In spirit accountants would like to get involved with ebusiness, but the reality of their current knowledge and workload means that only a small minority are able to help clients take advantage of new technology opportunities. John Stokdyk reports.
This is the frustrating picture painted by practitioners in the AccountingWEB/National B2B Centre survey conducted in the autumn of 2007. More than three-quarters of respondents held positive views of e-business, but only 8% of them advised clients on e-business strategies. Another 9% had invested time and effort, but were disappointed with the returns and 8% said e-business was not core to their activities.
The study established that lack of knowledge was the biggest barrier holding accountants back from exploring e-business opportunities. Nor were they helped by pressure on their time and resources.
Accountants reported little demand from clients for e-business advice, for a variety of reasons. Some clients were not computer literate, or were difficult to convince of the returns and benefits of embracing e-commerce. A couple of respondents noted a perception that accountants lacked credibility on technology issues, typified by the comment, "My business clients tend to be more expert on IT systems than I am."
Experiences with e-business
Accountants are not unfamiliar with the underlying technologies. Nearly half the respondents (45%) had expertise in maintaining their firm's website, while 27% had helped to plan and manage website developments and 34% were familiar with electronic invoicing and payments.
Online collaboration was something that 29% of the respondents were doing, and 27% had experience of commercial trading on eBay or other sites. But only 6% of respondents had first-hand experience of operating an in-house web store and 11% professed that they had no experience of e-commerce.
While only 8% of respondents offered e-business advice to clients, 22% said they would like to do so, but lacked the skills, capacity or confidence to follow through.
Most of these aspiring e-business advisers were senior figures within their firms and three-quarters had experience helping clients select software. Just under half of them resold software and 30% had experience implementing it. In spite of their hands-on experiences, lack of knowledge remained a the main barrier to advising clients. This could be a sign that they know their professional limits and appreciate the complexities involved - or could it be a lack of confidence?
AccountingWEB contributor and technology trainer Simon Hurst commented, "The survey makes rather depressing reading. If it really is the case that 75% of respondents held positive views of e-business yet only 8% advised clients on e-business strategies, then surely there is both a substantial source of additional income going unexploited, and a worrying failure to provide businesses with appropriate guidance in a key area."
Hurst was also concerned that the results pointed towards a weak spot in the profession's qualification systems and continuing development programs, which were not adequately equipping accountants to deal with a crucial aspect of modern business. "If the respondents who noted the perception among clients that accountants lacked credibility on technology issues, then the professional institutes should really take notice. I wonder what the reaction would be if a survey suggested that accountants lacked credibility on tax matters?"
Where next?
Reviewing the findings, National B2B Centre director Martin King-Turner said the centre was keen to explore ways in which it could help equip the accountancy profession to support their clients' e-business needs through education, seminars and networking meetings.
To follow-up the report, King-Turner posed several questions for AccountingWEB members:
Do these findings reflect your experiences?
Are there other constraints besides lack of knowledge, time and capacity that hold you back from expanding into e-business consultancy? What would help you overcome these obstacles?
Have you used e-business technologies to enhance your own firm's services? Would any of these techniques transfer successfully to your clients?
Would an e-business website combined with newswire alerts cater for your e-business information needs? Or would you be willing to pursue your interest more actively through an e-business special interest group?
The full AccountingWEB/National B2B Centre e-business survey is available for free from the Download Library. Feel free to add your observations and comments using the Post a Comment button below.