Innovation Infusion: Accounting Software’s New Era

Rob Brown: 00:00:01

The future of accountant, isn't just about

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numbers and financial statements.

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It's about empowering businesses to make

informed decisions, navigate complex

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challenges, achieve their financial goals.

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And everyone recognized that Kansans

are at the heart of this and must become

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trusted partners with business acumen

expertise in data analytics, storytelling,

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strategic guidance, taking the clients

towards success and whatever your role

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is in this ecosystem, you need to stay

ahead of the curve to stay relevant.

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And that's why this accounting

answers podcast was conceived to

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keep you informed and competitive.

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I'm your host, Rob brown, and

I've interviewed 111 accounting

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experts, leaders, advisors, vendors,

and influencers in the last few

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months and collected for you the

very best and latest thinking on

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what works and what is coming up.

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And this week, they show 10 to 15

minutes gets you the low down on

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what matters today in the rapidly

evolving accounting landscape.

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And the professional is shed

in its traditional image of

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number crunching, embracing a

bold new future data technology,

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strategic guidance, reign Supreme.

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I've asked the same five questions

throughout covering the next

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generation of accountants.

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The proactive advice they need to be

given the drivers have changed the

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role of tech and software vendors

post the best predictions for the

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next few years, let's get started and

hear what our experts have to say.

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Today, we're again, asking

people who care about accounting.

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A simple question.

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What role do the tech providers

and software vendors play in

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the evolution of the industry?

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Technology's playing an increasingly

crucial role in the accounting profession.

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And the consensus is the tech industry

needs to step up to meet the evolving

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demands of accountants, but how exactly.

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Listening as another five of our

111 influencers and experts share

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their wisdom and their best insights.

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Let's hear from Amy Horner, a change

enthusiastic business strategy

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consultant, keynote speaker, and

podcast host who brings innovative

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ideas and strategies to businesses.

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Looking to thrive in changing markets.

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It's very similar to how accountants

can do better to serve business leaders.

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Amy Horner: It's the strategy, the

solution, and the offering or repurposing

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of time while mitigating risk.

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Instead of saying, here's our off the

shelf solution, just plug it in and

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everything will be fine, because that is

Nothing could be further from the truth.

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I have never seen anybody plug in a

new application and it be seamless

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and easy and wonderful and everyone's

throwing their arms around it

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and, you know, confetti cannons.

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It is tough.

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I spoke not too long ago, to a group with

a large public accounting firm and, and

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helping them understand when they walk

into the client's office, they're not

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necessarily seen as a solution, right?

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They're seen as an expense.

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Or something we need to do or

something that's going to take a lot

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of time and so very much the same

is saying I'm here as a solution.

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I want to understand your business.

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I want to understand

your challenges, right?

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That's consultative selling at its

finest understand what's going on.

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And here's how I can help you, versus

here's how we're going to have to do

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a key change and remap your entire GL

that, I mean, that's not a good time.

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Have you ever done that?

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Have you ever remapped a GL?

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I've done it once.

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I will never do it again.

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Um, next is Amy Vetter.

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CPA speaker Yogi and CEO of

the B3 method into, to blend

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in her expertise in accounting.

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With mindfulness practices to

promote balanced leadership and

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wellbeing in a professional world.

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Amy Vetter: My opinion on how the tech

vendors can do better to serve accountants

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is that they better understand.

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The day in the life of an account that

they don't call accountants heroes.

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No accountant is going to

work every day to be a hero.

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So over and over that has been marketing

speak and tech companies for as long

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as I can remember that you truly

walk in their shoes and understand

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why they love this profession.

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So a lot of times.

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You know, the value proposition for

many tech vendors is that this will

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take away this work for you or you

don't have to do that drudgery anymore.

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And the problem is accountants

like that, like accountants that

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truly love the work that they do.

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Like the work that they do.

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So just like in a diversity sense, if

you are going to work in a profession

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and serve that profession, it's

important to understand the mindset

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of that profession and where they

get joy out of the work that they do.

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In all my years in the tech industry,

being inside tech companies, as well

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as outside of tech companies, what I

have seen is as a tech company grows,

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they get further and further away

from innovation and taking risks.

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And start moving into safety.

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And that is what deters someone from

wanting to work with that company anymore

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when they get too large and they're not

coming up with the big ideas anymore.

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They're not coming up with

the innovation anymore.

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That it starts looking antiquated when

at one time you joined that software

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because it was the newest thing.

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So, my advice to tech companies is

to never lose that passion of why

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you started in the first place.

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What actually drives you?

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What's your purpose?

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To make sure that you are constantly

innovating and you keep that

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startup mindset, even if you get

very large and very successful.

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Joining the conversation now is Andrew

argue the founder of instead.com and

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coffee.com dedicated to helping businesses

and individuals make smarter tax decisions

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through innovative software solutions..

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Andrew Argue: I think right now there's

like a lot of different tools out there

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that people use and they're taking.

