Current and future technology, accountant skills, ethics and career opportunities associated with various accountant designations in future
The accountants have always attempted to exploit the growing technologies for enabling them to finish their tasks in an accurate fashion. These include tablets of the Sumerian scribes through including machines of the 19th century to calculators and computers of the 20th century. However, all such advancements in technology are simple propositions by contrasting with myriad technologies reshaping the global business and accountancy (Andon, Free & Scard, 2015).
In the modern era, there is widespread advancement in technology like artificial intelligence and accounting software, which most of the global organisations currently deploy to carry out their accounting activities. Hence, the current report would intend to depict the impact of the above-mentioned current and future technology on the skills of the accountants. In addition, the impact of such technology on the ethics of the accountants and the career opportunities of the future accountants has been discussed in details. Finally, the report sheds light on the opinion of the group regarding the value of undertaking accounting courses.
The accountants are compelled to develop new skills due to the developments that information technology has made on the accounting profession. The impact of the technologies like artificial intelligence and accounting software on the skills, ethics and career opportunities of the accountants are briefly described as follows:
The use of specialised accounting software and artificial intelligence has resulted in massive improvement in the accounting field by minimising the margin of error. It has been observed that some of the accountants make use of Microsoft Excel to enter the data and run ledgers (Bebbington, Unerman & O’Dwyer, 2014). However, most of the large-sized organisations in the modern day environment purchase special accounting software to ease the method of entering data, assuring ledgers and ensuring the accuracy of the financial statements. For instance, as mentioned in advertisement 1 (Appendix section), Crofts Chartered Accountants has been looking for a senior accountant in the organisation. The candidate is required to possess relevant skills in taxation and business services along with knowledge in accounting software, MYOB. Thus, it is highly useful for the organisations, since errors could result in tax penalties. Thus, a lower error margin leads to high financially stable firms, which are equipped in a better method for staying afloat (Board, 2015).
The initiation of artificial intelligence and special accounting software has resulted in lower need of accounting training. The accountants having the permission to the appropriate systems could carry out services of tax preparation, statistical evaluation and project modelling in an efficient manner without spending time to finish core training (Cernusca & Balaciu, 2015). Thus, with the help of accounting software, the accountants play diversified roles for becoming a portion of the teams related to strategic planning. In addition, they are providing advice, preparing new processes and conducting future projections, which a computer fails to perform (Drew, 2015). For instance, as laid out in Advertisement 4 (Appendix), there is requirement for senior accountant in Accountancy Connect. One of the primary responsibilities of this job is that the accountant would be responsible for guiding and mentoring the staffs of the organisation.
Impact of technology on the skills of the accountants
In addition, a professional accountant is required to possess before they would engage in a reputed firm (Du, Givoly & Alhusaini, 2017). Along with the knowledge in accounting practices and a skilled communicator, the accountants are able to apply the learned processes as well as integrating these processes with artificial intelligence programs. It has been observed that some accounting professionals do not have relevant knowledge about the artificial intelligence programs, which would restrict them in merging accounting and information technology (Henry & Hicks, 2015). With the advancement in technologies, it is necessary for the accountants to cope up with the same. Since accountancy is often adjudged as the business language, the potential accountants needs to attain some primary and advanced skills in interpreting financial data.
The auditors, clerks and accountants are required to maintain strong ethical standard at the time of dealing with financial data using technology. The major portion of financial data within the organisation outside the financial reports is extremely confidential and it is only accessible to a chosen few (Ghahramani, Soleymanpor & Fatahi, 2016). Thus, the organisations employ strong security system on accounting software to assure the nature of confidentiality along with employing ethical standards when the transactions are discussed outside the department.
The other ethical issues take into account validating data entered into the accounting software to check the accuracy. Since the accountants are human beings, they could make mistakes, which denote that the financial transactions need to have hard copy back-up documentation (Hermason, Edwards & Maher, 2016). Therefore, the accountants need to possess skills for rectifying the errors within the system of accounting. This implies that the transactions aiming to rectify errors are needed to depict a full trail of audit. This is because following an audit trail takes into account the completion of all the steps involved in the transactions without involving shortcuts. Thus, the accountant needs to follow transaction from start to finish along with back-up documentation for supporting the transaction.
The departments of accounting adopt the principles under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) irrespective of the nature of the firm. In case, the financial reports are not needed, it is still necessary for the accountants to ensure that the accuracy of the same with the help of an ethical accounting system. This is applied at the time the financial reports of the organisation are available to the creditors for obtaining loans (Jahan, 2013). For instance, as depicted in advertisement 2 (Appendix section), the selected candidate is required to prepare bank reconciliation statements and general ledger accounts with the help of accounting software and this requires ethical standards to be followed. This is because any deliberate alteration in such statements and accounts might result in negative repercussions amongst the stakeholders of the organisation.
