Even accountants are embracing change

Accountants. These stalwart corporate professionals have never really been known for embracing change or leading innovation in their organizations. However, with the inexorable forward march of technology, even this conservative community is coming around to the myriad benefits of innovation through automation.

As companies find news ways of automating accounting tasks, one might think that accountants are in fear of losing their relevance. In fact, the opposite appears to be true. In a recent survey, the majority of accountants stated that “accounting software was the most important innovation in their industry.” More than 63 percent said they were “motivated to upgrade their technology to embrace automation to better serve their clients.”

The same survey also concluded that cloud technology is critical to providing enhanced services to accountants and their clients alike. Better forecasting and risk management capabilities, free of the friction inherent in paper-based processes, were among the list of benefits attained through automating accounting practices. And the number one benefit cited by accountants? “The ability to access customer data anywhere, anytime,” along with the ability to share data with other applications and professionals.

It’s clear that automation, cloud services and global access to critical data are vital to professional corporate accountants. These functions allow them to do their jobs better and to add even more value to the organizations they work for. However, the benefits realized through the adoption of automation are not limited to this profession only. For instance, any business that purchases goods or services from a number of suppliers can benefit from an e-invoicing platform with analytics tools that can provide insights into smarter purchasing decisions. When everyone is singing from the same (electronic) song sheets, friction is reduced, as ROI opportunities are increased.