In an interview for DECISION magazine, BKL’s Head of Property & Construction Jason Appel discusses the role of IT and technology in helping accountants to make a difference to clients.
“Having live data means that an accountancy firm has to change the purpose of what it wants its people to do, which should be to interpret and understand data, to provide insight for the client. This couldn’t be more removed from the traditional end of year focus.”
“An SME would have been able to identify their best clients in terms of sales or even margin, but a data driven approach means they can understand precisely why those particular businesses are most valuable to them.”
“We have seen companies which have insisted on scoping and specifying their new system themselves without any input from an adviser, so there is no fresh thinking about what information they really need to get out of it, how, and when. It’s why we have management accountants whose focus is to look at a company’s existing system, exploring could be done better, and to help build the specification.”
“Technology is driving the profession. The choice is whether you adopt it to build a relationship-based advisory role rather than see it as something to hide behind. When we are considering the appointment of a candidate, we look at their ability to provide an advisory role, to sit in front of the client and interpret data, rather than just recount what has been processed.”
You can read the full interview here.