsy, is a committed Christian and has a black belt in kickboxing. He is based in Nottingham UK, home of Robin Hood, plays chess and backgammon, loves orange chocolate and is allergic to grapefruit.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencers
https://bit.ly/AI-youtube
Rob Brown: Hi, I'm Rob
brown and welcome you.
Accounting finance professionals,
tech enthusiasts to the
accounting answers podcast.
We've embarked on a captivating
exploration of the future of accounting
and its profound connection to the
ever-changing technology ecosystem.
I think for a moment, how access to the
minds of a range of accounting experts,
influencers, vendors, and leaders would
keep you super informed about what's
going on in this wonderful profession.
You'd stay relevant and future focused.
You'd make better strategic
and career decisions.
If you know what forces are in play
and what factors are driving change.
To unravel the complexities
unenviable future of accounting.
I've personally interviewed 111
leading accounting professionals, tech
leaders, and industry influencers,
each bring in their unique.
Expertise and insights to the
table and together we'll delve into
the five critical questions that
will shape the accounting world.
Through the eyes and minds of people
living their accounts in life.
I'll talk into accountants every day.
We'll talk about five critical topics
that ignite in passionate debates
and stimulate minds across the globe.
We're mapping the transformative
trajectory of the accounting profession
and its symbiotic relationship
with the technological revolution.
We'll be asking about the next
gen accountants, how far down
the advisory line firms are.
What's going to change
the accounting world.
What their software vendors
and tech providers could do
better to serve accountants.
And what's coming up in the future.
Let's get straight into the
answers for today's topic.
Today, we're focusing on the evolving
accounting landscape and what's driving
transformative changes in coming years.
The rise of cloud-based accounting
software, the growing adoption
of artificial intelligence or AI.
The increased emphasis on data analytics.
These are just some of the forces in play.
There are plenty more so have
joined our experts and influencers.
As we decipher the changes that lie
ahead and our counselors can best
prepare to thrive in a fast moving world.
Let's hear it from current Charmaz
intervals, VP of marketing, helping
firms grow revenue efficiently with
AI, leveraging advanced analytics to
drive strategic marketing decisions
and foster sustainable growth.
Karen Chalmers: I think that there's
more than just, adopting a I there's
probably a bit of a rebranding of a I
that's required as well, recognizing that
it's had a bit of a difficult adoption,
throughout the industry, but I think that
it's going to be the thing that saves it.
So if we adopt a I tools, how do
we rebrand it within the industry
and within firms as a whole to
Address maybe some reservations
that clients have for us using A.
I.
And you can tell clients that you're using
tools that are better than everybody else.
that's a one way that you can say,
Hey, I'm using it, but it's making
me a better accountant because of it.
and you can rebrand yourself
in your firm as a forward
thinking future focused advanced.
firm within the industry, so showcasing
impressive tech stacks and rethinking
what AI integrations can do for
your firm and for your clients.
I think it's going to be one way
that the adoption of AI can be
Put a little bit more gently.
Rob Brown: Up, next is Kate SERP CPA,
an expert in client advisory accounting
solutions upon executive at Sage Intacct,
helping the count invent leverage.
The technology to drive,
practice growth and innovation.
Kate Serpe: I think there's a part of
me that feels like we've been hearing
about how AI and machine learning will
change the accounting game, right?
Literally, since I've been in the
profession, which is over 10 years
now, while we have seen little things
here and there, whether it's improving,
productivity with a good tech stack
or processes and procedures, I think
what's particularly different about
right now in this moment and the
next few years is that we're actually
going to continue to see a significant
decline in interest in this profession.
and I think more people are going to
keep seeking jobs in the tech space.
And so I think that's going to be
really interesting to watch, to see
how the tech space works to push more
into the accounting space, because the
accounting space is going to need it.
I just don't think people are
going to be as interested in
becoming an accountant anymore.
The pay's not there.
So hours aren't very
pleasant for a lot of people.
So I think it's going to be that decline
in interest in the accounting profession
and seeing how technology is going
to creep into the accounting space.
Rob Brown: John and the conversation
is Katie Thomas, helping the accountant
stand out online and the odor of
leaders online, where she combines her
expertise in digital marketing with
a deep understanding of accounting
to elevate freedom's online presence.
