I started out in accountancy 37 years ago.
Back then computers were major bits of kit housed in a central computer system.
To get transactions posted to the accounting system you had to send input sheets to the computer centre for processing.
Processes were manual, everything took a long time.
There was no email and very few fax machines so everything moved by post.
Equally if you got professionally qualified you were almost guaranteed to be successful in your career.
Now there’s a lot of computing power on every single desk.
The scope for automation is huge.
Going forward the view seems to be that artificial intelligence will mean that some jobs will be replaced completely by machines.
And of course more and more accountants are gaining professional qualifications.
What this means from my perspective is that there is a great opportunity for accountants.
As time spent on doing routine work reduces there is going to be a greater opportunity to spend time on things that really make a difference.
Of course what this means is that accountants are going to have to adapt how they work.
They are going to have to build new skills, particularly interpersonal and business skills.
They are going to have look at where they are spending their time and what they are focusing on.
They need to really understand what their organisations needs from them as a professional group.
Of course like any change or transition it takes time, it requires focus and commitment.
So what are you doing to respond to the changing role?