“Technology is like electricity. It just is.
It is all about how we implement it to work for us”
Luan van Rhyn
The role of the Accountant has changed so much in the last 5 years that you have to think twice some days about what your actual role is.
The exciting thing about it all is that we just got started! There are more radical shifts coming. Shifts we cannot anticipate yet…
Many fellow Accountants I speak to are intimidated by this, unsure of where they will fit into this and how it will affect their practices. In all of this, we see opportunity!
Opportunity
We see the opportunity to add value on different organisational levels that are not strictly finance only. The Digital Accountant is one that plays a pivotal role in strategic thinking on how to manage processes and integrate the appropriate systems and apps. One that manages the big picture outcomes through the use of technology. Technology is not there to replace us. It is here to enable us.
It is really important to come to terms with the fact that what we were taught over the last hundred years, is no longer best practice. To not even mention, relevant.
If not COVID19 – It will be something else
If there is one history is teaching us, is that if it is not COVID19, it will be something else that threatens the livelihood of your business. The idea of future-proofing your business, therefore, becomes an ideal that should be embedded into your business model. Something you strive to achieve each day. You never know. The future might just be tomorrow. Many business owners we talk to have now realised that they stuck to their old ways for too long, and now pay the price. Some are greater than others.
It is not about the apps
There is one mistake we made 6 years ago and many of the clients we speak to today still make. The idea is that when I subscribe to a specific app, my business became a digital one as a result. It could not be further from the truth. Truly moving to a digital business, involves so much more. It requires the complete re-engineering of business processes. We have to rethink how we engage with our customers, how we deliver on our promise of service/product excellence, and how that will all affect our bottom line. Driving efficiency and profitability is at the heart of the change we’re making. The one that goes unseen unfortunately is connection.
Our AppsMap
Connection
We are not talking about connections, as in digital connections, where apps share information with one another. We are referencing more human connection
The more digital we become, the greater the need for human connection and interaction.
In our firm, we place great emphasis on personal interaction. We have built up an ecosystem of apps that allows us to deliver more consistently on that drive. The promise is to deliver a more efficient, more cost-effective, but mostly, more personal service. The more of the transactional, repetitive tasks we can automate and streamline, the more time we have available for the real things that matter.
Talking to our clients.