Katie Thomas: I think the first
thing is who is doing the work
and where it's being done.
We likely all know that accountants
are leaving the industry, CPAs
and accountants are retiring.
There are less.
accountants coming into
college to become accountants.
So overall, there are less accountants
that are going to be available to
work, which means that we're going
to have to rely more on technology.
I think that we're going to see
an increase in offshore labor.
The big firms have been doing this
for a long time, and now we're
seeing small firms catching on.
We're also going to have to fix
things like The working environments
so that we can actually start to
bring more people into the industry
and give them what they want.
Technology, of course, is
going to be a big change.
continues to advance.
We have the increasing use
of AI and machine learning.
So that's really big.
And I think that all of these together,
it's just going to create a big change
in our industry on a whole, but I think
it's going to create a lot of important
changes that people have likely wanted
for years, but there just hasn't been
a big enough pain to actually solve
them, whereas now it's like, Hey,
we have to change things and how.
The work is getting done so that we
can continue to be a profession in
the future because small businesses
and big businesses, they need us.
And we can't just simply
continue to do what we're doing
now because it's not working.
Rob Brown: And now insights from Ken
Schmidt, recruiter, author podcast,
host, founder of turning point executive
search offering a wealth of knowledge and
expertise in career development and talent
acquisition within the accounting world.
Ken Schmitt: Yeah, everybody is
talking right now about AI, right?
The two most used letters in any alphabet
these days is AI, which is crazy.
But there's a lot to be said about
how that's going to have a ripple
effect, throughout an organization,
not just in the technicality of
punching something into chat GPT.
But understanding what
does that mean, right?
You're going to have to have a better
understanding of how you can edit and
understanding what the tone is of whatever
that response comes back as right.
And beyond that, I think also the
technicality of what you offer
is not going to be unimportant.
But it's going to be a little bit
less important than the advising that
you're doing on behalf of your clients.
And again, the
collaboration there as well.
I also think that, going forward,
middle management is going to have
a completely different role, right?
And middle managers may be a little
bit less prevalent if you will, because
they're going to be less focused around
the tactical day to day things that now
any kind of AI or automation can do.
And instead their role is going
to be mentoring and developing
and reviewing and supporting.
Really, they are staff internally and
then also advising up, into the higher
levels of the organization advising
about what trends are out there.
So that strategic mindset is going
to be extremely important, much more
so than the tactical knowledge that
they might have going into the role.
Rob Brown: We now turn to Kevin steel,
Foundry, Clarendon, Fs, fractional, CFO,
and strategy for B to B service companies.
ProVantage strategic financial
leadership and insights.
To help companies navigate
growth and other challenges.
Kevin Steel: I believe the biggest change
to accounting in the next few years, no
surprise, will be, uh, AI and automation,
uh, which will definitely free up the
back end work, so accountants will
turn more into the reviewers of work,
as opposed to the primary processors
of work, and chat GPT, et cetera, will
definitely help with technical and tax
queries, allowing management to focus on
higher level work, and by management, the
senior management of the accounting firm.
although tech and AI, are experiencing
rapid improvements, I would say about
50 percent of accounting firms still
don't leverage AI and technology
as much as they possibly can.
I believe this will change in future
though, because the exponential increase
in AI technology is going to basically
take over society, in my opinion, and
I think the uptake for the accounting
firm, will be a lot higher in the next
couple of years, and I expect that to
spread into different sectors also.
Rob Brown: So they have five
great answers to the question.
What, if anything will significantly
change accounting in the next few
years, every working day of the week,
Monday through Friday, we give you
the insights of five top influencers
in the accounting world on this
critical area of what is coming up.
Change wise for accountants
that's 25 valuable perspectives.
Viewpoints and best thinking every
week and with a fresh week comes the
first question and more thoughts from
the best influencers and leaders we
can find in the accounting world.
Thanks for listening to the accounting
answers podcast and sharing this brand
new show with your friends and colleagues.
If you want to join the conversation.
You can plug into our community of
influencers@accountinginfluences.com.
And check out our virtual
speed networking events.
These happen every few months
for the north American region
and the UK Europe region.
These are great opportunities
to raise your profile, build
valuable connections and share your
thoughts with influential peers.
Until next time, this is your host,
Rob brown, saying stay informed,
stay relevant and stay connected.