Accountants are embracing artificial intelligence

Despite the popular belief that artificial intelligence is coming to take your jobs away, accountants would love some robotic help to get them through the day. This is according to a new report by Sage, which says 96 percent of accountants are confident about the future of accountancy as well as their role in it.

Despite welcoming change, more than two thirds of respondents (68 percent) expect their roles to change through automation, in the future.

Here’s what accountants are expecting from automation: almost four in ten (38 percent) see number-crunching as their number one frustration. Thirty-two percent still use manual methods for this work. A quarter (25 percent) use Excel while seven percent still use handwritten notes.

Eighty-six percent would "be happy for technology to make such admin elements of their job invisible."

"Change can often divide the crowd," says Jennifer Warawa, EVP Product Marketing, Sage. "This research shows most accountants see the empowering opportunity automation can bring, freeing them up to focus on their practice and their clients. As artificial intelligence and bots become progressively more intuitive, the door opens further towards the future of invisible admin and gives them the space to spend their time on more valuable services for their clients."

"The industry must come together to support this change and help eliminate any barriers or fears that can hold accountants back. The call to action is now with accountants and small business owners to embrace the change and decide how they will spend the time that automation will afford them," Warawa adds.

The full report, entitled Practice of Now, can be found on this link.

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