I’m convinced that the unavoidable wave of technology advances and the unavoidable move to quarterly reporting (thanks to MTD) are a gift from the heavens.
Accountants are looking at a bumper few years if only they embrace the changes and help their clients do the same.
But are enough accountants taking both seriously enough?
The last 2 weeks answer this question with an emphatic yes.
Last week, accountants refused to be defeated by the arctic conditions, train cancellations and road closures and got to the QuickBooks Connect event in London in their hundreds. Great speakers on the main stage and support stages delivered great content and the buzz around the exhibitors was great to see too.
It would have been easy not to bother showing up, but there’s a commitment to embracing the technology and quarterly reporting that would have been easy to dismiss even without the bad weather!
This week a sell-out Accountex Summit North had 1,000 accountants visit Manchester. Again, proving that some accountants, lots of accountants are taking the changes seriously and are ready for action.
A force for good
I loved what Gordon Gilchrist of 2020 said from the main stage in Manchester about all the change accountants are facing, Gordon brilliantly summarised the feeling at Accountex by calling the increasing rate of change:
“…a force for good”
Both events proved the commitment of the profession to embracing cloud accounting and quarterly reporting.
What about the risks and dangers of the technology?
Every technology advancement including the printing press, electricity and the internet have created more jobs than they have killed. And the technology, the bots and artificial intelligence are being applied now to accountancy.
Anyone who resists the change or delays the change will be at risk.
Not so for those firms who embrace the change.
At breakfast on day 2 at QBConnect I chatted with Peter Disney about his team and how they are making the most of the technology (rather than avoiding it or delaying wholehearted implementation). His succinct opinion on the impact of the changes hitting the profession…
“If you act like a robot, you’re going to be replaced by a robot”
So do what humans do best – adapt, evolve, change – we were born to it!
The future is VERY bright don’t you think?