5 trends in Cloud Accounting for 2017

• Cloud as a springboard to high value advisory services

Cloud will accelerate changes in the way the accounting industry operates, driving better conversations between accountants and their clients.  The added visibility and interaction of cloud should lead to improved service delivery and higher fees, which is a win-win situation for both accountants and their clients.

• Machine learning

Core accounting engines such as Xero and QBO are looking to take behavioural data and use this to automate and predictively undertake tasks such as transaction reconciliation, audit assurance and more.  While it's still early days, machine learning will greatly increase the usefulness of cloud systems. However, it will also threaten those who rely on manual data entry for their core business activity.

• Collaboration across borders

New technologies will drive greater collaboration of accountants across the globe, spanning from the US to New Zealand, the UK to China and Australia to South Africa.  Cloud systems like Xero and Spotlight Reporting, communication tools such as Slack and Zoom, and points of collaboration such as Trello and Google Drive mean that accountants and advisors everywhere can enter into joint ventures, collaborate and communicate more easily than ever before.

• Governments are digitising

More government agencies will embrace digital technology and software solutions.  While it won’t be a smooth ride, there will be new opportunities opening up where agencies allow or require digital interaction with accountants and SMBs.  2017 will see an acceleration of this trend and accountants need to be aware of the issues, risks and opportunities inherent in ways government adopt new ways of operating.

• Moving from Why to How

The industry has spent many years considering and adapting to change, and in some cases fighting it.  Most accountants are now acknowledging that a focus on compliance alone is a sunset strategy and that legacy systems lack the flexibility for the new way of working with clients.  Therefore accountants will worry less about the ’why’ of cloud, advisory and next generation tools, but will be hungry for the ’how‘ so that they can be part of a future-focussed profession that responds to the needs of a new generation of customers.

By Richard Francis, CEO and founder of Spotlight Reporting