3 tech keys for empowering accountants

September 10, 2021 10:43 AM

Much like every business vertical, accounting has seen its fair share of disruption as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. And although digital transformation efforts have pushed innovation forward in many industries, accountants, by and large, unfortunately have to deal with fractured processes and outdated tools from pre-pandemic times. Not only do accountants have to tackle daily tasks with antiquated technology, but they have to find ways to make this tech meet the modern demands of today’s financial industry. And as the world around them continues to evolve and modernize, accountants are understandably struggling to keep up.

With that in mind, it is time for banks to allocate more attention and resources toward revamping their accounting infrastructure. Here are a few areas in particular that they need to focus on in order to make this happen.

Cloud migration

With the number of tools that accountants are forced to deal with on a daily basis, remote work is a nightmare for those who are still forced to work with on-premise infrastructure. Moreover, given a significant portion of the financial industry still relies heavily on this “traditional” technology, on-premise is one of the foremost hurdles that is holding accountants back today. That said, the fix is quite simple: adopt the cloud.

By leveraging a cloud-based infrastructure, businesses can immediately boost the efficiency of their accounting teams by giving them easy, instant access to the data and solutions they need from anywhere. Additionally, it can also make onboarding new tools and processes far less painstaking than doing so with on-premise legacy systems.

Embrace automation

With CFOs and accounting teams now expected to participate more fully in business strategy and other non-finance tasks, the amount of time these teams have to engage in manual tasks continues to shrink. And as such, calls for greater automation within finance departments continue to grow.

According to a guide produced by Sage, 93% of finance workers say they would be happy to have tech do their daily accounting tasks. In addition, as budgets remain tight and workforces are continuously expected to do more with less, empowering accounting teams with automation will be pivotal to business efficiency and overall success.

Choose fintechs wisely

No two finance departments are exactly the same. So it is imperative that businesses take a step back and consider their needs properly before adopting tools and processes. Sure, a tool might seem to make sense on the surface, but what if it actually complicates things or makes tasks more challenging? All too often businesses jump into the fintech pool without fully understanding what their needs are and what they need to solve them.

Accountants have incredibly full plates to begin with. And without the support infrastructure and tools they need to juggle these tasks, it is virtually impossible for them to keep up with modern demands. Therefore, businesses need to work in close consultation with finance teams to identify their most pressing needs and find the solutions that are best tailored to them. Granted, with a global remote workforce, this may seem like a daunting prospect. By getting all of their ducks in a row early, not only will businesses be able to make the onboarding process far easier for their accounting teams, but they will also save valuable time and money down the road.

Accountants are integral to helping businesses achieve financial success. And with that, the time has come for these teams to be supplied with the modern tools that their work deserves. Without it, accountants will continue to struggle to meet their full potential and will not be able to help businesses achieve the growth they are looking for.