Accounting is essential to individuals and business owners. But when you picture the world in 30 or 40 years, do you see flying cars? Maybe you imagine robot personal assistants or a huge advance in cell phones. Your first thought may not be of the accounting industry, however, in the future, with technology advancement being inevitable, what happens to the business world? What will jobs look like? You may not be picturing accountants flying over cities with a cape attached to their backs, saving the world, but what does the future of accounting look like? In an era of technology, will accounting ever rule the world?
The Importance of Accounting
Proper accounting is vital to run a successful business. As a business, keeping up on ledgers, chart of accounts, expenses, incomes, and taxes will mean the difference between being profitable and compliant or losing money. While you need accounting as a business owner, it is also crucial that the numbers, reports, and figures are all accurate. Here are some ways to ensure accurate accounting in a business:
- Hire an accountant
- Purchase bookkeeping software
- Hire a bookkeeper
Accounting is also essential for any individual who may have more complex taxes to file annually. Whether you use an accounting software or an accountant, you are still benefiting by knowing your information has been submitted correctly and accurately to the IRS.
Why Accurate Accounting is Crucial
Besides taxes, accurate accounting is immensely beneficial for businesses to make informed decisions on the following:
- Budgeting-By having accurate figures on the money the business is bringing in, you can make strategic budgets for future purchases, new-hires, marketing, etc.
- By making a budget, you can plan to hire new employees, or provide your existing employees a raise or bonus. This can improve employee morale in the office which usually translates to happier employees, which then translates to a more efficient and successful business.
- Marketing is also a huge area to focus on when running a business. By putting extra money into strategic marketing, you can make the costs back up by acquiring new customers or sales.
- Avoiding Fraud-Reviewing your accounts, purchases, and other ledgers for accuracy allows you to pinpoint fraudulent charges and checks hitting your books.
- Fraud is increasing at an insurmountable rate. Fraudsters are getting ahold of business check stock and writing false checks. Once these checks are cashed/deposited, the funds are gone from the account. By reviewing your accounts regularly, you can catch potential fraud before it takes over the business.
3. Investing Back in the Business-In order for businesses to operate at their best, it is important to have the most up to date equipment and software available. Knowing when you can put money back into your business (POS systems, softwares, printers, tablets, etc.) can really create a better work environment for employees and a better customer experience. A better customer experience means returning customers and more sales!
The Future of Accounting
Accounting is essential for individuals and business owners when making important tax or bookkeeping decisions. As entrepreneurship and small businesses grow, so will the need for proper accounting. Even as technology advances and changes, there will always be a need for reporting, bookkeeping, and tax preparation in the business world. The question of will accounting ever rule the world, especially in a future promising artificial intelligence remains. Artificial intelligence is threatening to take over many industries and jobs. In accounting, artificial intelligence can bring the following benefits:
- Lower Costs-Your business can lower costs by completing tasks and reporting in a more efficient manner. Time is money. The quicker a task can be completed, the less it will cost the business.
- Provide Accurate Results-Artificial Intelligence strictly processes and formulates a large quantity of data to give you nearly perfect results every time. Think of AI as a calculator. Calculators don’t make errors. By having fewer errors, your business will be more successful.
- Remain Compliant-All industries, but specifically accounting, have very strict compliance rules and regulations they must meet and exceed. Artificial intelligence can help companies stay within these regulations through auditing, and bookkeeping. By staying compliant with government regulations, your business will be more successful while also avoiding fines/fees.
Although the prospect of artificial intelligence can be scary in the sense of job security, in accounting, AI is merely a tool to accomplish a job more quickly and accurately. A human touch and interpretation is still crucial to understanding the results of the AI reporting and calculations.
When picturing the future, some may imagine robots or artificial intelligence taking over the world. Although technology is growing smarter and more accessible by the day, artificial intelligence won’t ever truly take over the business world. AI can provide a multitude of answers to a multitude of problems, but without accounting professionals, there is no one to interpret what that data means.
As the small business and entrepreneurship world continue to increase, so will the need for accounting tools. Luckily, artificial intelligence is a huge help to the accounting industry! AI will allow businesses to have more accurate accounting results at a much more rapid pace. Although it seems that artificial intelligence is more likely to rule the world than accounting, it is important to know that accounting is crucial to every successful business owner. Having proper accounting tools and AI to assist your business may not rule the world, but it can definitely rule your world.
