The digital transformation of Accountancy

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear about the AI automation phenomenon in the workplace?

For some accountants, it might be a gloomy depiction of staff cuts and job losses, as robotic process automation sets to eliminate up to 40% of transactional accounting work by 2020 (Accenture 2017).

However, do not fear! Experts say automation is creating even more opportunities for candidates with sharp business acumen and analytical skills – the higher-level thinking that only a human can do.

Among these changes I've noticed that there's now a big missing link within some firms, which is preventing them from fully leveraging the benefits of this technology.

The benefits 

The accounting industry was always going to be at risk of job cuts due to automation. You can use it to do many repetitive tasks such as reconciliations and allocations, manual calculation and tax filing for income, inheritance, employment, sales and routine back-office work. Compliance reporting is also expected to become more automated through technology.

For employers, the benefits far outweigh any costs or drawbacks. It allows you to streamline processes and creates a digital trail, so you can keep track of every record. Not to mention reducing staffing overheads – the software does the menial tasks, saving you money, time and resources. Right?

The problem

However, the more I see artificial and business intelligence software spreading in the market, the more I am hearing from clients that their systems haven't saved the money they expected.

While automation has removed some of the mid-range accounting roles that would previously perform those tasks, there is now a gap between the heads of departments and the junior accountants. This is the gap that has been removed to reduce costs and FTE's.

So, firms are left in a situation where they don't have enough people who know how to operate the technology, and thus cannot reap the benefits. There is also a risk that this gap will allow cyber fraud to go undetected for a longer period, and the business' reporting processes will be held hostage by one or two key skilled staff members – staff that are increasingly rare due to the gap in the middle of finance teams.

How do you bridge this gap?

If you are a mid-level accountant, worrying about your job security then as always it is best to maintain the currency of your own skills proactively and undertake training to familiarise yourself with these new automation tools.

If you are an employer, wondering why your business functions still aren't working at an optimum level after spending large upfront costs on tech solutions, the need for mid-level permanent staff should not be underestimated.

Fortunately, many of my clients have rebuilt their mid-level teams for this very purpose: tech-savvy operators who know the software inside out, with the ability to reap the rewards.

Digital automation systems are expensive to implement and supposed to eliminate FTE's – the key business risk then is that there is no one to run them with enough technological awareness.


Please give me a call on 03 8606 0367 to talk about a staffing strategy that can optimise the digital transformation of your business.