Powering Productivity: Tech Advancements for Accountants

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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In this episode, we're continuing

to ask our accounting influencers

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and leaders about the rule of tech

providers and software vendors

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in driving the industry forward.

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Techie spearhead in transformation and

innovation in the traditional accounting

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role, but how could the sellers of this

tech better serve the needs of accountants

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on what exactly are those needs?

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Let's find out all the missing

pieces of the accounting vendor

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jigsaw, as we ask our experts.

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Now he was out of wreckage and accounting

technology, enthusiast, and director

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of strategic alliances at data blend

passionate about connecting businesses

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with the right technological solutions

to streamline their accounting processes.

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Adam Rakich: Well, I think there's two big

areas that tech vendors could be doing a

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much better job in, and they're both kind

of flavors around educating, accountants.

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And one is broadly teaching

accountants how to buy software.

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And to be fair, this is

not a new problem, right?

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This has existed as long

as software has, right?

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No matter how long you're an accountant.

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You're going to buy a tiny

amount of software compared

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to how much a vendor sells.

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The vendors know the process, they

know the questions that buyers ask, but

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probably most importantly, they know the

questions the buyers should be asking.

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You know, and the vendor is as such

in the best position to help an

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accountant buy software, but often

they don't really think about that.

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They're, they're focused on,

you know, selling the one deal.

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And I think that's backward.

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Accountants have long memories

and they certainly talk, right?

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You are best served being honest,

transparent and having that willingness

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to educate even, you know, if it's a

short term experience for yourself,

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the second part, arguably part of the

first, but I think it bears mentioning.

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It's about demystifying technology.

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My experience is that accountants,

they want to know what's going on

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throughout any solution they take on.

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They want to be able to get their

arms around things, and throwing about

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acronyms is not a way to do that.

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So often they rather stick with business

as usual, even though it's a pain, because

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they'd rather do that than get into

something they don't fully understand.

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And that's where You have a

big reason why there's not more

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uptake, I think, of many valuable

solutions for accounting, you know.

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Vendors shouldn't be fancy.

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They should boil it down,

make it simple, accessible.

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Everyone's going to win.

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Rob Brown: Let's get the thoughts of

Adrian Lester senior sales director

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at citric share file and write

signature where she drives sales

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strategies and partnerships to empower

businesses with secure document

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sharing and the e-signature solutions.

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Adrienne Lester: So two points again,

the first being to really help them

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improve their client experience.

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So talked a lot about how do

you set yourself apart from how

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competitive the landscape is today

to have a really bespoke client

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experience is incredibly important.

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so.

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I think that there are tons of

vendors out there that can improve

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this to make it a lot easier for them

to interact with you to be custom

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branded, having your logo out there.

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And the other is to prioritize

building solutions that break

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down the biggest pain points that

individuals see within the profession.

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so that would be offloading these

tedious tasks that I continue to

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mention and allow the CPA to again,

focus more on the individual and

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the person versus the task at hand.

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as I look at the landscape of vendors that

exist in those that operate and in kind

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of those, very archaic interfaces that

don't really think about the client, we

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do see that those are being, those are

falling behind and the conversations that

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I have, accountants are really reviewing

the ease of use of the tool that they're

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going for, not only for their internal

employees, but also their clientele.

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Uh, can I imagine, Carl, the individual

that I've done tax and accounting work for

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the last 40 years, being able to use this

or not, is he going to understand how to

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log in and be able to interact with this?

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It's very important.

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And, and those that are not adapting

their software's software or hardware to

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that are really going to be left behind.

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The next voice is Alice Gray Harrison, a

communications expert who specializes in

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God in accounting firms through change,

fostering alignment and insurance success.

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To effective communication

strategies and employee engagement.

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Alice Grey Harrison: I think that they

can help them think about the future

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and where technology is headed and

help them build their methodologies

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to reflect what is going to come

in the future with technology.

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Coming up now as a man to see what's

founded the business advisor academy

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dedicated to helping accountants

escape the compliance cage on good that

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practices through advisory services.

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Amanda Watts: I would love to see tech and

software vendors be kinder to accountants.

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The people who create software are wired

in a different way from accountants.

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You think it's going to be easy for

accountants because they're really good

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at numbers, but actually when you sit an

accountant in front of technology, from

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my experience and the number of people

I've worked with, they go, I hate tech.

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So I think that account, tech suppliers

need to take a step back and learn

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to articulate how to use software

in a way that is consumer friendly.

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We're not all geeks and we need geeks

in the world to make a difference,

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but we're not all geeks and we need

it explained in layman's terms.

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And we have this natural assumption

that accountants are going to understand

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because they're numbers minded.

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But actually it's still

a little bit rewiring.

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So I think that for these vendors to

really help the profession and move the

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profession forward, they need more care

and customer support, and also enable

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the clients to that their clients to

adopt it in a way with a bit of patience.

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Like it's so easy to get people to

buy software, but to get people to

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use software is really difficult.

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So you've got to make it so

it's user friendly and I don't

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think it is at the moment.

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The next voice you hear will be Amy

Holsworth CEO of clarity street got

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in the industry and connected software

and open accounting firms, leverage

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technology for efficiency and growth.

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Amy Holdsworth: Stop lying to them.

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Every product makes the account

believe that their solution will

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solve all of their problems or the

problem they solve is the most, is,

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is the one that's most affecting

them and it reduces clarity of focus.

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Of what's actually important.

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So as an example, um, is scanning your

receipts to help with your bookkeeping,

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um, the be all and end all, that's going

to solve all of your problems or is

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the bigger problem that you're facing.

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The way that you communicate with your

clients, the way that you execute on the

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work that you actually need to produce

on the advisory piece that you need to

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produce for your clients on the server

that you probably need to replace and

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upgrade to cloud based technology.

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I think that, I think there's also

over promising and under delivering

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under delivering on elements of

tech that's developed as well.

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So I think there needs to be a lot more.

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Transparency around what the apps

are doing and also potentially

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stop creating features with apps.

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If another app actually does it

just because you don't like the way

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that that app does that feature,

because it's just making it really

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confusing for the industry as well.

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Like there's so much crossover of features

these days that accountants are sitting

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there going, well, why am I using that

practice management piece over that one

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or that document management over that one?

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Like it's just, it's really challenging.

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So, um, yeah, that'd be

my two takeaways actually.

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Rob Brown: So they have five

grand 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.