ACCM4600 The Profession of Accounting

The profession of accounting has always had an unsteady relationship with the technology and has only been worsened by the developments in the few years. The industry of accounting has witnessed several radical changes in the technology over the last few decades and several companies have been trying hard to find ways of catching up with the increasing investment in the new technology (Williams, Rana and Dwivedi 2015). The study is based on understanding challenges in keeping up with the new technology.

The study would understand how the new technology have impacted the accountants work in the recent decades and would also the opportunities for appropriate handling of the issues (Pagan and Short 2014). In the later part threats originating from negligence would also be considered in keeping with the new technology and an appropriate recommendation would be implemented to mitigate the new strategies.

Keeping up with the new technology – Issue of Concern:

Technology is regarded as the future for the accountants however not without the risks. In the modern world keeping up with the new technological developments in the accounting technology is important. It requires appropriate follow up with the balances and process for managing risk to support the use of new technological solutions. According to Groomer and Murthy (2018) it is comprehensible and encouraging to witness that the accountants are looking in the future and are thinking about of way to adapt the new technology.

The profession of bookkeepers is practically considered outdated and it something that is not any more accepted by many. On one end, the accounting companies are unable to vastly lower the number of staff that they take on. While on the other hand, it implies that few people are required in the accounting industry (Chan et al. 2016). Accountants are now anticipated to answer the calls of clients on regular intervals. This implies that there might be fewer accountants that are working in the areas of data analysis but more number of accountants are working directly with the customers. The use of technology in accounting has resulted in more human centric approach that helps that helps the individual in reaching their business and personal financial goals instead of the rare numbers.

For large and older companies, the use of technology can be difficult to work with. The accountants are not anymore being taught regarding the basic fundamentals rather the software solutions are doing the work (Card 2017). For majority part of technology though does not makes the differences however the work still gets done. However, for the complex cases, the use of technology may result in mistakes or things that are overlooked, just because the accountants do not have experience.

Impact on the work of accountants in the recent decades:

The accounting firms might require the need of adjusting through training session and through the job learning. The accountants may witness their roles getting shifted and perhaps contract a bit. Majority of the people are performing everything from the taxes to the investment. Technology is shaping the accounting industry not only quickly but also permanently. These are not only termed as the trends but also the things that the accounting firms may witness in the foreseeable future (Angelone 2015). The accounting firms should understand that majority of the services that is provided by the accountants would be obsolete in the next decade. The traditional accounting firm would require the need of advancing to the technology based customer centric business model to survive.

The work of compliance is getting highly standardized and streamlined because of the technological advancement. The biggest impact that technology has made on the accountant is the capability to develop and use the computer based system to track and record the financial transactions (Burstein, Morales and Vogel 2015). Paper based ledgers, manual spreadsheets and hand-written financial statements have translated to the computer system which can rapidly present the individual transaction into the financial reports. Majority of the popular accounting can be tailored to meet the requirement of specific industries and companies. This allows the accountants and the companies to create the individual reports for easy decision making of the management.

The computerized accounting system have improved the functionality of the accountants by increasing the accounting information of timelines (Simkin, Worrell and Savage 2018). The new technology in accounting improves the timelines of the financial information with accountants can prepare reports that is improved by the computerized system provides department based profits and loss and reports on market share is now better accessible with the computerized systems.

The new technology systems have created an internal check and balance measurement to assure that the accounting transactions are appropriately balanced prior to the preparation of the financial statement. The computerized system of accounting would not allow the journal entries to be out of balance at the time of posting and makes sure that the individual transactions is recorded properly (Simkin, Norman and Rose 2014). The accuracy of the accountings is improved by restricting the number of accountants that have the access to the financial information. Lesser access by the accountants make sure that the financial information is adjusted only by the qualified supervisors.

The new technologies in the accounting enables the accountant to process the large number of financial information and process that information rapidly through the accounting system. The faster processing times for a single transaction also reduces the time required to close every accounting period (Tayeh, Al-Jarrah and Tarhini 2015). The month or the year end closing period can be particularly taxing on the accountants or the accounting department, leading the longer hours and higher labour expenditure. The new technologies in accounting shortens the time period and helps the companies in controlling costs that ultimately increases the overall efficiency of companies and accountants as well.

