At a glance
- Accountants are often told coding knowledge could be good for their careers.
- Coding skills can make an accountant more marketable in a certain environment, such as in a business that is not technologically advanced.
- Some experts say a little knowledge can be dangerous, and that most solutions achievable by those with just a little coding knowledge have already been developed.
The rise of data science, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) across almost every profession, and particularly throughout accounting, has raised the question about whether accountants should be more familiar with the languages behind these technologies.
For example, a 2024 report from Accounting Insights said: “Coding skills enable accountants to automate repetitive tasks, enhance data analysis capabilities, and create custom financial models tailored to specific business needs. This not only improves efficiency but also provides deeper insights into financial data, driving more informed strategic decisions.”
That report said knowledge of a programming language such as Python or R, both used in the field of data science, can help with:
- Writing a script to manipulate or visualise data;
- Cleaning data quickly; and
- Applying specific data analysis queries to data pools to generate insightful reports.
“As the accounting profession evolves, familiarity with certain programming languages can significantly enhance an accountant’s toolkit,” the report said.
But when compared to the user-friendly, affordable and extremely advanced data-focused tools available today off the shelf, is learning coding really going to be a game-changer for accountants?
“I love the fact that people are enthusiastic and they want to know more about coding,” says Alan FitzGerald, founder and Chief Software Whisperer at Practice Connections. “However, you can’t do it half-baked.”
“It can be like that adage that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. And if you’re going into coding to solve a very specific problem or to find information, you’ll find people have already thought about it and have already developed good solutions.”
If an accountant wants to learn coding, it can be good string to their bow, FitzGerald says. But they must realise that they will need to “fail fast”.
“What I mean is that if you spend two years coming up with an idea and developing it, somebody will probably tell you that the solution was available years ago,” he says.
“I’ve come across big four firms that have told me they’re creating a revolutionary solution, and I show them a product that has been available for ages and say, ‘Oh, you mean this?’ They didn’t know it existed because they didn’t do the market research.”
Why accountants should learn to code
All skills related to accounting are marketable and coding is no different, according to the Accounting Insights report says.
Not all accounting businesses use technology to the greatest degree, so having such tools in their back pocket to pull out when they’re needed could help not just an accountant’s day-to-day work, but also their career.
Also, once a piece of code has been written, it can be used over and over. So, if an accountant has a repetitive and time-consuming piece of work, such as manually updating an Excel report or entering tax information, that job can be automated every day with code written just once.
Finally, if the accountant commits to staying up to date with developments and advancements in the programming world, they will be better able to participate in conversations around relevant investments in various technological platforms.
Why accountants shouldn’t bother learning to code
Staying up to date with developments and advancements can be a full-time job, FitzGerald says. His brother was once a full-time programmer, but as languages changed and new technologies emerged, he found his specialist knowledge became less relevant and so moved into project management of technology builds.
“He understands the structures and how it needs to be done,” FitzGerald says. “He now has young coders who know everything about the latest and greatest languages, but they don’t have the structural experience. Accountants also bring a great deal of that structural knowledge, and similarly don’t necessarily need know how to do the coding.”
Technology change happens behind us, FitzGerald says. We don’t witness it occurring until we need it or until we use it.
“So, if someone today is thinking, ‘Oh, wow, this would be great’, it has already happened,” he says. “There’s a really good chance that someone has already thought about that and productised it.”
“I don’t want to stop people having a play with technologies. But it’s best to start by taking a good look at what already exists and have a think about how much you’re dabbling in this extremely fast moving and complex space will help your business.”
Learn more information on the IPA National Congress on 27-29 November, 2024 HERE.
