Last year, The CPA Journal released an article on disruptive technologies affecting accounting and auditing education—technologies such as blockchain technology, smart contracts, robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics. They mentioned how technological changes disrupts the traditional and old-school procedures, even calling the movements of these innovations “rapid”. These changes also affect the way accounting and auditing are taught in schools.
All curriculums adapt to the changes in the environment, methods, new discoveries, and transformations, but in this era full of new emerging technologies, school systems might have difficulties in coping.
This is especially difficult on accounting and auditing since they require board exams to consider themselves professionals. Exams also face a huge problem with keeping up with technological changes which often result in CPA exams staying static in the traditional programs. Because of this, students who graduate from traditional accounting programs usually find it hard to look for jobs since their knowledge does not match their employers’ more advanced and new requirements.
The huge amount of automation nowadays also threatens the future of accountants’ jobs. Evidently, since blockchain, artificial intelligence and automation have the capacity to be accurate, fast and efficient all at the same time, future companies may consider reduction of manpower or workforce.
pity I missed this post at the time. I am a CPA and I also focus on providing CPD to accountant on an annual basis. Many accountants dont want to change either, there is a massive resistance. One of the reasons the qualifying syllabus should be under constant review.
there is plently of opertunity for accountants to provide more valued added services such as Business Intellagence now that other roles are becoming more automated. Compliance will always remain, but if accountants could add more value, they dont need to worry about their jobs.
The professional accounting bodies like CPA, ACCA, CIMA and ACA and the universities alike have been slow in revising their course content to cater to the changes. This creates opportunities for enterprising businesses to offer online courses to fill the gap. But the changes are so diverse and fast paced that, imho, even these businesses may find it difficult to cater for the demand due to constrains arising from lack of finance and qualified teaching staff.
We agree. The changes have not only been fast-paced, some have also been drastic. We can only wish for educational systems to create a curriculum that could easily keep up when there are changes, so as to provide competitive graduates for the future.