Top 5 Emerging Trends in Accounting

The accounting industry is growing at a fast pace. The emergence of new technologies brings forth its own unique set of threats and opportunities for the accounting industry. The primary sources of disruption for this industry is ever-increasing demands of customers, the emergence of new technologies and escalating cost brought on by inefficient manual accounting processes.

As more and more emphasis is laid on innovation, it is of paramount importance for accountants to understand emerging trends in the industry so that they are better prepared to take advantage of opportunities presented by innovative technologies. It will also allow them to negate the effects of all the threats or disruptions that lie ahead.

Top 5 emerging trends in the accounting industry are as follows:

Accounting Trend #1

The rapid rise of cloud accounting

Reports suggest that over 90 percent of small and medium enterprises will be using cloud accounting software like Quickbooks and Xero by the end of 2018. This should not come as a surprise though as the brisk pace at which cloud computing is growing makes it natural for accountancy industry to jump on the cloud bandwagon.

The emergence of cloud technology

In cloud technology, the data is stored on remote servers. All data can be retrieved quickly anytime and from anywhere by a person with requisite credentials. This easy accessibility to data promotes collaboration, better utilization of organizational resources and a more personalized offerings.

Accounting Trend #2

Increase in Automation and Processes

Another major trend being witnessed in the accountancy industry is manual processes giving way to automation. The presence of automation, electronic documents, and state of the art software solutions eliminates the need for manual data entry processes. Increased pace of automation offers a host of advantages like faster processing time, elimination of errors, timely data and cost reduction for the organization.

Accounting Trend #3

Rapid Rise of Data Analytics

The racing speed at which Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is growing has been a real game changer. The world of big data and data analytics and the meaningful and valuable insights this data processing provides has open new vistas of opportunities for businesses.

Traditionally, accounting data from balance sheets and financial statements were the primary information providers of financial health and performance of a company. Now organizations are increasingly turning towards data analytics to delve deeper and extract more insightful information from the data and information they have at their command.

Experts believe that this is just the beginning and AI and ML are likely to scale newer heights in coming time. Sophisticated analytical tools can offer organizations valuable insights into business trends, risk factors, etc.

Accounting Trend #4

Rise of Apps

Many cloud accounting software has made it extremely easy for developers to make highly customized account apps to suit the specific needs and requirement of a particular organization. For example, Xero comes loaded with more than 500 add-ons to the suite of its products, which means that you can use it to solve any accounting related problems you encounter along the way.

Accounting Trend #5

Transforming Accountants into Consultants

Rapid changes in software and technology and the automation it has heralded has revolutionized other traditional areas of accounting as well. For example, billing earlier was done on fixed-hour basis but more and more practitioners are switching over to ‘value-pricing model’. In this model, the maximum charge that a client has to pay to the service provider is decided beforehand.

The new and emerging trends in accountancy calls for outsourcing. Organizations in order to leverage the power of data analytics and automation can hire accountants from India who possess the knowledge and the expertise to do the job for you in real quick time. Additionally, organizations can also get in touch with quality providers of online accounting services in India to outsource their accounting requirements.