Customers want better connectivity
With the arrival of new technology, accountants are capable to connect with their clients in newer ways, which builds strong relations between both parties. All the business plans and future development are discussed in real-time as of high-speed connectivity and troubles can be resolved as soon as they occur.
We can see this trend all around us as both service providers and clients have access to real-time information. It is all about information and whoever has access to the most relevant and rapid information has a competitive advantage.
Big Data
The improvements in business intelligence, big data, and machine analytics have far-reaching consequences in each portion of the business. Big data permits businesses and decision makers to access an amazing amount of information and analytical tools to decide for their future.
Today, accounting professionals are using these tools to enter data, documentation keeping and analyze the future scenario for their business. Big data is an enormous amount of customer data and financial trends, which enables the strategists to analyze things from a broader viewpoint, allowing them to forecast the future requirements of their clients. The demand for business analytics professionals is on the rise because they are specialists in organizing big data and finding utilitarian patterns out of it.
Customization and specialization
It can be observed all over, as businesses are acquiring a flavor for customization. This has been one of the lashing factors to disruption in all industry, as customers only want to see or use the products that are fit for their particular needs. Social media users can choose to view content that they need while Smartphone users have access to the apps they want.
In accounting, this has resulted in an enlarged demand for particular products instead of bundled packages. Businesses only want to pay for the particular services they need and cut costs on needless services. If a company wants to outsource only its bookkeeping, the service providers need to compel. Accordingly, the accounting industry is considering a shift in product offerings and price structuring of accounting software and other services to fit the need of their clients.
Mobile solutions
Smartphone usage has increased rapidly in the last decade and almost each business owner now have one. This is one of the major challenges for accounting service providers as they must appraise the kind of devices their clients use and then develop seamless apps for those devices. Many small business operators want to carry out most of their accounting functions, like managing accounts, recording expense and tracking financial information on the move.
The accounting industry is coping with this challenge by equipping these clients with apps and portals specifically built for this purpose. The security features are becoming highly developed and user-friendliness of these apps is being worked upon endlessly. Other value-added features like useful tips and advice are also helping service providers to attract new clients who want to keep track of their business on the go and stay on top.
Automation
Things like electronic documents, automatic imports and software solutions are becoming more of a standard. Businesses are better able to make use of their resources because of automation, as it saves them valuable time. Real-time reporting is possible through automation and accuracy is improved extensively. Automation is going to be a key driving factor in the disruption of the accounting industry in times to come.