everyone’s job is enhanced when you can automate wherever possible.
by jody padar
radical pricing – by the radical cpa
when you have three people in your firm, each doing things their own way, you won’t be able to standardize until you get them all on the same page. technology makes it easy to do that.
more: are you the key signal caller for your clients? | value pricing requires defining your clients | how value pricing impacts your employees | 6 steps to start value pricing | what are you selling? | three critical factors drive the value pricing trend | accounting disruptors are heading your way … with deep pockets | the convergence of trends makes pricing changes imperative | stop looking for talent that does not exist | advisory work must be priced by value, not hours
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technology is spurring innovation and driving automation – and that’s reshaping the future of accounting. automation is simply using technology to complete tasks that are typically done by humans, and it will help you standardize by providing:
- consistency. processes and tasks are performed the same way. they can be streamlined through automation for added efficiency. when you have a single process, it’s easier to force everyone to follow them, and that ensures systemization.
- quality control. because things are done the same way, human errors are less likely. technology also provides you with real-time monitoring to correct errors and improve processes so that what you are turning out is reliable.
- data standardization. when data is collected and processed in the same way, its format is standardized. this improves data quality and ensures that it will easily flow between technology solutions.
- client experience. automation can help you provide customers with consistent information and support. everyone has access to the same data they find in the same place, making it easier to locate and share. there is also tech available for clients to find some documents independently whenever they want.
technology on its own doesn’t provide standardization. lots of firms adopt new technologies without changing the processes around them. you need standardized workflows to get standardization’s benefits, but technology can help get you there.
automation is also truly changing what you do and how you do regarding staffing. it’s hard to find people today and even harder to find people who want to do all the grunt work daily. one way you combat this challenge is through automation. think about it. if you can automate half of what your staff accountants do today, what impact does that have on your firm? you need fewer people. or even better, you can redeploy those people to do more for your clients. automating the transactional and data entry work lets you focus on what your clients truly value and for which they will pay a premium. it’s how you can finally move your firm to advisory.
for those of you who feel that your staff should do the grunt work because you did, and that’s how you learned the job – times have changed. they don’t want to do it and are accepting other roles outside of accounting that better align with what they want to do. that’s not helping fill the talent pipeline for the profession. you need to let your staff operate at higher levels. you need to operate at a higher level. that’s what clients want.
plus, the benefits of automation to your firm are greater than paying someone a week’s salary to hunt down information in a pdf and add it to an excel document. and i’d argue that it’s more important for your team to know what to do with that information than where to find it. automation augments and compliments a complex, critical-thinking analytical brain so you can deliver better insights for your client. everyone’s job is enhanced when you can automate wherever possible.
this may seem scary, but you must embrace the shift and find ways to make automation work for you. automation will help you do things faster, with greater consistency and fewer errors. if it helps, realize that this trend is not new. it’s been happening at least incrementally for the last few decades. do you still do taxes the same way you did in 1990 or even 2010? no. there’s no need to get freaked out by this next wave of change. just learn how to adapt to it.