Accountants ‘lag’ on tech adoption, professional bodies must drive change
The accounting profession is among the most affected and least prepared when it comes to new technology and professional associations must help drive innovation, research has found.
Professional bodies and industry associations have a “critical role” in fostering broader tech adoption in the accounting profession, research has found.
The accounting profession has been among those most affected by automation and digitisation and yet its practitioners continue to “undervalue and inadequately leverage” certain new technologies.
Professor Denise Jackson and senior lecturer Dr Christina Allen, of Edith Cowan University and Curtin University respectively, published these findings in a research article for the International Journal of Accounting Information Systems.
Data security and privacy concerns continue to pose the greatest barrier to broader adoption – particularly with technologies such as AI, robotic process automation, and blockchain.
This is unsurprising given the sensitivity of financial information, however, professional associations can help ameliorate these concerns by providing tailored support for members.
For instance, Jackson and Allen said the associations could deliver “clear value” in allaying these concerns by not only delivering support to businesses but also by lobbying the government to develop appropriate regulations.
HLB Mann Judd business transformation partner, Fiona Dixon, said industry bodies should assist in demystifying the regulatory treatment of certain technologies, including AI.
“I’m not suggesting that they start bringing out regulations, but it would be useful to know in the audit space, for example, that if you do more testing through the use of AI whether that will be accepted by ASIC,” said Dixon.
She added that industry bodies should help organisations to develop and implement AI-geared principles or codes.
“I think there’s still a long way to go in terms of the industry bodies getting on board with this,” she said.
Jackson and Allen pointed to the “important opportunity” available to professional associations to incentivise more innovative relationships with technology by showcasing its use cases.
Larger organisations tend to “place greater value” on technology adoption, emphasising the need for tailored offerings among professional associations.
Competition, the article found, is a major driver of technology uptake. For less competitive organisations, including not-for-profits, professional associations could play a determinative role in encouraging adoption.
The study also built an existing literature that asserts professional associations should collaborate with higher education providers, industry, and accrediting bodies to assist in technological adoption.
“The findings clarify the critical role of relevant professional associations in supporting members in identifying, leveraging, and managing their organisation’s enablers and berries to adopting technology,” they wrote.
The study relied on survey data from 585 accounting managers in Australia and parts of South-East Asia, and interviews with a further 20 from Australia.
The benefits of broader adoption include improved efficiency and more effective business operations, increased flexibility in integrating and generating information, and better financial reporting, they said.
According to the CPA, the key drivers of technology adoption in the profession include potential cost savings, better client experience, operational efficiencies, and developing a more innovative culture.
Interestingly, Jackson and Allen said there had been some improvements in the profession’s use of technologies since the COVID-19 pandemic.
This accords with CPA data which, in 2022, found that COVID-19 was the third strongest driver of business technology adoption.
While the shift to remote working necessitated the adoption of certain forms of technology – such as cloud computing and web and video conferencing tools – others remain underutilised.
According to Jackson and Allen, data security and privacy concerns “greatly affect” adoption, and these concerns “continue to rise” following the proliferation of public data breaches.
The views tend to differ substantially between organisations of different sizes. Smaller organisations appear to prefer a “full and fast rollout” of technologies across the business, while medium and large organisations favour slower or staged deployment.
Respondents also shared several key enablers to technology-related projects, including that they should be approached as an exercise in change management with internal support personnel.
They also suggested putting in place a project lead or manager accompanied by an appropriately skilled team, as well as realistic timelines and channels for internal feedback and collaboration.