In order to protect the ethics related to accounting system and internal users, the organisations are often involved in separating functions within the department. For example, the person generating checks during the function of accounts payable does not have the right in signing or approving the checks. In addition, this might include working across the functions as well (Miller, Proctor & Fulton, 2013). Therefore, the contemporary accounting technologies are developed in such a way that the duties of the accounting payroll clerk and the accounts payable clerk are distinguished from each other and they do not have the access to other’s information. For instance, as depicted in advertisement 3 (Appendix section), there is job requirement for administration and accounts assistant in an organisation. In this case, the major duties of the selected candidate include procurement support, accounts receivable and accounts payable work. In this case, there is significant threat to the ethical accounting system of the organisation, as a single individual is responsible for maintaining accounts receivable and accounts payable clerk. In this case, the accountant could manipulate the transactions in the accounting system, which might result in violation of ethics.
Impact of technology on the ethics of the accountants
Technology has affected the profession of accounting greatly, as a task, which normally would take eight clerks could be achieved with the help of a single accountant. The potential accountants are always on the lookout for new technologies to build their profession (Murphy, 2015). After the advancement of technologies, the accountants find it easier in generating reports along with carrying out their job duties. For instance, as mentioned in advertisement 5 (Appendix section), there has been requirement for assistant accountant in Zivaro. In this case, the interested candidates should possess a strong knowledge in Advanced Excel. This implies that technology has grown rapidly in the current business environment, which necessitates the need for the potential accountants to obtain relevant technological skills along with their studies.
Moreover, with the help of technology, the human errors inherent in the profession of accounting have been overcome. It is not possible for an individual to remain error-free irrespective of its efforts for competing with the reliability of systems related to information processing (Needles, Powers & Crosson, 2013). For instance, it is assumed that an individual is engaged to work in the accounting department in an Australian community college, in which accuracy has been the significant skill to possess. In such case, if the individuals do not have access to computers and software like quick books and Microsoft Excel, it could lead to costly errors along with the costly hours invested (Oulasvirta, 2016). This could be matched with the help of advertisement 6 (Appendix section), which states that Woolworths Limited is looking for senior financial accountant and the selected candidate is needed to prepare month-end consolidated results. In this case, the candidates are required to possess an effective knowledge of the accounting software programs to prepare the financial statements, as the organisation develops financial statements with the help of MYOB software.
In addition, the computers help in ensuring efficiency of the prospective accountants. One such instance is the preparation of tax. It has been observed that the accountant might need several hours for filing an individual tax return ten years ago (Pan & Seow, 2016). However, with the current advancement in artificial intelligence and accounting software program, the accountant could conduct individual tax return within a short span of time. In addition, such software has been so easy to operate for the users that even the college students pursing accounting courses could develop tax returns without seeking any sort of help from the professional accountants (Pollard, 2014).
Thus, it could be stated that the technology of accounting could not replace the need for an accountant or pose threat to the livelihood of the same. Instead, it provides the accountant with an opportunity to become a reliable adviser (Rutherford, 2016). In addition to this, the individuals pursuing accounting courses could be able to meet the desired expectations along with repackaging their services as business advisory with the help of the existing and future technologies. Furthermore, data is visible with the help of accounting technologies, which reduces the pressure of manual work to place the data in a manual worksheet. As laid out in advertisement 7 (Appendix section), Jurlique is looking to hire a group accounting manager and one of the primary responsibilities would be to develop the month-end close timetable. Such responsibility needs to make use of the technologies available within the organisation and thus, the potential accountants are required to gain a thorough knowledge of the same to enhance their accounting careers.
Based on the above discussion, it has been found that an accounting work, which previously consumes more than a week to complete, could now be wrapped off within no time. Moreover, most of the large-sized organisations in the modern day environment purchase special accounting software to ease the method of entering data, assuring ledgers and ensuring the accuracy of the financial statements. The manual accounting procedure could lead to costly errors and it would take plenty of time to pass the relevant accounts. However, there is no guarantee that the accounts prepared would be completely error-free.
Along with this, such software has been so easy to operate for the users that even the college students pursing accounting courses could develop tax returns without seeking any sort of help from the professional accountants. It has been evaluated that the rapid advancements in technology like artificial intelligence and accounting software do not pose any significant threat to the livelihood of the accountants. Instead, it provides the accountant with an opportunity to become a reliable adviser. In addition to this, the individuals pursuing accounting courses could be able to meet the desired expectations along with repackaging their services as business advisory with the help of the existing and future technologies. Therefore, it could be inferred that rapid advancements in technology actually help the accountants to carry out their work effectively; however, threat exists in relation to manipulation of the financial statements.
