The theme of this year’s event was the future, and how you can prepare your practice. We all know technology is moving at a rapid rate. We also know that the things that worked just a few years ago are not obsolete.
Here are the top five things we learned about the future of accounting, technology, and what other things accountants and bookkeepers are good at.
Analytics are changing. Dave Lechleitner the Principal of Product Marketing at Exact Online stressed that one of the most disruptive technologies right now for your clients is analytics. They’re now predictive and responsive rather than the static analytics of the past.Today systems can be proactive. They can communicate when we need to do something. This is what your clients will now expect from the information you provide for them. Rather than just a health check of their business, they want to use the numbers to tell them what to do in the future.
Being a good advisor means stepping into a different role. LivePlan stressed the importance of stepping into the CFO role. With profitable businesses failing, it’s important to serve the businesses you work with what they need. And that’s proactive advice on how to not only stay in business, but also grow.
Businesses are hiring. Gene Marks talked us through the upcoming power trends. A big one is that 67% of small businesses are planning on hiring new staff in 2016. This gives a connected advisor a great opportunity to add value for their clients. Finding and keeping qualified staff is already tough. It’s even harder now with things like immigration reform, contracting rules, PTO, minimum wage, and health care reform. Suddenly something simple like hiring holiday help can have a massive impact on the business.
Online isn’t the future, it’s now. Wayne Schmidt reminded us that it’s not a matter of if we want to have an online presence, but rather what our presence says about us. In addition to giving instant social media makeovers, he talked us through the basics of getting online with your business. His big recommendation was not only using Facebook to create a page for your practice, you can also use it for market research.