January is a tough time for accountants, in general. Working long hours due to year-end close, they often go to work and return home in the dark. It’s easy for accountants to lose their focus and momentum under the strained workload.
As the year progresses, the sun will stay out later. Spring is on its way, and with it, new changes are on the horizon for accountants. Implement some of the suggestions below to help your accounting team avoid burnout and ease their workload throughout 2023.
Accounting Challenges
LeaseQuery conducted an Annual Accountants Survey at the end of 2022 to gauge the top challenges accountants are facing. Addressing these challenges can provide a better working environment and help retain accountants in the field.
Internal change management, adoption, and training
When asked about the top challenges facing accountants, internal change management, adoption, and training was the top answer. Responsibilities are often spread too thin to buy into new technology.
Cybersecurity threats
Cybersecurity threats are on the rise. Accounting firms and other financial institutions are the perfect target for hackers, as they provide access to tons of data. Prioritizing cybersecurity risk is critical. Moving data to the cloud is a reliable solution to protect data.
Automation can simplify accounting
Automation is at the top of everyone’s accounting wishlist. Using automated software saves accountants time, reduces errors, and generates reports faster. Automation gives accountants more flexibility so they can respond to the increased demands of their role without overexerting themselves.
Save time
According to the Wall Street Journal, overtime hours and heavy workloads are straining the accounting profession. The pay for the amount of work just doesn’t add up for many upcoming accountants. Automation can help solve this issue.
Manual data entry is time-consuming. With the right software, the amount of time spent logging data is reduced drastically. With quicker reconciliations, automation simplifies and speeds up the entire accounting process.
Reduce errors
Along with the amount of time saved, automation also reduces the number of errors, leading to quicker calculations and reports. Accountants won’t have to go back and find where they made mistakes and fix them manually.
Automation of data entry and other mundane, repetitive tasks opens up more time for ad hoc reporting and research. Anomalies in the data can be looked into uncovering larger errors/uncovering errors before they become significant issues.
Invest in technology
Our survey shows that over half of companies have invested in technology to support:
- Accounts payable and/or expenses
- Financial reporting
- Accounts receivable and/or billing
- Month-end close
However, the functions of lease accounting, inventory, and auditing are still being done without the aid of technology for over half of accountants.
Summary
The accounting field is undergoing a lot of change as technology advances and older methods of working are left behind. For more information about accounting technology and current challenges, check out our Annual Accountants Survey: Top Challenges & Tech Wishlist.
