Posted by Link4 Team on 17/01/2018
It is expected that 2018 will bring a lot of change to the Accounting industry with technological advancements continuing to bring about new ideas and questions.
Here are 3 key trends we are predicting for 2018:
1. Data security will be more important than ever.
We have taken data security and security in general for granted for many years now. Over the past few years, the way Accountants perform their day-to-day business has dramatically changed. More and more of this work is being outsourced to businesses and software across the globe to help optimise labour costs and increase efficiency. While this has many positive outcomes for businesses, it is important to fully understand what happens to your data when this work is outsourced. Who has access to your data? Where is it stored? Do you have the right protection in place to protect your business from cyber hacks in case something does go wrong? Over the next few years, these questions are going to become more prevalent in the financial tech sector- starting in 2018.
A quick search can generally clear up most of these questions. Alternatively, you can easily look for a company’s privacy policy on their website to see how your data is handled and stored by them – you can usually find this information at the bottom of the page.
Want to know more about how data is stored with Amazon Web Services? Read more here.
2. Widespread adoption of eInvoicing
The technology surrounding data processing is continuing to revolutionise the Accounting industry. Automation and streamlining processes wherever possible has been occurring over the past few years to make Accountant’s jobs much easier. The latest in this area is eInvoicing – the electronic delivery of an invoice from one Cloud Accounting system to the next.
This trend has been gaining momentum and we are now seeing the adoption of eInvoicing as the new invoicing standard worldwide. Solutions are available to facilitate eInvoicing specifically for small and medium businesses to improve their cash flow. The adoption of eInvoicing is increasing in Australia, and it is expected to ramp up dramatically from the middle of the year with the unveiling of Australia’seInvoicing Framework. The Digital Business Council have been working with the support of the Australian Tax Office(ATO) to establish this framework based on current international standards and Australia’s own experience so far.
Read more about eInvoicing and how you can benefit here.
3. Changes to how you are charged for Accounting services.
With automation continuing to decrease the amount of paperwork and overall working hours for Accountants, it is only logical that their pricing will change as well. Accountants are slowly moving to a more consulting-type role – they are providing value and confidence for a business, rather than just ticking all the boxes. They are able to spend more time strategising and forecasting to help a business perform at its best.
Following this change, there will be less per hour rate or task-based fees and more Accountants looking to charge for their overall value as a fixed service fee. While relationships between Accountants and their clients will change, this is an opportunity to redefine the relationships and determine what a business needs the most from their Accountant.
This blog post was inspired by Andre Marder’s ‘Small Business Accounting Trends for 2018’. Read the full article here.
