It was only just a few years ago when our teams sat among the huge main sessions (unthinkable these days!) of QuickBooks Connect and Scaling New Heights. We heard all about the future of cloud accounting, how machines would be taking over, and how we could best prepare for the future of automation and AI. Truth be told, we probably could’ve given many of those presentations as we were already 100% virtual. As a general rule, we embrace technology and opportunity as a benefit to our ability to do what we do—but even so, none of us could have predicted this year.
Even though we’re still very much “in it”, we do take a pause these days to reflect on how rapidly the world shifted to the virtual workplace—and appreciate many of the takeaways we’re seeing in accounting now. We’d love to hear your experiences with shifting to virtual accounting practices—and we’ve compiled some of our key takeaways here too.
- Virtual Management Is A Skillset
Here’s the thing—many companies have had their accounting in the cloud for a while now. That made the actual functionality of keeping accounting moving forward that much easier when we all suddenly ended up at home. The real winners though? The ones whose accounting was bigger than bank recs and balance sheets. The ones who had their entire accounting management documented and accessible via the cloud were the best prepared to continue in the virtual workplace. - The Demand for Accounting Talent is High
It used to be that many small businesses turned to the local part-time bookkeeper to handle their simple bookkeeping. Ideations about expertise and know-how came second to simply “getting it done” and being affordable. That’s officially over. Since geography matters less and less but accuracy and insight matters more and more, the talented accounting professionals are in high demand. Especially those with well-developed technology muscle as well. - Accuracy is King, but Accessibility is Queen
We’ve long preached the importance of clean and accurate financials. That will never change. What has risen to meet the same level of priority is accessibility. And not simply in the idea that financials are in the cloud and can be accessed, but rather that the information is accessible and informative to key stakeholders. Gone are the days where financials only told you what happened previously. After enduring near-continuous re-forecasting during the early pandemic days, business owners and entrepreneurs know their financial data needs to tell them what is going to happen. Being able to access that kind of information? Priceless.
Will Outsourced Accounting Departments Come Out Winners After Covid-19? Read More.
