As the Xero Roadshow reaches its final week – encouraging accountants and bookkeepers to use technology as a product of their imagination – we asked our heads of industry why they do what they do, and what they imagine for the future of the industry.
First up: James Solomons, Head of Accounting in Australia.
When I look forward (and not too far forward, really), I imagine that – through the work we do within the accounting and bookkeeping community – the Australian economy has improved, and society as a whole is reaping the benefits.
It may sound like a big-picture goal but when you look at where we are today, I believe it’s within reach. Through technology, we are helping business owners limit those very tempting but purely gut-feel approaches to growing and managing a business.
It only works because we’re offering a more tempting alternative: connected platforms in the cloud, which can pull data and services into one informational hub. Technology that can help every business owner make data-driven decisions with their own information,
As we continue to encourage the use of this evolving technology and illustrate its everyday benefits, business owners are becoming re-educated on the value of investing time and resources into building an efficient financial management system.
That is already happening, all over the country, right now – even for people who started a business thinking that the numbers were not their strong point.
Future-proof
Thanks to this contemporary access to and appetite for numbers in the small business world, accountants and bookkeepers are seeing increasing value in the advice that they can provide to their clients. We don’t just work with static figures; we can offer the kind of practical advice that can help business people to see where they are and pivot and face new opportunities head on.
As the industry continues to transform in this way, I imagine that this focus on real-time data will give us the tools to future-proof our industry. Accounting and bookkeeping will not simply fade into a statistic of old. When generations to come review the industries that “have been eliminated” due to automation and technology, no-one will need to wonder, “What was it that accountants did at the turn of the century?”
Instead, we will adjust and test the limits of emerging technology, and attract the next generation of bookkeepers and accountants who are excited by the opportunity to rethink the way we work. They will embrace technology as part of their career enrichment, and take steps to ensure they understand and drive the important shift occurring in our industry.
The flow-on effect
By working with accountants both old and young to help them realise the power of technology with their clients, we are already building a culture where bookkeepers and accountants help their clients to interpret their data better, and make more informed business decisions.
This helps small businesses to run more profitable businesses – or, at the very least, businesses that remain operational. And that flow-on effect translates into a stronger and more productive economy, which is good for everyone. That’s why I get out of bed and go to work every morning,
This is what I’ve coined my ‘educated economy theory’ – and it’s what I imagine for our future.
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Source: Xero
