What is changing in accountancy firms in 2024?

What’s new for accountants in 2024?

As technology advances, the accounting industry is expanding. The need for automated systems, more elaborate data analytics tools, and accountant outsourcing is becoming increasingly prevalent, marking 2024 as a big year for digital and operational transformation in the financial services sphere.

These are the trends that are shaping accountancy firms not just in the UK but around the globe.

Increased automation in accounting

Automation and artificial intelligence have made strides across all industries over the past few years, and the accounting industry is no exception. Throughout 2024, automation in accounting will continue to be used to enhance systematic efficiency within accountancy firms. 

Automated software programs such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools, booking tools, and even social media management tools can all be used to streamline internal processing and save accountancy firms time and money. 

Accounting automation is already a fairly integrated concept within the financial services industry, but this trend is likely to grow exponentially during 2024. 

Using more elaborate data analytics tools for accountants

Accounting is a numbers game, and few tools know numbers like a data analytics tool, especially the advanced ones available today. Data analytics tools are used to gather data and perform analyses. They then use the insights from those analyses to guide decision-making and improve operations. 

As digital transformation and integration become increasingly pertinent in the professional world, accountancy firms that utilise these types of tools can provide better accounting services and gain competitive advantages within their industry. 

For instance, an accounting data analytics tool can be used to:

• Mitigate risk: Weak spots in financial plans and areas of potential risk can be highlighted and avoided for better outcomes.
• Identify opportunities: When opportunities for financial growth arise, advanced analytics tools can detect them and offer teams the opportunity to take action. 
• Analyse client behaviour: Data analytics tools can be used to observe spending patterns and general financial behaviour, thus making it easier for accountancy firms to personalise plans.
• Evaluate performance and maximise profits: As a business, sustainable profits are crucial, and advanced analytics tools can help track growth over time. 

Data analytics tools for accountants are becoming increasingly popular in the financial sphere for their stringent ability to detect patterns, reduce risk, identify profitable opportunities, cater more specifically to client needs, and generally improve business performance. 

Adopting cloud-based accounting

Cloud-based accounting is another component of the digital transformation process that the financial services industry is undergoing in 2024. 

Cloud-based storage systems, also known as cloud computing, allow businesses (or any group of people, big or small) to store and share data in a secure, often encrypted, online hub. They allow businesses to keep their books online in one safe, organized, and easily accessible space. This also facilitates remote accounting work, too.

Moving your books to a cloud-based storage system can help your accountancy firm optimise its administration system and promote more efficiency within the workplace. It also integrates easily with other digital tools and systems for a more relevant and current approach to internal efficiency.

Accountant outsourcing

Another change in the accounting industry is an increasing openness toward accountant outsourcing. By hiring freelancers with accountancy qualifications to perform specific tasks or take on temporary but formal roles, accountancy firms can expand without the expenses previously associated with business scalability. It also permits more flexibility in an increasingly changeable world.

Accountant outsourcing is becoming more common for several reasons. It is more conducive to the continuously growing remote work culture of the 2020s and can also be easier to manage for smaller accountancy firms with a small team. 

Remote accounting work

The COVID-19 pandemic was disastrous on a number of levels, but it did bring the world’s attention to the fact that remote work works. The professional world has not quite been the same since, and this is not likely to change as statistics from 2023 revealed that 44% of UK workers were working remotely either part or full-time. 

Remote accounting work not only affords individual accountants more schedule flexibility and control over personal work-life balance but also exposes accountancy firms to a larger hiring pool. 

Without the limitations of strictly in-office hours, accountancy firms can outsource talented accountants from all over the world and give them desirable working conditions that improve engagement, increase job satisfaction, and significantly reduce office costs. 

For all of these reasons and more, remote accounting work will continue to grow as an upward trend in the accounting industry and others throughout 2024. 

Accountancy services adapting to changes in 2024

The age of digital transformation is upon us, and the changes that come with it are reflected in the increasingly advanced tools, technology, and approach to work that is emerging in 2024. This is good news for accountants and financial advisers, as it opens so many more doors.

As accountancy firms adapt to become more integrated with technology and open to more flexible employee management systems, the industry evolves, and clients can expect better, more personalised service.

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