New technologies are transforming how accountants conduct tasks – something that is reflected in ACCA’s performance objectives.
Of the major trends disrupting society and business today, the unstoppable advance of technology is arguably the most important. It’s changing day-to-day lives across the world, from developed countries to emerging markets.
This is true also for the accounting profession and is reflected in the performance objectives (POs).
Did you know that technology is mentioned in each of the five Essentials POs (1–5) and features in the Technical objectives that make up POs 6–22?
This shows that ACCA recognises the significance of technology in the profession and that it is striving to adapt the qualification to this rapidly progressing modern environment. But it also means that if you have a particular interest in using technology in your career, perhaps becoming something of a technology specialist, then you can navigate the POs in such a way as to support this.
It might not seem immediately obvious how POs 1–5 are related to technology, but a deeper look reveals a lot. For example, with PO 1 Ethics and professionalism, in a way this goes to the core of new technology in accounting, how it’s implemented and how its output – especially data – is used. Accountants will need to bring their innate sense of right and wrong, and their curiousness and inquisitiveness to make sure that technology and its vast volume of data are not blithely accepted, but rigorously interrogated and corroborated.
Or look at PO 4 Governance, risk and control – new technology is being applied across organisations to provide data that can improve governance and limit risk. Increasingly, accountants are being called on to evaluate this data to support cyber security departments and work with anti-fraud teams. They’re also required to help implement and maintain the latest internal control systems. The data from across organisations can also be applied directly to finance to support strategy and future planning.
There are 17 Technical objectives split into seven categories and you will need to achieve four Technical objectives.
So if you want to pursue a career that embraces technological innovation (which is advisable), you should take note of the opportunities to do so through your PER. Let’s explore how by taking a look at the different categories into which the Technical objectives fall:
Corporate and business reporting
Financial accounting software is constantly evolving. It’s automating many of the more traditional accounting tasks, such as bookkeeping. For accountants this means two things: first, accountants have more time to analyse financial information, find a narrative in data, and get involved with strategy and business planning; and secondly, they have a lot of ‘live’ data to manage and analyse, which means they can be called upon daily to provide insight.
Financial management
Identifying and managing financial risk is also being disrupted by technology and the amount of data that accountants can interrogate to make judgment calls. With data coming from across organisations, accountants work increasingly closely with other departments to assess financial risk in evermore ‘micro’ ways, often with finance business partners working in non-finance departments to provide ‘close-quarters’ support.
Management accounting
Again, working across departments, accountants will assess and advise on the effectiveness of an organisation’s management accounting and ICT systems. Business transformation is almost a constant in this fast-developing environment, so accountants will contribute to developing and improving management accounting systems and internal reporting by promoting the value of emerging technologies. Finance professionals are also being called upon to monitor and improve organisational performance and systems, another area being disrupted by new technology.
Taxation
As with financial accounting, tax is going digital, and fast. Tax specialists will invariably work with greater quantities of data, requiring keen analytical skills to maintain an organisation’s legal integrity. Meanwhile, filing tax computations and documents with authorities is heading to a 100% digital format in many countries.
Audit and assurance
Audit is already a data-heavy profession, but cutting edge technology is making the process more efficient. For example, audit departments at large practices are using drones to capture clients’ asset management data, which means they can more effectively assess asset quality and quantity.
Advisory and consultancy
This can be the tip of the technology arrow, where all the information collated from new technologies used to assess companies or to show why they need to invest in new technology to transform can be brought together to provide clear statistically-backed arguments.
Data, digital and technology
This one – PO 22 – is a clear boost for anyone keen on embracing new technology and data. It’s also worth noting that many employers are seeking accounting and finance candidates with data analysis skills and an ability to support systems and processes integration. This PO, with its focus on the digital revolution, will support a career plan that wants to take in greater data analysis, software knowledge and stakeholder communication.