Will machines mark the end of human accountants?

There’s no escaping the growing need for tech skills in accountancy. In fact, in the recent survey of CIMA Students and Members undertaken as part of Global Accounting Network’s CIMA 2016 Salary Insights report, improving knowledge of Accounting Information Systems was the most frequently sought skill to aid career progression.

Similarly, a separate report from cloud-based accounting software company, Xero, found that four out of five accountants believe that understanding technology is as important to their job as understanding accountancy. Over 70% felt that adequate knowledge of automation and technology in finance will be vital for their success over the next five years. What’s more, one in four went as far as to say that tech skills will become so important that they will have to face the possibility of vacating the sector if they don’t manage to keep up with the pace of change.

The digital landscape has revolutionised accountancy as a discipline. The transformation we have witnessed in recent years has been likened to the beginning of the industrial revolution; everyone knew the use of machines would impact the way we worked, but no one was exactly clear how wide-ranging or fundamental the changes would be.

The prospect of robots making humans redundant in the workplace is increasingly being seen as a logical next-step in the evolution of society. Bill Gates was recently quoted as saying that at least a dozen job types will be taken over by robots and automation over the next two decades. Meanwhile, The Bank of England has warned that up to 15 million jobs in Britain are at risk as increasingly sophisticated machines do work that was previously the preserve of humans.

Perhaps more worrying still is recent data from Oxford University and Deloitte which found that around 35% of current jobs in the UK are at high risk of computerisation over the next two decades. Over 350 roles were analysed and chartered, and certified accountants came near the top of the list with 95% chance of being automated by 2036.

However, while the process element of accountancy can, of course, be emulated by ever-more intelligent software, there is a point where human interaction is vital. Yes, systems are becoming increasingly automated, but people are still needed to implement and manage software, update codes in line with ever-shifting legislation, and analyse findings with the advantage of emotional intelligence. Machine learning can enable robots to spot established patterns, but if your organisation is on the cusp of identifying and exploiting a brand new revenue stream, it’s likely to be a human that spots the opportunity.

Innately human skills such as creativity and rapport remain the preserve of people. While machines can crunch the numbers (often with greater efficiency due to larger sample sizes), professionals need to be in place to police systems and put the ‘human brakes’ on – particularly as self-learning systems begin to make higher level judgement calls. Rather than being a threat, technology offers accountants the opportunity to free up their time to improve their own productivity – and professionals who quickly learn to capitalise on the advantages that technology offers have the most to gain. For example, professionals who have the ability to tailor off-the-shelf accounting software packages so that they add real value to an individual organisation will quickly find themselves in high demand. Those who are able to harness the power of technology – and use it to improve their own productivity – will quickly see their career prospects blossom.