Keeping up with the new technology allows the accountants up to date with the new software tools and helps in performing the functions of accounting effectively and efficiently. The programs of accounting or software helps the accountants to create the forecast in sales, economic business models and other business decision tools (Chae, Koh and Prybutok 2014). The accountants would automatically input the business information by restricting the number of errors by human data entry. Advancement in the technology helps in setting standard default and mathematical verification process as it helps in making sure that the accountants are able to keep the accounting books in balance and simultaneously adhering with the current requirements.

Opportunities from proper handling of new technology:

With the advancement in the new technology the accountants are provided with diversified opportunities. Information becomes available to the accountant with a simple click in mouse. This ultimately changed the nature through which accountant worked. With the advancement in accounting technology new more opportunities are opening. This ultimately diversifies the opportunity in the accounting field with new development in the specialized areas. Business owners have begun looking towards the accountants for getting technological advice (Lafond, McAleer and Wentzel 2016).

The accountants have become more knowledgeable through which the financial system work. The accountants are becoming the IT staff and trusted accounting advisors. The traditional role of accountants required them to help the business by becoming more productive. Integrating with the technologies of clients appropriately helps the accountant system to be more practice efficient.

The accountants often work with the system programmers to develop the digital process that helps in organizing the history of client and their documents. To keep up with the technological advancement in information technology the accounts were pushed to acquire the new skills because of the advancement in information technology (Burstein, Morales and Vogel 2015). The accountants should have higher level of computer and technical skills. These skills have turned out to be the part of knowledge and capabilities of the accounting profession.

Advancement in the information technology have allowed the companies to computerize the accounting information. The accounting system have also been computerized because of the substantial developments in the technology. With the computerization of the accounting information, the accountants are required to gain the skills that is necessary for using the computerized system (Card 2017). Keeping up with the technological advancement also brings opportunities for the companies to carry out the functions of accounting effectively and efficiently due to the computerization of the accounting information has resulted in substantial saving of time and cost.

Using the information technology to carry-out the work of accounting functions has bought in opportunities for the accountants to proceed towards paperless mode of bookkeeping. New development in technology and information signifies a course of development for the accountants (Groomer and Murthy 2018). The possibilities of sharing and exchanging the information among the those that are involved may result in cognitive networks such as electronic discussion which can reinforce the relationship with the accounting partners.

Opportunity also lies in managing the relationship with the clients. A constant demand is witnessed by the clients for disclosure of accounting information and this provides the accountants on regular basis to respond to the demands of the clients without leveraging the automotive power of the information technology (Chan 2017). Therefore, the use of the technology provides the accountant with the opportunity of improving the customer satisfaction and simultaneously improving the customer association to higher level.

Threats of Neglecting the Issue:

The overall growth and developing in the technologies which are used in business are significantly important as its open and widen the scope of operations of a business. Technological development is inescapable as more and more humans develop, technology used will also be developing in the same pace. The technology which businesses use nowadays for the purpose of management and financial accounting are improving day by day and therefore, management needs to be stay up to dated with the same (Huisingh et al. 2015). The most important thing which the business need to consider that technological advancement will not wait for organization to implement the same and therefore, businesses needs to on their toes while dealing with such a situation.

The threats which arises due to negligence of technological developments which are taking place in operations and systems which are used by the business are provided below in details:

• Fall Behind: The overall development in accounting software and incorporating computerised system in the accounting process has led to widespread changes in the reporting structure and overall accounting process. The companies which do not adjust to such technological changes will be facing higher cost of maintaining records and will be falling behind in terms of technological advancements in comparison to other companies in the industry.
• Become Irrelevant: If a business does not make changes as per the technological advancements which are taking place in the environment, there is a high risk that the business will be becoming irrelevant. If a business does not cope up with the technological advancements which take place in the industry than the business will not be able to survive the changing business environment.
• Missed Opportunity: There is a chance of missing an opportunity if a company does not incorporate technological changes in the business in terms of systems and software which is used by the business in the operations of the business. Technological advancements give a competitive edge to the businesses in order to meet the overall competition level in the business. Therefore, if a business does not evolve with the changing technology than the business will be missing out an opportunity to earn more profits or improve the overall business structure or a chance to gain competitive advantage in the market.

