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Accountants would embrace ebusiness, if they knew how

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20th Feb 2008
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National B2B CentreIn 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.

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    By Brightpearl
    21st Feb 2008 12:41

    e-business for accountants
    Any accounting practice wishing to provide an e-business service or consultancy to their clients has two choices; one, to gain the knowledge themselves and then keep this up to date (in a very fast moving world) or two, to partner with a provider that can do so on behalf of the accountant.

    I work for a company that delivers a complete, integrated e-business solution (including web based accounting) that can be fully branded with an accountants company logo, information and so on. I'd be interested to answer any questions that you may have as an accountant wanting to provide this kind of service to your clients.

    Chris Tanner
    http://www.thisispearl.com
    0845 0038935

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