The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the growing maturity of cloud-based business software promise to dramatically change the role of the accountant over the next five to ten years. Savvy professionals should already be reskilling themselves in anticipation of the shift in the market.

The Finance Indaba is taking place today and tomorrow – it’s the perfect platform for finance professionals to gear up and learn about the changing accounting world from leaders in the industry. That’s according to Steven Cohen, head of Sage One International (Africa, Australia, Middle East and Asia). He says that the arrival of smart software bots, paired with the affordability of cloud-based business applications, will change the way that accountants work as vividly as the first spreadsheet and accounting software packages did.

“Financial software is getting smarter, more affordable and easier to use, so more and more of the admin accountants typically do for the business is becoming automated,” Cohen says. “What’s more, intuitive software paired with AI and other new developments, could empower small business owners do more of the tasks they used to entrust to an accountant.”

For example, earlier this year at the Sage Summit, Sage introduced the world to a smart assistant called Pegg. The chat bot, which is the first in the accounting industry allows users to track expenses and manage finances through messaging apps – which currently boast more than 2 billion users worldwide – such as Facebook Messenger and Slack.

It hides the complexities of accounting and lets entrepreneurs manage finances through conversation, making the process as simple as sending a friend a message. By digitising information at the point of capture, it takes away the pain of filing receipts and expenses, eradicating the need for paper and data entry.

Elsewhere, most of the world’s major auditing and accounting firms are also exploring ways to use AI and machine learning to streamline their work and get better insights from massive sets of financial data. KPMG, for example, plans to use IBM’s Watson AI to analyse data sets for purposes such as assessing loan applications.

So, where does that leave us accountants?

The latest developments come on the heels of the rise of affordable, cloud-based accounting solutions that make it easier for Small & Medium Businesses to manage their finances.

Where they may have depended on an accountant to capture and update data, produce reports, and do bank recons, their software automates many of these tasks for them. They have access to their numbers wherever they are, for example, and can look at key financial data on a dashboard or generate financial reports with the click of a button.

This trend means accountants need to recast themselves as financial advisors to the business, says Cohen. Their role is no longer merely to check the numbers and keep the records, but to help the business optimise its finances. This is a trend to be welcomed rather than feared, since it means accountants can focus on adding value to the business rather than on time-consuming, compliance-focused tasks such as preparing reports and statements, adds Cohen.

They can spend more time on helping clients to assess financial risks, understand the latest tax and regulatory developments, and provide ideas about cutting costs and improving profitability. “The good news is that accountants, whether working in-house for a business or as advisors to a number of clients, can take a more strategic role,” says Cohen. “Their business acumen and social skills will be as important as their mastery of numbers.”

He concludes: “It’s an exciting time for entrepreneurs and their accountants. In a time of seismic technological change and digital invention, smart technologies are simplifying business accounting. At the same time, they make it possible for organisations and their accountants to focus on the things that truly add value to the business.”

This month's business articles sponsored by: