The future of the accounting profession.

During the Middle Ages, a traveler came upon a building site. He asked a couple of workers, 'What are you doing?' One mumbled, 'I'm cutting stone. It's hard, boring and my back is aching.' The other responded, with an excited gleam in his eyes, 'I'm building a cathedral.' Each accountant is building his own 'cathedral' of success and prosperity.

The next decade will be a period of rapid change and continuous transformation for the accounting profession that will lend itself to greater opportunities for growth and productivity. Agility and flexibility will be paramount to the future of the accounting profession, as technology and demographic shifts transform the way people work and live, as consumers and businesses turn to accounting and tax professionals for competitive strategies to navigate the global marketplace. As technology expands and the automation of data collection rises, the focus of accounting will shift from computation to consulting because clients increasingly rely on their accounting professionals to analyze business information, support decisions and provide strategic advice. However, accounting profession is considered to be routine and boring. It requires a lot of attention and it is time consuming. So, why do people still want to be accountants? Traditionally, money, status and future career marketability have been some of the main reasons why people choose the accounting profession.

But nowadays it offers a lot of new opportunities.

Competition will intensify as new industry entrants, outsourcing and automation displace accounting, audit and tax professionals, especially for routine and lower-value services. For example, India already attracts global accounting work and other countries are moving into this field. In Sri Lanka, the average accountant earns $5,900 per year, well above the average wage. Seeing opportunity, the government has targeted accounting outsourcing as a growth industry. Practitioners will be required to gain expertise in both the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and IFRS reporting standards. Even accounting professionals serving small businesses will need knowledge of standards and regulations of other countries as their clients expand their customer base internationally. For example, over the next decade, the total number of small and personal businesses in the U.S. alone will increase by more than 7 million, and they’ll need more than accounting professionals ‘traditional compliance services. As a result, they’ll require a broader range of services, such as assistance with foreign tax codes.

So the next question arises: what is the changing face of professionals?

The coming decade will bring a broad range of demographic shifts. Accounting firms will need to offer flexible work options and increased work life balance to attract and retain talent. Those that cannot provide this flexibility will be at a competitive disadvantage. In addition to flexible work options, Gen Y workers will seek tech-savvy employers using up-to-date digital tools. This emerging workforce also expects learning and growth opportunities. Staffing at firms will need to reflect and support the growing needs of multicultural clients and those conducting international business. It is evident that accountants no longer have to choose between deep professional knowledge or language skills, but knowledge of English definitely helps because it provides a door into discussions at the international level that help accountants to understand their trade better.

The effect of technology changes on the accounting profession:

As we can see the rapid technology changes in the accounting industry will accelerate over the next decade. Smartphones, tablets, notebooks and other mobile computing devices will become the main tools for managing the accounting professional’s complex choreography of work and life. These technologies will reinvent work and the workplace, allowing greater flexibility around when, where and how work is done. Increasingly advanced, yet cheaper, computing power, networks and the Internet will lead to the highly developed automation of data collection and information sharing. They will also improve data quality and greatly reduce, but not eliminate, the time required for data validation. These tools, coupled with automated data capture, will shift the focus of accounting from computation to consulting. As a result, accounting professionals and firms will become expert users of and advisors on financial technology.

To sum it all up I’d like to say that 2020 will cap 10 years of society’s transition to mobile and social commerce, driven by new technologies that allow consumers and businesses to compete locally and globally. This shift will drive consumers and businesses to turn to accounting and tax professionals for competitive strategies to navigate the global marketplace, not just prepare financial reports and tax returns. As small businesses embrace social networks, so must accounting professionals. Globalization will be the norm, as small businesses use web access, real-time manufacturing, and mobile marketing to reach across borders for customers and suppliers. Accounting professionals who are knowledgeable in international standards, regulations, and processes will thrive. Accounting firms will increasingly rely on each other’s capabilities and collaborate to compete more effectively in the international market place.

So, I’ve just told you how the accounting profession may change in the future and what requirements should the new generation of accountants meet to be competitive in the market.