I’ve recently attended the British Accountancy Awards in London where we had been a finalist for our region. Mixing with fellow professionals from all over the country was very interesting; and during my brief time with them it was clear that the biggest challenge facing us all right now was the pace of technology. Or the Rise of the Robots I often call it! Only a few years ago producing accounts for our clients was often a long drawn out procedure involving the gathering of information (usually physically), the production of some accounts (often months after their year end) and then the sorting out of queries before a meeting could be held to discuss last year’s information.
Technology is changing everything. Our more advanced clients have systems that don’t involve traditional bookkeepers anymore. We access these systems remotely and the accounts are in a form suitable for us to move rapidly to a discussion that’s real time, which means we can advise much better and really add value to our client’s financial situation. Our clients are more interested in the present and the future than the past. Technology is making our conversations with them much more relevant. We can also start looking ahead with forecasts that get updated more regularly and now begin to predict more accurately what’s going to happen. Particularly in the important areas of future cash flow and capital investment. Our clients can feel empowered by this and our contact points with them are now often throughout the year instead of once or twice a year.
Think about your own business. Look at your competitors. How are technological advances changing what you do? Can you make faster cutting edge changes to give you a competitive advantage? Do you need your professional advisers to be working closer with you on real time, up to date information? Every business owner should be answering these question.
To find out more about how technology can help your business contact Kevin Begley today…
Article written by Kevin Begley for The South Warrington News
