It seems that what had become the norm in the accounting industry in 2020 and 2021, will prevail in 2022 – with a few additions.
With the new year in full swing, we only need to look back briefly to the last two years to see what started then and how it has now taken root. In 2020 and 2021, many accounting firms were either not familiar with cloud accounting or were reluctant to adopt it. They had to make a quick turnaround to be able to continue operating and to future-proof their business.Cloud-based accounting has become the norm and has opened up a world of opportunities for accountants.
Meanwhile, a separate study conducted by Hubstaff found that the biggest challenges for businesses with remote teams include communication, scheduling, tracking performance and language/cultural barriers. Another challenge it mentions is building and maintaining trust between remote team members. Both the needs of employees and businesses need to be addressed for remote working to be truly successful.
Accountants need to be open to the benefits of blockchain technology as it would improve efficiency and accuracy of transactional data, making reconciliation much simpler and improving the integrity of data. Again, the role of accountants as ‘number crunchers’ is changing – an accountant must interpret the results and be able to put together the entire picture of the business’ financial position.