Accountants Are More Tech-Savvy than You Might Think

It turns out that accountants may be more on top of technology than anyone thought. In an ongoing program run by Accounting Today and sponsored by Wolters Kluwer, accountants can benchmark themselves to see where they stand relative to their peers when it comes to technology adoption — and by the latest results, it turns out that there are a surprising number of “Rock Stars” in the profession.

To benchmark themselves, accountants take a short online quiz that determines which one of four “Technology Personas” best describes them. The personas outline their approach to new tools and solutions, and were developed based on an in-depth study of firms across the country. The four personas are:

  • Tech Mogul: The earliest of early adopters.
  • Tech Rock Star: Not quite as bleeding edge as the Moguls, but not afraid of new tech.
  • Tech Scientist: Carefully considers all the evidence before adopting.
  • Tech Historian: Very cautious in their approach to new technologies, to the point of often resisting them until others in the profession have proven their worth.

Of the 5,500 accountants who took the quiz by early April, more than a fifth (22 percent) were cautious Tech Historians — but the same number were hardcore Tech Moguls, and more than twice that (46 percent) were Tech Rock Stars.
You can take the one-minute quiz here. Quiz-takers can also receive a more in-depth report card on the state of their firm’s technology, as well as recommendations on firm-specific technologies that can boost their efficiency and profitability.

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