What does the future hold for accounting technology? How prepared is your accounting team for a future with increasing use of technology and complexity? As you know, for several years I’ve served as a Sage Global Business Expert. In this role, I shared many great events and articles with you about the future of accounting.
Join us for Reinventing Accounting Technology
This week on Wednesday September 23rd at 1:00 EST you can join in on a lively Twitter chat that focuses on Reinventing Accounting Technology. The hashtag for the event is #SageInspire. Now I could tell you that the experts attending the event will share ideas on many key issues facing the future of accounting profession.
I’d love to see you at the event. I want to see what you think is critical to your career and your organization’s future.
I have a bribe that might help get you to attend on Wednesday afternoon. Did I mention it was at 1:00 PM EST? You can find us at hashtag #SageInspire on Twitter. I’d love to hear your thoughts on Reinventing Accounting Technology. As for the bribe, Sage has just released a new report called The Practice of Now 2020: The essential report for accountants.
The report is fantastic. It should provide you with a great resource to share with your team. Accounting technology is changing and so are the expectations of your clients. COVID19 has changed how we work forever. The questions on Wednesday’s #SageInspire chat will get you thinking about not only your career but how to have your organization stand out from the crowd.
This new report prompted me to share several key capabilities you need to develop to retain your role as most trusted advisor. Many of these new capabilities require additional skills and a different mindset when working with clients. It might be interesting to share these skills today. Then over the final quarter of the year we will return to each one and show how you might apply them to build a high performing team.
Are You Good at Leading Change?
To reinvent accounting technology, you need to develop the ability to lead change both on a personal and organizational level. I recommend John Kotter’s Book called Leading Change.
When asked recently what he saw coming in the future he shared, “Windows of opportunities are appearing more quickly than ever. Identifying an opportunity quickly, and mobilizing urgency around it, is becoming the key to beating competitors.” You can learn more about his eight step change process along with a great resource to help you get started with your discussions on change. The ebook features Kotter’s 8 Step Process for Leading Change
Asking our clients to change requires us to have our people prepared to deal with resistance both hidden and obvious. Emotional intelligence provides many tools needed to help your teams help clients to adopt new technologies in their business.
You might find this article helpful How to Embrace Change Using Emotional Intelligence.
Build your technology teams
To reinvent accounting technology, we need to increase our collaboration capabilities. Both in person and remotely. Professional services like accounting require a team mindset. There are such a wide range of technology solutions available to clients, we need stronger discovery processes to ensure success in technology adoption.
To succeed you need to attract a wide range of professionals to support the clients’ business strategies. For example, I’ve added a data science team who can help clients evolve and leverage more data driven decision making capabilities. You might find this article on recruiting helpful; How Do You Attract and Recruit Technology Team Leaders?
Data Science as service is going to provide accounting organizations with new and larger engagements over time with their clients. It’s a great way to get more involved in advisory services over the coming years.
Just in time training changes everything
Finally, how to we provide just in time learning of new accounting technologies? Ongoing professional training has also been a critical element in career success. Your accountants and support team need training beyond what is necessary to retain their professional designations.
Just in time professional development includes both coaching and mentoring. Many of your younger team members may have significant technology capabilities. Reverse mentoring can provide significant advantage in creating your new accounting organization.
Having senior accountants and auditor mentors help younger team members on business issues and industry specific challenges can keep all your team members more engaged in client development.
Are you keeping up with accounting technology changes
Accounting technologies are changing. It’s critical that you consider how they change your practice. Staying ahead of the curve is critical to both you and your clients. This Wednesday, you have an opportunity to hear how organizations are managing these opportunities.
Check out the special report; The Practice of Now 2020. This special report can provide you a great foundation for the future of your accounting practice.
Don’t worry! I’ll be back sharing more about how you can accomplish more of your goals the final quarter of 2020.
See you Wednesday!
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