Thus, from the above discussions, it is clear that businesses should make technological changes in the business in order to avoid the above mentioned threat and also gain the advantages which are associated with the technological changes which have been incorporates by the business. In the field of accounting various technological changes have taken place which are introduction of integrated software which makes the overall reporting and recording process of accounting easier and makes the whole updating and generating reports process automatic which saves both money and time of the businesses immensely.

The management of companies need to apply the recent software and programs which can not only reduce the efforts of the accounting professionals but also make the whole accounting process more efficient and also removes the threats which are associated with traditional accounting process. The type of industries which are mostly at risk are businesses which are mostly depended on accounting information system such as big auditing firms, financial companies like insurance companies, banking businesses and similar other finance businesses.

Communication of Mitigating Strategies

Mitigating strategies are strategies which businesses can use for the purpose of avoiding the threats which are associated with not keeping up with the technological advancements which are taking place in the business environment. Some of the mitigating strategies which can be implemented by businesses are selection and implementation of technological software and programs in the business process, incorporating an innovation and research team for keeping in check with technological advancements which are taking place in the market. In addition to this, the management of companies need to ensure that all relevant developments in business processes and technological advancements also needs to be considered.

The communication of mitigating strategies which can be discussed by following the plans which are discussed below:

• Management can discuss mitigating strategies in general meetings with the directors of the business so that the plan of technological advancements can be discussed and implemented in the business.
• The impact and benefits of technological programs and software can be presented in a presentation form to the management in order to convey the discussion about selection and implementation of the same in the business.
• The message can be also conveyed in form of emails about the selection and implementation plan of the business.

The above communication plans can help the management to effectively communicate with all the plans of the management to different departments of the business so that technological policy of the business can be implemented as per the requirements of the business.

Arguments for or Against Incorporating a Special Team

In order to bring about a favourable change in business structure, the management of a business can appoint or take services of a specialized team which can effectively incorporate technological changes in the business (Laws et al. 2013). In many businesses nowadays establishing a research and development department is a must so that further improvements can be brought about with research in the products offered by the business and also help the business to gain competitive advantage in the market. The advantages which are associated with the establishing or appointing a special team for implementing technological changes are listed below in details:

• Specialized teams consist of members who have adequate knowledge of the technology and therefore can easily implement the same in any business organization.
• An innovative team which are established with the organization can conduct a research in order to identify the key areas which the business wants to bring about improvement in and thereby select the best possible course of action to bring about the development (Hakansson 2015).
• Innovative teams established within a business also provides stakeholders with confidence that the management is handling the business effectively and ensuring the business further achieve growth and development considering long-term business goals.

The arguments which can be provided against establishing a specialised team for bringing about innovation and development are listed below:

• Establishment of a specialised team will also increase the overall cost of the business drastically and also maintenance of innovative and research department will also be incurring a significant amount of cost.
• Establishment of separate innovative teams will make the management of entire business difficult in case of a small business enterprise.
• In addition to this, innovative teams take long time to bring about effective results for the business and therefore are not considered to be worth making investment in when it comes to small businesses. Moreover, they are proven to be less effective when in adequate resources are available to such teams which is mostly the case when small companies are involved.
• Training of Staffs

The role of employees in a business is immense and they can be regarded as the life blood of a business as they handle all operations and clients as well. In order to implement technological advancements and bring about changes in the business structure requires the staffs of the business to be able to accept the same and also adjust in the new environment (Elnaga and Imran 2013).

In order to achieve such balance, the management of the business need to train the employees and staff of the business in order to make them flexible to technological changes (Jehanzeb and Bashir 2013). The staffs of the companies can be trained effectively by the management by incorporating a training plan for the employees of the business. In addition to this, adequate knowledge can be provided to the employees on the software or program which is being introduced in the business (Kumar and Pansari 2015).

The employees of the business can be trained by specialised teams so that appropriate skills can be developed in order to bring about effectiveness in the business. In accounting system as well, employees are needed to be trained to handle the accounting software and programs so that desired results can be brought about in the reporting framework of the business.

Conclusion

Thus, from the above analysis, it is clear that the business can bring about development in the reporting framework of the business. The introduction of technology in the accounting process can bring about beneficial effect on the business and increase the overall efficiency of the business. In the near future, the need for such technologies is going to increase tenfold and therefore management of the company need to make necessary adjustments to the business in present time.

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