Aspects of the technology, the accountant skills, the ethics and the career opportunities to be considered and the changes/adaptations needed:
There are certain aspects associated with the technological revolution in accountant skills, ethics, career opportunities and the changes needed from the Australian perspective:
One of the most significant aspects of technology in accounting is the availability of computers, scanners, faxes and printers (Schmidt & Wartick, 2014). In Australia, artificial intelligence has modified the accounting world by eliminating the need for manual labour. In addition, the prices of the equipment are within the limits and it could be affordable both on the part of large as well as small businesses. The most popular accounting software in Australia is MYOB, which the accountants need to know for carrying out their daily work. For instance, as depicted in advertisement 8 (Appendix section), there is need for accounts clerk in Peloton Group. The selected candidate is required to have the skills of entering data into accounting software for generating monthly bank reconciliation reports. Thus, the use of equipment requires significant accountant skills from the Australian perspective.
Accountants appreciate the software besides the equipment as well. For instance, there has been high efficiency in the spreadsheet programs for enabling the accountants with reporting and computations (Sharpe, 2016). Accounting programs are many in the Australian market, which are user-friendly and they have gained popularity especially within the small businesses. With the help of such software, the accountants could conduct activities like recording transactions, paying bills and reporting. This is because such program helps in organising the data in a proper fashion (Suddaby, Saxton & Gunz, 2015). For instance, as depicted in advertisement 9, there is job requirement for an accountant in Hays Accounting and Finance. The selected candidate would have to be responsible for developing various kinds of accounting reports and the same should be reported to the senior management. The accountant needs to possess CPA skills for dealing with the assigned activities of the organisation.
The internet has paved the path for the existing and potential accountants in a number of ways. This includes sharing of documents, conducting research and filing taxes online (Traistaru, 2016). The internet connection could be simple as well as wireless. In fact, the organisations do not need to purchase software for running accounting programs; instead, some sites provide such programs online for saving files. As depicted in advertisement 10 (Appendix section), there is need for an accounts receivable officer in Randstad. One of the primary responsibilities is to modify the receivables system through updating the program , which requires the candidate should have relevant skills about operating online programs.
Information technology is of immense significance in the current accounting environment in Australia (Walsh, 2014). With the help of a program, the accounting information could be encrypted in such a manner so that no unauthorised access is made. Thus, a misplaced computer could be tracked with the help of security software activated in a remote place (Welsh et al., 2015). As depicted in advertisement 11 (Appendix section), there is job requirement for accounts receivable administrator in BDO, in which the person selected would need to provide back-up support to the collections team. This ensures the ethics of the accountant, as the organisation already has strong internal controls to track any lost information.
Due to the close accounting between accounting and artificial intelligence, the universities in Australia have introduced four-year degree in “accounting and information systems”. Such program takes into account the typical concepts of accounting and information technology (Zeff, 2016). Thus, it could be stated that the present and future accountants need to be technologically savvy for being relevant and the universities are playing a major role to cope up with this challenge. For instance, as laid out in advertisement 12 (Appendix section), there is job requirement for project accountant in Programmed Professionals Pty Ltd. The duty is to form knowledge performance indicators and implement the same in various accounting processes of the organisation. This requires significant domain as well as information technology skills to carry out the work in an effective fashion.
Based on the current scenario and above discussion, taking accounting courses is of immense value for the students and they are briefly discussed as follows:
- Excellent graduate prospects, as a student undertaking this course has a high probability of finding professional work within six months of leaving the university.
- This profession is never expected to expire and thus, the need for accountants is anticipated to be increased over time with the rise in globalisation.
- An accountant could work in any industry, as the main responsibility would be to record, categorise, summarise, interpret and communicate financial information related to a business.
Conclusion and recommendations:
From the above discussion, it has been found that the use of specialised accounting software and artificial intelligence has resulted in massive improvement in the accounting field by minimising the margin of error. The auditors, clerks and accountants are required to maintain strong ethical standard at the time of dealing with financial data using technology. The major portion of financial data within the organisation outside the financial reports is extremely confidential and it is only accessible to a chosen few. Thus, after the advancement of technologies, the accountants find it easier in generating reports along with carrying out their job duties.
The following recommendations would be extremely beneficial in relation to accounting technology:
- In case, the financial reports are not needed, it is still necessary for the accountants to ensure that the accuracy of the same with the help of an ethical accounting system. This is applied at the time the financial reports of the organisation are available to the creditors for obtaining loans.
- The students pursuing accounting courses should possess a strong knowledge in Advanced Excel. This implies that technology has grown rapidly in the current business environment, which necessitates the need for the potential accountants to obtain relevant technological skills along with their studies.
- With the help of an accounting program, the accounting information could be encrypted in such a manner so that no unauthorised access is made. Thus, a misplaced computer could be tracked with the help of security software activated in a remote place.
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