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AI and they're bolting it on as like

co pilots and chats and so forth.

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I think a lot of these companies

though, probably if they were to

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rebuild their product from the ground

up and make AI, not an add on to what

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they currently do, but make it the

core of the product, I think you're

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going to see a better experience.

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Like, what does it look like when AI

is the core of the general ledger?

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Or what does it look like when the

AI is the core of the tax preparation

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and compliance and advisory

process or the core of an audit?

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And I think the companies that, even if

they are a big company, if they decide

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to kind of, rebuild their product.

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From the ground up with that at the

center, I think are going to have

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a much stronger position and much

better value profit for the firms.

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think it's hard to say because,

like I said, people still use.

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10 keys with receipts on them.

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So it's, hard to say there's, there's

a lot of things today that were built

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in the seventies and the eighties.

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So I think that things will linger

on a lot longer than people think.

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so it's, hard to make some,

like a doomsday prediction that

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it'll be all doom and gloom for

them or like in the short term.

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But I do just think it's

sort of managed decline.

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if they don't make that adaptation, sort

of a secular managed decline versus.

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Innovation in the future and I do think

eventually the tides will turn and

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they'll feel pain, but it could take

a while because a lot of businesses

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are very comfortable where they're at,

and individuals are comfortable where

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they're at, and the firms are very

comfortable with stuff they're with.

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And so it probably will take

longer than people think.

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The technology will be much, you know,

will be much better if they switch, but

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I think there'll be, there'll be stubborn

groups of people there for a while.

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It'll keep those companies afloat.

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And now insights from I'm Katherine

Stein, Rhoda headed the ETL global

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network of accounting firms, where

she spearheads initiatives to foster

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collaboration and innovation across

the global accounting landscape.

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Ann-Kathrin Steinroder: I think

that's a two directions thing.

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It's not only that, software vendors

can do better to serve accountants,

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but it's also the accountants who

have to do something for it because

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there's always a language barrier.

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So both.

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Both sides need to understand each other.

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So, usually software developers

and tech vendors don't really

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understand what accountants are doing.

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And the other way around accountants

don't understand what software

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developers are doing and what

they need to know to develop the

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perfect, well systems for them.

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So in that sense, both.

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sides need to be open or more open to

understand each other and, and work

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together on, well, the perfect solution.

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And I think it's the same thing

everywhere, even in my whole

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household appliances at home.

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If I look at my coffee machine,

you always wonder like, okay,

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what did the developer think?

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Did he ever make a cup of coffee

himself when he developed this?

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Software to make this appliance work.

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So it's the same thing in accounting.

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I think that basically the developer needs

to understand what the task is and what

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in the end the user experience is like.

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And on the other hand, well, there's also

an obligation from, from the receiving

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part to tell exactly what he's needing.

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So it's a language thing.

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We now turn to our pod Dwivedi founder

of fixer marketing, a strategic

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marketing advisor for accounting firms,

bringing cutting edge strategies to the

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forefront of accounting firm growth.

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Appoorv Dwivedi: you know,

again, I come from, marketing

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and customer research background.

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So I'm always about the

client and about the customer.

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So, you know, if I think if I

look at the tech industry and the

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accounting software vendors, they're

out there, particularly the big ones.

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How can they better serve accountants?

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They can better serve accountants

by better serving accountants.

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customers.

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So if they better understand what

clients are demanding of their

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accountants, then they can help the

accountants to deliver that right.

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And you know, I go back to something

I said previously, but it's not a

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one size fits all solution, right?

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For some, maybe it

means faster for others.

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Maybe it's does it allow them to be

cheaper or does it allow them provide

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more communications and more touch points.

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Does it allow them to provide

more reporting or insights or

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other value as well, right?

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So, um, but, you know, I, I think the,

the vendors that figure that out, um,

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and really understand how their tools are

being used by accountants for the benefits

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of their customers, um, are the ones that,

um, are really going to win going forward.

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Microphone (TONOR TC30 Audio Device)-2:

So they have five grand

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answer to the question.

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What could the tech and software vendors

do better to serve accountants each

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work in depth that week, Monday through

Friday, we give you the insights of five

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top influencers in the accounting world.

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On this critical area of the

tech providers, software vendors

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and how they serve accountants.

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That's 25 valuable perspectives,

viewpoints and best thinking every week.

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And with each fresh week comes a

fresh question and more thoughts

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from the best accounting leaders

and influences we can find.

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Thanks for listening to this brand

new accounting answers podcast.

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And sharing the show with your friends.

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If you want to join the conversation,

you can plug into our community of

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implementers@accountinginfluencers.com

and check out our virtual

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speed networking events.

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These happen every few months

for the north American region

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and the UK Europe region.

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The great opportunities to raise your

profile, build valuable connections and

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share your thoughts with influential

peers until next time, this is your host.

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Rob brown, saying stay informed,

stay relevant and stay connected.