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Original poster

Is accountancy a dying profession? Should I re-train?

13 replies

pontipinemum · 23/08/2023 10:55

Do you think with AI getting more and more advanced that accountancy as a profession is on the way out?

I have been the sole/ prime accountant in 2 companies before but I am not an assistant to the finance director. I feel some of my job can be taken over by AI to an extent anyway.

While it's more junior it suits me much better than the stress the 'big' jobs gave me, I also only work 3 days a week. I still have probably 35 years of work ahead of me and I'm starting to worry what I thought would be a life long career option might not be so.

OP posts:
Interestedinknowing · 23/08/2023 11:48

My understanding is that they are crying out for accountants at the moment 😊

Aprilx · 23/08/2023 14:27

I have been in accountancy for about thirty years and primarily have been based in multinationals. No, I do not see any sign of it being a dying occupation due to AI. Although I wouldn't go so far as to say the world is crying out for accountants. I am always taking a peek at Linkedin Jobs and there are usually hundreds of applicants for everything.

Merapi · 23/08/2023 14:36

The world will always need accountants to sort out businesses and individuals who make a mess of their accounting records and tax returns, and also to check for (or investigate) deliberate fraud.

When it comes to accounting software and AI, they are only as good as the person who programmed them or uploads data into them. Look up GIGO and PICNIC.

Original poster
pontipinemum · 23/08/2023 14:42

@Aprilx good to hear

@Merapi yes while some of it is more computerised e.g. import bank statements (something my boss can't/wont do) I still need to just my judgement as to which nominal to allocate to.

A friend I trained with was saying he thinks with uploads/ photo inputs that lower level accountants won't be needed. I hope he's wrong!

OP posts:
inverness123 · 23/08/2023 14:46

Pretty sure accountants won’t die out, but as AI does increasingly more of the work, there might be fewer jobs, especially at junior level. Though how people will be able to work at a senior level if they haven’t been through he junior roles as these are being done by AI, I don’t know. This is one of the problems of AI!

Original poster
pontipinemum · 23/08/2023 14:50

@Whoarethegrownups very true, I did wonder how any trainee's were brought on during the pandemic. It really isn't something IMO that you can learn to do from home.

I suppose I am lucky that I mostly do book-keeping work right now, nothing too complicated but I have the experience and potential to go back to being a 'proper' accountant. I work for a great company and my boss is 15 years old so maybe I will be here forever and take her job when she retires!

OP posts:
calmcoco · 23/08/2023 14:52

They've been saying this for ages but can never recruit enough accountants. Think you've a while left yet.

inverness123 · 23/08/2023 14:52

15 years old! I guess you can train to be a boss quicker than I thought! 😁🤣

MinnieMouse0 · 23/08/2023 14:52

I’m not sure what it’s like in industry but there may well be less “donkey work” in practice as clients move to Xero etc which is so useful for preparing year end accounts. AI can’t do much in the way of analysis, financial reports etc (yet!) so you’re probably safe.

Accountants are leaving in droves though, it’s not really the great profession it used to be.

Original poster
pontipinemum · 23/08/2023 15:33

@Whoarethegrownups she's pretty advanced 😂

Great, I was listening to the radio and it was on about training courses for Cyber security and I was thinking, will I need to re train as something like that. I don't think I'd like it.

@MinnieMouse0 the guy that said it about AI trained with me in practice, he's still in a big practice I'm in industry now.

OP posts:
Merapi · 23/08/2023 19:30

MinnieMouse0 · 23/08/2023 14:52

I’m not sure what it’s like in industry but there may well be less “donkey work” in practice as clients move to Xero etc which is so useful for preparing year end accounts. AI can’t do much in the way of analysis, financial reports etc (yet!) so you’re probably safe.

Accountants are leaving in droves though, it’s not really the great profession it used to be.

I disagree. They will still have to do audits for larger businesses and follow audit trails, they will still have to decide which transactions need further investigation, they will still need to check that their clients have been inputting things to the correct nominal code, they will still need to check that the accounting software was properly configured in the first place, and they will also need to check that there isn't someone with their fingers in the till... 😂

I once went to a client who had thousands of transactions in their suspense account because they hadn't set up the stock control nominal codes properly. I've been to other clients where one of their staff has said to me: "What's a bank reconciliation?". Another client had no idea of the difference between standard VAT and cash accounting, and had configured their software incorrectly when they installed it.

Many small business owners and sole traders will not know whether they can process certain transactions through their business or not. They often get it spectacularly wrong.

There are far too many stupid people for there not to be a need for accountants.

I've worked in commerce, in practice, and in the accounting software industry, and there is currently as much of a need for people who know what they are doing as there ever was.

MinnieMouse0 · 23/08/2023 20:14

Merapi · 23/08/2023 19:30

I disagree. They will still have to do audits for larger businesses and follow audit trails, they will still have to decide which transactions need further investigation, they will still need to check that their clients have been inputting things to the correct nominal code, they will still need to check that the accounting software was properly configured in the first place, and they will also need to check that there isn't someone with their fingers in the till... 😂

I once went to a client who had thousands of transactions in their suspense account because they hadn't set up the stock control nominal codes properly. I've been to other clients where one of their staff has said to me: "What's a bank reconciliation?". Another client had no idea of the difference between standard VAT and cash accounting, and had configured their software incorrectly when they installed it.

Many small business owners and sole traders will not know whether they can process certain transactions through their business or not. They often get it spectacularly wrong.

There are far too many stupid people for there not to be a need for accountants.

I've worked in commerce, in practice, and in the accounting software industry, and there is currently as much of a need for people who know what they are doing as there ever was.

Show quote history

Yes that’s what I meant by the catch all of ‘analysis’ ☺️

In general the new software is speeding input up - after a few years to allow for the clients get up to speed 🥲 MTD is coming in the not too distant future so speed will be needed!

NaturalBlondeYeahRight · 23/08/2023 20:20

It would be interesting to have a thread about which jobs will be 'safe' for a while, and which ones are at risk quickly. DD worked in PR, she reckons that'll be a tiny field in a year or two.

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