Training the accountants of the future – An article found on Croner-i

The following post is an interesting article from Lyndsay Hardwick, a senior business innovation manager at ‘Milsted Langdon’:

Training the accountants of the future is critical as technology and expectations change.

Accounting isn’t what it used to be, and that is no bad thing for clients or accountants. The profession is now bursting with innovation as new software, apps and automation change the way that we work.

The last decade has seen a revolutionary change in how firms operate internally and with their clients, and this pace of change isn’t likely to slow down any time soon.

New technology is enabling accountants to do more, opening up opportunities to look beyond the current methods and practices to deliver services that keep clients better informed and better equipped to deal with all eventualities.

While many are happy with the changes and efficiencies that technology is bringing, questions need to be asked about what the future accountant looks like and the skills that those entering accounting should possess.

With many firms keen to hire and train more people to make up for the demand for their services, these aren’t questions that can wait for an answer.

Core skills

When looking to the future of the accounting profession, some core skills must be retained and adapted for the upcoming role accountants will be expected to fulfil.

A key one, which is perhaps not discussed often enough, is interpersonal skills.

Building relationships with clients and having continuing conversations about their current position and business strategy through looking at real-time client data obtained from cloud accounting software is already an essential part of an accountant’s job. I would argue it is perhaps the thing that adds most to the value we provide to our clients.

Of course, a clear understanding of business acumen and the ability to advise is essential in also delivering this support. So, the future accountant still needs to understand how a business works and not just the functions of the accounting department. Accountants will be required to evaluate financial decisions in ways that technology simply cannot.

Being able to communicate what the technology is telling you is also essential. Interpreting data and sharing your results with clients in a clear, straightforward manner is an essential talent and will only become more valuable.

To be able to achieve this, knowledge and passion for data analytics and visualisation are great expertise to have.

With the ever-increasing availability of large quantities of data, accountants will need to recognise what information is relevant and when to use it.

For today’s accountants, this requires knowing how to turn these large volumes of data into concise, decision-driven insights.

Accountants of the future must have both theoretical and practical knowledge of data and analytics. Large firms are already hiring data scientists for this role, and this is likely to trickle down as a requirement within all firms.

Put simply, the accountant of the future will need to know how to deal with numbers and people.

New skills

Outside of the existing core skills, there are some entirely new skills, that while not essential, could unlock huge potential for a professional and the firm they work for.

Of course, a significant one that should already be key is technology skills. Although many firms have technology experts and have put their teams through cloud accounting accreditation, new professionals must have a deeper grasp of accounting technology.

They should have the ability to understand the pain points of a client and how software can address the issues for them.

This is not only so that they can effectively use the technology already available to them, but also to spot new opportunities where software and automation can help.

Going that one step further, future accounting professionals would really benefit from coding skills.

Most software used in accounting has its limits, but with coding, the possibilities are endless. You can take full control of your data and what it can do for you.

Coding not only creates efficiencies but also allows you to create integrations with other software, unlocking the data and making it even more powerful.

Having these skills, a curious mind and a passion for achieving more are really what we would look for in the next generation of accountants.

Many of the profession’s professional bodies, like ICAEW and ACCA, already have technology modules or are including the technology requirements of the industry into existing modules.