Over the past decade, technology has had a monumental impact on every industry and many aspects of business operations. Technological advancements have the paved way for more advanced and sophisticated accounting, which has made the delivery of financial information much more efficient and streamlined. There’s now wider access to smart programs and analytics tools that enable accountants to track invoices more easily, helping these professionals become fully-fledged business advisers. But how exactly has technology changed accounting? Read on to find out more.

Cloud-based systems

Many accounting firms today now use cloud-based systems to manage their data and financial information. It also serves as a much more cost and time-effective solution to carry out accounting. With cloud accounting, professionals can access a multitude of accounts simultaneously and all of this information is saved and backed up in encryption. Before the rise of cloud-based accounting, professionals were limited to information hosted on a hard drive, and they often had to manually record invoices using spreadsheets. Having records in a digital format allows for a more accurate and comprehensive system, where all information can be easily distributed and retrieved. Cloud-based accounting also enables firms to access their clients’ finances in real-time and reduce the risk of human error by manual data entry.

Automation

Through machine learning and artificial intelligence, repetitive and time-consuming tasks such as transactions and inputting data can now be automated. This ensures a much more efficient accounting process while improving productivity. In traditional accounting, tasks such as bookkeeping can take a great deal of time, but now automated software and machine learning program can explain transactions based on past activity. The main goal of machine learning is to optimize a system for greater performance, using automated data analysis and modelling. As technology continues to improve, there’s no doubt that automation and machine learning will play a massive role in accounting in the future.

Improved relationships

As a result of technology, it’s much easier for accounting firms to communicate and collaborate with their clients. Sharing data in real-time and providing a much more secure accounting experience ensures greater customer service, improving the relationship with the client as a result. With the use of technology, accountants can gain wider insights into the financial market to provide greater capabilities to their clients. Accounting firms have access to an array of business intelligence software, which can offer valuable insights that can be used to make key decisions. With this added level of information, accounting firms can better serve as trusted advisers to their clients and deliver improved results. However, while technology has come a long way, the human touch is still highly valuable. The growing presence of technology in accounting is likely to complement humans in the workplace and allow accountants to focus their efforts on more pressing tasks.

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