Given that the consequences of the pandemic are still relevant, businesses across industries are looking at different ways to ensure sustainability over prolonged periods of economic uncertainty. The year 2020 saw businesses adapting to technology at an unprecedented pace across diverse industries. Accounting as a function has been gradually adapted to technological advances over the past few years. According to reports, 83 percent of accountants agree that investing in digitalization is necessary to keep up with the market. This fact is separate from the adoption of technology, which has helped businesses operate remotely and remain sustainable.

As we work through 2022, here are a few accounting trends to help your business grow faster and improve your business’s profitability.

Accounting automation and software solutions

Automation for accounting processes has been gaining ground steadily; it helps reduce the workload for time-consuming and attention-intensive tasks while ensuring higher accuracy and reduction of errors.

Additionally, increasing labor costs (29%) represented one of the biggest concerns for accounting firms in 2020. Therefore, the need to shift certain functions to automated processes makes sense. This situation also aligns with the high furlough rate that occurred as a result of the pandemic. Together, these factors make a stronger case for accounting automation.

It also helps to keep in mind that automation of accounting processes does not make accounting professionals redundant. Instead, automation takes over high-volume, time-consuming work from human capital. This step ensures that trained and skilled accounting professionals can shift their focus from resolving accounting and bookkeeping problems to actual business management.

Reports reveal that accountants are either already training for or considering training in other areas, including client management and business advisory services (63% respondents) or business management (59%).

Outsourcing accounting functions

More businesses realize the benefits of outsourcing as economic uncertainties continue to loom. The numerous benefits of outsourcing “detailed attention” intensive functions such as accounting and bookkeeping include:

• Ensuring reliable, error-free accounting and bookkeeping work

• Freeing up trained resources so they can shift their focus to higher-priority work, including financial management and auditing of accounting reports

• Delivering value to existing work by making it more accurate through automation while extending support to new business efforts through a proven system and infrastructure.

• Reducing expenses associated with hiring, training, and retaining resources

Shifting to Cloud Accounting

From on-site operations to cloud-based accounting, the shift has been gradual and noticeable. Given the multiple benefits of cloud-based accounting, businesses can add value to deliverables without increasing costs and expenses. Here are some key considerations why shifting to cloud accounting makes sense for accounting practices:

• Cloud accounting helps businesses store and save information in the cloud and access it easily.

• Cloud-based access saves on expenses associated with needing a physical location; renting or owning can be costly, especially for small to medium-sized businesses. A Forbes report says how moving to the cloud saved businesses 30-50 percent overall, compared to refreshing their on-premises infrastructure.

• Cloud accounting helps ensure better security and safety of data, including customer data, because of digital measures like password protection, encryption, and authorized access to select individuals.

Leveraging professional assistance: Partnerships

When it comes to cloud accounting, electronic storage, and secure backups, all of these require a robust infrastructure. These requirements can prove to be expensive for a business just starting out. Outsourcing accounting and bookkeeping functions or partnering with professionals can help ensure your practice aligns with industry norms. Given the proven systems professionals possess, partnering with them allows businesses to access resources otherwise inaccessible to them. Because cloud accounting is technology-based, it also needs expert deployment. For professionals, this is easier because they have resources ready to hit the ground running.

Consider speaking to your Capex Financial and Tax advisors to learn more about how professional accounting services, bookkeeping services, and customized automation can help your business. For an in-depth discussion on this click on this link —> https://capexcpa.com/contact

-The Capex CPA Team