tech: accountants are losing the race

what do other businesses know that we’re ignoring?

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

among the many wonderful things covid-19 bestowed on american business, new business models probably rank first. those who figured out how to adapt found themselves competitive. those who didn’t now drive for uber.

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the accounting industry was among the quick adapters.

though quick to adapt to a modified office structure, cpa shops have been slow to adopt automation. other small and medium-sized businesses (smbs) have proven far quicker.

quick to adapt but slow to adopt

in a survey conducted earlier this year, zapier found that 88 percent of smbs say automation allows their company to compete with larger companies, and two-thirds of knowledge workers say automation helps them be more productive.

the nature of the industry itself facilitated the shift as accountants and staff learned to work from home.

all they needed, it turned out, was digital data – not handshakes, conference rooms or flirting around a coffee machine.

that survey didn’t look at cpa practices specifically, but a different zapier survey found that accountants are making substantially less use of automation. on average they save only four hours a week, while marketers and it professionals save 20-25 hours. even sales reps save more time than accountants – 50 percent more at 6 hours per week.

maybe other smbs were more often forced to reinvent their business models while accounting practices only had to shift to off-site offices. sixty-three percent of smbs say it was automation that allowed them to pivot around the pandemic – whether taking their services and wares online, gearing up for curbside delivery, or completely overhauling the way they do business. even more – 66 percent – say automation is now essential to running their business.

explosion of automation

zapier found an “explosion” of pandemic-related automation as smbs competed with not only the covid-19 virus but each other as well. it was a matter of physical and fiscal survival.

many of the automated efficiencies at smbs could apply to cpa firms as well as other smbs:

• 38 percent reduced manual data entry, including shuttling data from one platform or database to another.
• 30 percent automated the sales lead/follow-up process.
• 32 percent automated document creation and organization for such fundamental functions as creating meeting agendas and maintaining to-do lists.
• 27 percent automated the management of inventory and distribution.

some of the results should ring the chimes of busy cpa practices:

• 34 percent say automation lets them move faster and spend less on administrative tasks.
• 28 percent say it takes less time to follow up on a lead.
• 35 percent say it allows better customer support.
• 34 percent report less human error in automated tasks, such as data entry.
• 66 percent say automation allows them to focus more on creative tasks.
• 65 percent of workers say automation reduces their stress related to manual tasks.
• 52 percent of workers say they would rather sit in traffic for two hours than give up their automation tools.

what cpa office wouldn’t like to see such results? maybe it’s time practice managers started learning from clients who have beaten covid-19 and grown more competitive through automation.

posted on august 23, 2021