With all the advancements in technology burgeoning these days, particularly the accounting software for the accounting industry, we can’t help but ask, “Will technology replace accountants?”
Will there ever come a time when businesses would no longer need a bookkeeper or an accountant’s help and rely solely on technology?
We’d like to believe that’s never going to happen.
At least not anytime soon.
Bernard Marr of Forbes agrees. He says, “Robots are NOT going to replace all human accountants or bookkeepers.” Instead, he encourages bookkeepers and accountants to work with the machines so they can do more in less time.
How then can we make technology work for us?
Hubdoc suggests managing and evaluating your accounting workflow. For sure, there are processes you do every day or on a regular basis that may be automated using technology.
Start with mapping out what you do.
By and large, bookkeeping follows the following basic process, according to Jetpack Workflow:
- Requesting documents from a client
- Receiving and confirming documents and letting the client know what’s missing
- Processing and reviewing the documents
- Having the client review the documents
- Filing
- Payment
See which needs automation.
Based on the above workflow, we can clearly see which processes may be automated: communication and filing.
Communication tools
Communication between you and your client is crucial; hence, you need tools that will help simplify that.
For emails, there’s Thunderbird, Microsoft Outlook, and MailSpring. All of these are compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Thunderbird is the best email client if you’re looking for something that’s secure and can get things done without unnecessary blings.
Microsoft Outlook is the best option if you’re not looking for another application to be installed into your machine. Windows-run PCs, that is.
MailSpring, on the other hand, offers undoing sent emails, email templates, themes, and emojis. It also uses less RAM, launches faster, and syncs more quickly.
For instant messaging, there’s Slack, Telegram, and Discord.
Slack is popular for the bots that can do almost anything for you such as reminding you of an appointment, add tasks for you, and so on.
Telegram is much like Slack, minus the bots. But it can keep unlimited messages you can dig through to eternity.
Discord is perfect if your team prefers calling to typing.
Filing tools
Another way to make technology work for your accounting or bookkeeping workflow is to get accounting software for your filing.
We all agree and handwritten journals and ledgers are a thing of the past. Technology has evolved so much over the years that even spreadsheets are no longer the way to go.
Accounting software is the new thing for a handful of beneficial reasons.
Using Oojeema, for example, automates your BIR forms preparation. It is programmed to automatically compute tax dues as you input sales and purchases transactions. Hence, at the end of a certain period, all that’s left is for you to click the Generate PDF button and your forms are ready for printing.
This means who don’t have to compute nor recompute taxes every time.
Accounting software also lets you manage your financial records from anywhere. You may then cut down on expenses and time spent on taking trips to your client’s location just to show their income and expense.
Lastly, accounting software can help you organize and track finances much easier. Once sales and purchase transactions are encoded into the system, it’s easier for you to track if you’re missing a transaction or not.
Evaluate the new system.
However, it is not enough that you integrate technology into your practice just for the sake of going with the flow.
You still have to evaluate the overall effect of this new system on your existing one. If, for example, you are installing a software on your computer but your machine is not powerful enough to accommodate it, then you have to wait until your PC is upgraded.
You should also consider testing the new system for a certain period that it is indeed working for you–making your process easier–not against you.
If using accounting software for the first time or switching to a different one, it is necessary to know if it offers online or offline help until you get used to the system on your own.
So…
Again, Will technology replace accountants?
Not at all. Accountants have way too many abilities in them that obliterating them from any business would mean demise.
Plus, they offer a lot of value that no bot can give.
What technology can do, instead, is to aid these number crunchers by automating some or most of their workflow.