Accounting Has Evolved Over the Years – Find Out How!
Last updated:
24 Jan, 2024
By Ashish Rana |
6 Minutes Read
The accounting profession has changed tremendously over the years. From paper and pen to Excel sheets, the evolution has been amazing. Explore how embracing accounting evolution can enhance your business strategies.
With the beginning of the digital age, accounting professionals are courageously taking the leap forward irrespective of the threat of the unknown and lack of knowledge of technology in accounting.
On the other hand, those who are not willing to adapt to the change and stick with the “that is how we have always done it” attitude is going to fail in no time. Accounting firms, CPAs, and CFOs across the globe are realizing the urgent need to step up their game and transition towards the new role as a key strategic business partner.
How to Survive in this Time of Change and Ambiguity?
Accepting the fact that uncertainty is normal in today’s time is the first step accounting teams need to take. Nevertheless, innovative businesses are not only embracing uncertainty – they are also adapting to the same. They are actively leveraging to their benefit what appears to be utter chaos to other business segments. They are doing so by adopting the below-mentioned three major practices:
Make Use of the Latest Technology:
Accounting has been successful in evolving over the years and is still undergoing a major digital transformation. Even though industries like logistics, sales, and marketing have transitioned from paper-dependent workflows to automated ones, accounting even today is somewhat dependent on spreadsheets, paper, and word files to manage their day-to-day processes.
These kinds of tools do not facilitate access to data in real time and reporting seems almost impossible until the time when the books are closed and it is the start of the new month. While managing accounting processes using such tools, it is common for people to observe heavy overtime for financial closing as well as huge dependence on manual controls as opposed to automated ones. They decrease the overall efficiency while also increasing the chances of errors.
For accounting departments, handling uncertainty begins with the discontinuation of tools that lead to it. It implies transitioning towards automation and cloud accounting is the way to go. Automation of recurring, time-consuming and manual tasks not just improves the productivity and accuracy but also allows accounting companies to become less vulnerable to risks.
Evolution of Accountants:
New possibilities crop up all the time providing accounting businesses the opportunity to grow further. This might appear to be confusing, however, technological innovations can result in multiple possibilities for accounting experts to evolve and increase the value of their business.
Automation can be useful in streamlining the day-to-day manual chores and carves the path to continuous accounting, a technique that eventually leads to proper resource utilization. The accounting departments can move their processes towards automation and seek the help of accounts outsourcing companies to audit, analyze and generate financial reports on your behalf.
Meanwhile, the in-house accounting team can use the reports generated to make better financial decisions. Automation streamlines the routine, manual work, and opens the door to continuous accounting, an approach that ultimately results in better-utilized resources.
Automation along with a reliable accounting outsourcing firm can provide you reports at any given point in time and thus allowing you to understand your business’s financial position in a better way.
With automation, accountants do not need to cram up their weeks of tasks and no longer have to perform repeated tasks, thereby improving accuracy and utilizing their employees in a better manner. Tasks that were once performed at the end of the month will now be integrated into daily chores, which imply that the pace of accounts processes will be aligned with the pace of business.
Transforming accountant’s job from a back-office operation to business partner:
With continual accounting evolution, a number of close activities are distributed all through the month as opposed to relegated towards the end. Consequently, accountants are considerably less frantic and are in a position to deal with major problems as well as exceptions proactively.
Whenever important accounting processes are carried out on a daily basis, accountants and decision makers most definitely have access to the data in real time. This instantaneous insight rather than month-old reports allows management to pivot swiftly to fulfill customer as well as stakeholder needs and get hold of new prospects before the competitors.
And this modifies the role of the accounting professionals from a back-office operation to a vital business partner. Accurate and on-time information isn’t the only contributory factor in such a change. Leveraging skepticism into a strategic edge additionally demands transforming individuals and techniques at the same time.
An increase in automated, seamless operations can allow the accountants to concentrate on strategy development and financial analysis, tasks that enable businesses to glide into a real partnership function.
The Downsides of Not Doing Anything Are Way More Now:
Automating accounting processes presents one of the biggest opportunities to get an upper edge over the competitors and simply waiting to implement the appropriate technology increases the chances of risk and failure – particularly in the accounting industry.
In case you choose not to do anything at the moment but your competitors decide to move forward with automation and hiring accounting outsourcing experts, they will soon become a lot more efficient and streamlined. They will get the required access to all the financial information they require at any time and gain useful insights into the bottlenecks.
Uncertainties Lead to Greater and Better Opportunities:
Change on such a rapid pace would only lead to fear and ambiguity in accounting professionals who even now consider that their job is only to provide monthly financial data and nothing in between. However, for people who want to adapt to accounting evolution, opportunities are abundant.
Rather than downsizing from uncertainty, all accountants must make every possible effort to improve their processes by means of automation and accounts outsourcing service providers. This would elevate the role of accountants to a lot more strategic one.
To conclude, the finance and accounting industry now has the perfect opportunity to tap into their growth curve and thus reduce costs, present true business value, and gain useful insight to ensure that their business survives and thrives.
Want a more strategic approach to your accounting system? Accounting outsourcing services can bring your business stability and access to an experienced skillset at a low cost. Contact Cogneesol now at [email protected] / +1 833-313-3143 (Toll-Free) to avail these advantages for your business!
Read Also:
When Should CPAs Consider Outsourced Accounting Services?
Evolving Role of CPAs: From Accountants to Strategic Advisors