3 accounting trends that won’t go out of style

April 8, 2022 11:32 AM

My passion for accounting is a mix of nature and nurture. It is (literally) in my DNA — my grandmothers were accountants, and the night I was born my mom had been sorting punch cards to manage the general ledger for the largest defense contractor in D.C. I chose to follow the accounting and technology path set by my parents and grandparents. Over my career, I’ve had the benefit of working for and with accountants, and in the midst of another busy season and two-year anniversary of the pandemic, it seems like a natural point to reflect on the past and discuss predictions on what’s to come.

While the past two years have brought one massive change after another, I believe the accounting profession has more opportunity than ever before: by meeting clients’ emerging needs, adding more value through insight and improving their quality of life through technology.

Change is exciting and essential for progress, but it can also feel overwhelming. In periods of intense transformation like this, it can be helpful to focus on what stays the same — the foundational base of the house that holds strong even as furnishing and design trends go in and out of style.

These are the foundational trends that even the metaverse won’t change:

Accounting is (still) the language of business

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got is “accounting is the language of business, and if you want a career in business, you need to learn it.”

Today the same is true. Starting a career in accounting is a great investment in yourself. Accountants become fluent not just in debits and credits, but in revenue, business and even organizational models — it is considerably more than the numbers. Accounting gives you a front row seat to the whole story of a business.

Accounting remains one of the most versatile and most needed skills. It ensures our financial markets run smoothly and unlocks career opportunities across every industry. Especially as new skills like data analytics and remote communication come into our everyday work, it will be the numbers behind the business that drive the true insights of tomorrow.

Behind every great entrepreneur is a great accountant

No entrepreneur starts a business with dreams of managing the back office. But mismanagement of the house can leave you with major problems.

Cash flow is like oxygen to a small business, and the person who oversees the books holds the keys to the castle. Accountants and bookkeepers can often see red flags or opportunities — from business models, to expense management to people issues — before the business owner sees them and those insights can help the entrepreneur focus on their true passion. For example, accountants may be the first to realize a specific product is starting to see a surge in demand, or to spot a historical trend that is no longer proving to be reliable.

Accountants help the best ideas become our reality and help address warning signs before they become a five-alarm fire.

Doing more (of what you love) with less (pain)

The Great Resignation has hit every industry, but perhaps more importantly “The Great Reevaluation” has led us all to focus more on what truly matters. Time is more precious than ever, and while accountants are no strangers to the concept of “doing more with less” when it comes to crunching to meet a deadline, I see the concept differently now.

Doing more with fewer resources (or without technology enablement) is no longer viable, and shouldn’t be the goal. Instead, accountants are making the concept work for them by investing in digital transformation and letting technology take over routine or manual tasks like chasing paper in search for the elusive single version of the truth.

Armed with new flexibility, accountants can do more of what they love, contributing their unique insights to the success of the business — all with less pain and headaches.