The trends manifesting in accounting firms during 2023* are (not) surprisingly different for all the other companies that have an internal accounting department. But let's dive in:
Just replace the top finding with “communicating with internal clients and business partners” and you have a perfectly plausible challenge for all the internal accounting departments out there.
In fact, accounting, like so many other departments, is still in the early stages after a tremendous change.
It's only been 2-3 years since everyone had to cope with the COVID-19 impact and the work from home.
These requirements explain the first three findings on the list:
Accountants had to learn quickly to adapt to the new technical requirements.
Dealing with their business partners remotely—that was actually the cherry on top.
To be fully operational in a fully remote working environment
The fourth item on the list is applicable to businesses as a whole; it does not really apply to internal accounting departments exclusively.
I had no surprises with the fifth item on the list, however.
We have been emphasizing that accounting (and the general finance profession, for that matter) are about to witness a shortage of qualified professionals.
The real shocker, though, is the trend of this challenge.
In 2022, Caseware found that 14% of the accounting firms were struggling to “find the right talent."
In 2023, 35% (+21% - the growth is really outstanding) of these firms agree that “finding the right talent” seems even more difficult than last year.
The unfortunate effect of this trend is that many accounting firms are letting clients go because they cannot cope with the level of work required to cater to the existing clients.
Moreover, some firms are not taking on any new clients because they lack the manpower.
Many accounting firms (and internal accounting departments) are in dire need of accountants. There is no fast solution to this issue. A.I. and bots can help, but these solutions require more than one year to implement. We will certainly see this challenge high on next year's trend results as well.
Cloud adoption increased at a fast pace. There are reasons this will continue next year.
Benefits like easier file management, reduction of IT overhead and maintenance, and stronger security are hard to ignore.
Virtual communication with external and internal clients and partners will add additional pressure for accounting professionals. By necessity, the adoption rate of new tools increased. But there is still room to master them.
Clients and partners are increasingly asking for strategic advice. The number-crunching accountant is already a dated notion.
Investment in business intelligence software will let accountants go beyond the numbers to gain deeper-level insights to meet these demands.
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*State of Accounting Firms Trends Report 2023
“Caseware conducted the 2023 State of Accounting Firms Survey from September to the end of November, 2022. It was offered in three languages: English, Spanish, and French, and garnered 4,143 validated survey completions.
The most frequently chosen title among respondents was Engagement Manager/Senior Manager (19 percent), followed closely by Partner/ Managing Partner (18 percent) and Staff Accountant at 17 percent."
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