How Robots Can Help You Thrive
Posted by Guest Blogger on Jun 16, 2017
Technology is creating opportunities for
the accounting profession, but the human factor is still key– that was the message at IdeaAcct, a session at the AICPA Engage
Conference highlighting thought leadership and innovation in the profession.
Practical & Immediate Opportunities for CPAs in
Artificial Intelligence - Dan Giffiths, CPA, CGMA
Because accounting is highly structured, it
lends itself nicely to machine
learning. Therefore, many people think that accounting and tax services
are likely to be automated. Software
already exists that can populate tax-ready financial documents just from an
individual’s bank login information, and such services are available for as
little as $100 a month. However, clients are willing to pay far more for advisory services drawn from
that information. The value, Griffiths says, lies in the relationships and the advice that CPAs can provide.
To take advantage of the opportunities, CPAs need to become friends with their tech
colleagues. Good friends.
Robots
Can’t Own Their Personal Brand
- Byron K Patrick, CPA, CITP, CGMA, CCA MCSE
Many iconic, fictional robots have dynamic
personalities. The Jetsons’ Rosie. Knight Rider’s K.I.T.T. Short Circuit’s
Johnny 5. Star Wars’ R2-D2 and C-3PO. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your perspective),
robots today aren’t so dynamic. Humans have a warmth and personality that
robots lack. As long as that remains true, the accounting profession is going
to be just fine. How can CPAs best leverage this advantage?
l Be interesting. Have
a story. Have a personal brand.
l Be interested. Ask questions.
l Be sincere. Mean what you say.
Fixing
Employee Engagement Is Easy - Rebecca Brown, CPA
There are three types of employees: engaged, disengaged, and actively disengaged. Gallup estimates that only about
one-third of employees are engaged. For millennials, that estimate is even
lower. On the other end of the spectrum are the 16 to 17 percent of U.S.
employees who are actively disengaged.
Not only are these workers miserable, they seek to make everyone around them
miserable, too. The remaining employees are disengaged--just sleepwalking
through the day. Thus, at any organization, approximately 67 percent of
employees are either about to walk
out the door or – worse – stay and create such toxic environments that good
employees leave.
With these facts in mind, how do business leaders keep people engaged and recharged?
Brown recommends mapping out individuals’ strengths to figure out where
people do their best work, and then let them excel in those areas. Two great
programs for this are StrengthsFinder and the VIA Character survey.
Why We All Benefit from Whistle-Blowers - Kelly Pope, PhD,
CPA, CGMA
Forty-two percent of fraud is discovered by
whistle-blowers. Unfortunately, such individuals are often attacked for coming forward.
They are singled out and their motives are questioned. Nevertheless, the public
and the profession frequently benefit from whistle-blowers. For example, Kathe
Swanson, a city clerk in Dixon, Illinois, helped uncover $53 million in theft
from the city – or about $3,300 for every citizen in the small town. Thus, CPAs
should remember their duty to protect the public interest and report suspicious
information that could indicate fraud or theft.
Agility,
Adaptability, Action: Accounting at the Speed of Change - Kimberly Ellison
Taylor, CPA, CGMA
The accounting profession is facing
unprecedented change,
and CPAs need to be ready. Is the path they are on the path that will make them
better tomorrow than they are today? CPAs have a responsibility to leave the
profession better for the next generation than they found it.
Technology presents opportunities for CPAs to do just that. Whether
it’s a firm looking to boost efficiency and accuracy with new software and
hardware or a business trying to choose technologies that will increase margins
and boost productivity, CPAs are on the forefront of hard analysis and
decision-making. The result? Clients and customers who are better served and
more engaged.
To hear more from these speakers, check out
the full IdeaAcct session on Facebook live – Part 1 and Part 2.
Lindsay N. Patterson, CAE, Senior
Manager-Communications and Public Relations, Association of International
Certified Professional Accountants
Posted by Guest Blogger on Jun 16, 2017 in
Guest Blogger, Technology
