CPAs are necessary and super helpful, but like every industry, accounting is changing. A professional who has had a steady workflow for years or even decades might find their responsibilities becoming increasingly automated today. Expected to grow approximately $9 billion over the next four years, automation will affect everyone. With so many platforms and tech-driven solutions out there, accounting as a field is increasingly shifting towards more strategic advisement services.
The CPA Exam is among the most crucial and influential examples of this movement. Since this past July, the exam’s been changed to reflect newer, tech-focused areas such as IT controls, automation, and business processes with decreases in focusing on areas like IFRS and U.S. GAAP. CPAs looking to make an opportunity out of this evolution can download this white paper on How The CPA of the Future is a Strategic Advisor.
While some accountants might look at automation as the enemy, those who are going to thrive with the times should actually embrace it. By being able to consolidate a business’s management needs into one suite where you can organize ERP, financials, CRM tasks, and e-commerce needs, like NetSuite, CPAs can free themselves up to operate at higher levels by making tech-focused recommendations, data-driven savings and investment plans, and a lot more.
If this all sounds a bit broad, it’s because the fields of accounting and financial advisement are complex. To understand the shift more specifically, check out the white paper. The presentation breaks down how the CPA Exam is broken up into four sections: Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Business Environment and Concepts (BEC), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), and Regulation (REG). It then gives examples of how most of the new changes to the exam are in the AUD and BEC sections with an increased focus on business processes, automation, data analytics, and control over financial reporting.
For aspiring CPAs, understanding these changes will obviously benefit you when taking the exam, but they’ll also help you shape a broader vision for how you’ll thrive in a changing industry once certified. Taking advantage of the tools at your disposal to offer high-level strategy, analytics, and automated services, you can become the CPA of tomorrow.
To learn how The CPA of the Future is a Strategic Advisor, download the full white paper today.