Accounting profession must collaborate to keep up with tech developments, experts say

UK accountancy bodies and firms must work together to continue supporting individuals’ professional development amid the “unprecedented” pace of technological advancements, according to Gail Boag, executive director of learning at ICAS.   

ICAS will undertake a major chartered accountant syllabus refresh in 2024, with ethics, sustainability, and technology becoming an even more prominent part of its offering.   

Boag says the refresh will mean ICAS keeps up with the pace of technology, data, and sustainability, introducing new courses like data risk and technology and data analytics and insights. 

“The speed of change in the industry is unprecedented, and it is a real challenge for any professional qualification to be future-proofed. I do think we and other bodies manage it well. 

 “Let’s not forget, we can’t lose sight of the fact that as a professional qualification, we have to ensure that we will always cover that core technical knowledge and the skills that students need to understand.”   

Ensuring accountants keep up with technology changes and don’t “stand still” means the onus is also on firms to continue to upskill their employees, Boag adds.   

Next year, ICAS will introduce its data analytics and insights course, designed to also be delivered in shorter modules. ICAS believe this format will allow the course to cater to individuals and firms, and serve as a valuable addition to their professional development portfolio. 

“It’s a great opportunity, and if we didn’t do it, it would be a missed opportunity for ICAS, firms, and other professional bodies to work together. We’ve got to collaborate and think about that career and that lifelong journey because technology will keep changing, so the profession has to keep changing and upskilling,” Boag states.   

This is echoed by David Whitson-Black, head of leadership, talent management, and DEI at Azets, who says the firm is expanding its use of technology and therefore bolstering its upskilling initiatives. 

“We have programmes that focus on how we get everyone to a good place, but also understanding that there’s some roles that are now becoming more technology focused than perhaps they had been in the past. 

 “It’s then about how we balance that with the client work that is more traditional accountancy practice.” 

Challenging to keep up with technology for industry bodies  

Whitson-Black states that in recent years, accountancy bodies have accelerated their integration of technology and data into their syllabuses, arguing that incremental developments like this are critical to keeping up with the changing industry.  

“There’s obviously still room to improve that, but they’re doing much better now than in the past. That said, technology is changing constantly, and they don’t have the ability to always change the syllabus, so it’s year-on-year improvements that they have to make.” 

ICAS’ Boag echoes this, arguing that claims of professional bodies not keeping up with the changing landscape are inaccurate. 

“It is two elements, you’ve got your core, and it will always be there, but we have also been bringing in data and technology and looking at what that means for the firm and what that means for the student. 

“But it really is a balance between those traditional concepts, the advances in technology, and bringing the two of them together.”    

Technology attracting talent to profession  

Whitson-Black asserts that technological advancements have enabled the automation of traditional accountancy tasks, leading to a transformation in the role of accountants over the past decade. 

Technological progression like this can attract more people to the profession after the last few years have been hit with a talent shortage, says Boag.    

“I think that is a really interesting area, and new technology will attract a much wider and diverse audience into the profession. 

“So before where you would typically have people coming through accounting and finance degrees, for example, now we’re seeing people coming in with computer science degrees, engineering, maths, economics, all the sort of the wider and diverse portfolios of skills and experience.”