So what is the accounting profession going to look like in the next 5, 10 or 15 years? That’s a question that many professionals are avoiding thinking too much about I’m starting to notice.
Being a professional accountant has, for many years, been a relatively secure profession. The hours are often long, but the pay is good, the respect from people is high and the profession has provided a must-have service to businesses both large and small.
But things are changing.
My talk at Accountex highlighted some of the developments in Artificial Intelligence, the surprising developments going on in China and why those things really matter to finance professionals here and around the world.
I was delighted to meet so many forward thinking finance professionals on the day. However, the only thing that worried me a little was that the comments and connections mainly came from governing and industry bodies who were keen to get the same message across to their members. It seems like there is a lot of ‘head in the sand’ avoidance going on out there among accountants. Understandably, they don’t want their industry disrupted.
But it’s happening, and it’s happening fast.
So the choice is for professionals to ignore the developments and hope they can retire in the next 5 years, or accept the fact that they are going to have to get on board with new technology and embrace the human side of the business.
After all, when the robots have taken over the numbers, that’s all that there is left for us to do.
It’s being a great human that helps people. The numbers don’t help without a great intepreter – someone who can advise on what actions need to be taken in light of the information that we have from the financials. So build your relationships, get out from your desk and go and spend time with the people running the businesses you do the numbers on. That’s something that no A.I or chatbot can take over from you. The future of finance lies in building your relationships.
