In Pursuit of Profit
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As accounting consultants, we have seen AI usage increase dramatically over the last five years across daily accounting activities throughout organizations of all sizes. So, where is AI most widely used in bookkeeping and accounting these days? When it comes to AI in accounting, A/R and A/P augmentation has proven to be the low hanging fruit. As accounting technology has grown more sophisticated machines have been tasked with doing these types of repetitive functions that have traditionally bogged organizations down with manual work. With A/R and A/P already being powered by AI, what can we expect next? Usually, we discuss more specifically focused accounting and bookkeeping topics to share in-depth industry knowledge with our readers. However, today we’re going back to the basics to answer a fundamental question: “What does an accounting services provider do?” Simply put, an accounting provider does less than full-time work. This work can be either ongoing part-time work or short-term work (which includes interim engagements and project-based work). What does that entail exactly? Research shows that today’s bookkeepers and accountants are making mistakes as their workloads have increased due to economic volatility and newly enacted regulations. The data also shows that the more capacity constrained accounting professionals are, the more likely they are to make data errors on manual work and miss issues when conducting regular reviews on accounting records. And while this certainly does not mean accounting professionals across the board are doing poor work, even the best accountants are feeling the pressure. As their time continues to be squeezed and their responsibilities expanded, good accountants are finding that they need to work even harder to maintain the top-notch work that they are doing. The result is an environment more conducive to burnout and errors regardless of the integrity and work ethic that they bring to the role. If your books are messy due to overworked bookkeeping and accounting staff or turnover in those roles, you need to be able to figure out what needs to be fixed, understand how to fix it, and take a proactive approach to avoid future accounting issues! At the end of last year, the popular accounting resource Accounting Today published an interview with 100 of accounting’s top minds where they asked the simple question, “What is the most important issue currently facing the accounting profession?” and recorded their responses. Their answers ranged across topics such as staffing shortages, independent audits, AI, financial reporting, private equity, and technological advancements. If you get a chance to read it, you should! There’s some great insight to glean. Since we employ a vast network of consulting accountants across Washington, Oregon, and Colorado, we asked our consultants to do something similar. However, instead of having them focus on what’s important right now, we asked them to be more forward-thinking in their responses. We posed the question, “What will be the most important topics in accounting this year?” These were some of their responses: The speed at which AI is being introduced into our everyday lives is head spinning! Recent discussions of using AI in the accounting field are all over the map. Some say it’s a huge time saver, while others say it’s potentially disastrous (some will even spout both opinions in the same sentence). Since the industry seems so conflicted about this hot topic, let’s explore the potential advantages and possible pitfalls of using AI in accounting. 1/23/2024 Prioritizing your Accounting Needs
Maturity in business acumen comes from knowing what to prioritize for the greatest return. Whether you are handling it in-house or outsourcing your accounting activities, knowing where to devote limited resources is crucial for good decision making.
But how do you know where to start? What’s the most critical thing that absolutely needs to be done first? What will offer significant benefits down the road when more resources become available? And what would be nice to do eventually, but isn’t essential? And what should you avoid doing entirely? Obviously, there’s not a single right answer to these questions because every organization has different business needs. However, there’s a framework that you can use to make these kinds of decisions, regardless of individual circumstances, so you know what to do now, soon, later, and never.
There is skepticism around whether special skills are required to recruit well, how much experience plays a part in the process, and if the benefit justifies the cost.
11/9/2023 Where are All the Accountants Now?
For the last few years, it seems like every accounting article has mentioned the shortage of accountants in one way or another. Business leaders, recruiters, and accountants themselves are bemoaning the ongoing accountant shortage. In a time when people have a hard time agreeing about anything, the consensus these days among everyone talking is unanimous – the scarcity of accountants has become a serious problem. And yet, the proposed solutions continue to fall short of addressing the problem in a meaningful way because they fail to take into account why accountants are actually leaving.
11/3/2023 The Intersection of Accounting and AI – The Complete Guide to What Business Leaders Need to Know
It is situations like these that proponents of AI in accounting are hoping to reduce (or eliminate entirely) by using AI applications like automation and machine learning. As our team explains when discussing the future of accounting, Technology can be used to augment accountants’ responsibilities, increasing efficiency and improving job satisfaction. AI is currently the most transformative force in the accounting industry, and with good reason! AI allows accountants to do better work faster, improving accuracy, scalability, data availability, and collaboration to drastically improve business outcomes. But increased accuracy and efficiency are not the only benefits that AI has to offer. AI use in accounting can also improve job satisfaction, providing more fulfillment in the work that accountants do. Reducing the amount of busywork accountants are responsible for frees them up for more strategic activities, allowing them to act in more of an advisor role instead of just a number crunching capacity. This shift can greatly help to retain accountants amid the current labor shortage.
I’ve seen many clients struggle to find accounting help over the last two years across all employment levels – from bookkeeper all the way through CFO. I’ve seen new hires simply not show up for their first day without any notice. I’ve seen new employees resign less than a month after starting for other opportunities or just to leave a work culture they don’t like. Workforce expectations have shifted dramatically over the past five years and employers are struggling to fill open positions amid these changes. In fact, Manpower surveys indicate that 75% of employers report difficulty in finding skilled accounting talent.
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4/15/2024