Today, accounting firms have to face a number of challenges, not the least of which are regulations on international and domestic fronts that are becoming increasingly more stringent with the increase in fraud.
However, in the wake of these, the biggest challenge is attracting, acquiring and retaining the right kind of talent. In order to do so, you need to understand what the key success factors for accountants are.
Key Success Factors for Accountants
Sage, a leader in cloud business management solutions, created an e-book titled “Accounting for Change – A Practical Guide for Accountants” that offers a range of tips and suggestions for navigating the new digital frontier as an accountant. The e-book highlights four key success factors for the accounting field. Briefly, these are:
Factor #1: Acquisition and retention of talent
In order to ensure they are able to find the best talent, accounting firms need to figure out how they can recruit from a wider pool of talent and provide a clear path to partnership, and keep pace with new technologies to meet the ever growing client demands.
Factor #2: Modernizing culture
Executives need to make sure that all accountants, irrespective of their experience and expertise, are able to work in harmony. They also need to see that the relationship between accountants and clients are cordial. Therefore, creating a modern, collaborative work environment is key to the success of accounts.
Factor #3: Riding the digital wave
At the core of the digital transformation era, accounting firms need to ensure both new and existing employees are well trained and well equipped with the latest accounting software. By 2020, key accounting tasks related to audits, payroll and tax are expected to be fully automated with artificial intelligence based technologies.
Factor #4: Putting theory into practice
Adapting cutting-edge technology and combining it with well-trained personnel who do not just control the software, but also apply their expertise and experience to make sure their services are not rendered redundant, but instead become indispensable is what will be the most influential key success factors for accountants.
While most accountants understand that the field of accounting is changing drastically, it can be difficult to fully identify the trends and move forward into the future. A greater focus on creating the right company culture and delivering an engaging employee experience is critical to keeping and developing talent. Accounting firms can become more competitive and boost customer satisfaction by paying attention to these four factors and taking decisive steps to act on new digital advancements.
