Accounting Graduates Digital Revolution

Question: Discuss about the Accounting Graduates for Digital Revolution. Answer: Introduction Accountants have often seemed to exploit the emerging technologies that assist them in fulfilling the tasks more efficiently. Flowing into the 21st-century technology can be seen trending in the cloud, social media, mobile as big data have converged to bring change in the manner in which one shares resources, knowledge, information technology and experiences (Drew, 2015). Accountant in practices and those in the finance field are a part of this tech world. It has been influential in changing the manner in which accountants communicates and collaborates with those in the business thus shaping in the new working patterns. The report herein makes a detailed discussion about the broad emerging range of technologies such as artificial intelligence and accounting software automation, and its potential to influence the profession of accountancy. Its hard to make a firm prediction about the future, but with the evolvement of technologies, its implication in the accounting field must be deter mined to maximise the technology benefits. Current and Future Technology in Accounting Careers The rising scale of technology shows advancement in all business functions and thus seen necessary within the accounting career as well. Accounting software is not new to the profession of accountancy it is rather seen quite beneficial for the accountants. However, it has radically been seen that changes are being taken place on the horizon empowering the accounting software to be independent demanding no use of accountants (Cernusca and Balaciu, 2015). The act of turning accounting online does not imply the culmination of accountants. Nonetheless, it does push accountant to strive their potential to become user-friendlier with such accounting software. Automating Accounting is not a bad thing, but its seen that softwares are likely to become more complicated with the industrial standards and provide feedback about the financial status of the business through effective monitoring. Some of the major technologies that are currently prevailing in the field of accounting are: Cloud: The web has evolved over time, and it has been able to connect multiple of computers into a network, which is an interactive computing platforms known as Cloud. Accountants are exploiting cloud in business as the computers, and data storage provide access to boundless resources without any need to make initial investment or maintenance or IT expertise (Murphy, 2015). It provides an ease of access and data sharing with few space constraints and physical space need. QuickBooks: Intuit QuickBooks are quite vividly recognised among small business as the best accounting software. It offers affordable software for small firms. It has all much-needed accounting features like financial reporting, tracking of revenue and expenses, to undertake bank and taxable transactions. It provides software with the primary feature, and the same can be customised and scaled to the growth and possible business needs. It has additional features freelancing, online merchants, consultants and service providers Fresh Books: It provides some affordable and elegant solution to cover invoicing and provide some light accounting (Jones, 2016). MS Excel: for those dealing with accounting departments and finance field, Microsoft Excel is an excellent prospect to plan forecast the financial data and smart budgets. Excel is accountants most ubiquitous tool with the help of Excel automation tools an organisation can freely access data from its ERP system within the Excel spreadsheets (Sharpe, 2016). The automation tool in Excel sheets reduces to undertake any manual effort also it connects with other systems like Oracle, Infor, SAP and ERP in real time. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): ERP can be briefly explained as a database software package, which supports businesses operations and processes. It provides accurate real-time reporting, manage and get control over one's data The above are some of the softwares that are running currently in the present accounting field but talking about the future it is essential to acknowledge about the Artificial Intelligence (AI) that has the potential to provide solutions and replace the human theories about accounting. Artificial intelligence is seen to be a mechanism or software that has the potential to demonstrate one's behaviour, which is indistinguishable from a human brain. This is not yet into being, but its presence is presumed in the near future. Accountants have been increasingly showing reliance on the expert advice of the software in various courses of scenarios. Auditors employ smart software that helps in automating sections of auditing process and help in completing the compliance process and financial reporting of taxation (Pan and Seow, 2016). It has the potential to deliver expert services more effectively and efficiently thus having the potential to replace accountant with software-based bodies. Thus, with such technological phase it has been seen imperative for Accountants to stay informed and upgrade the skills to take the possible advantage of showcasing potential to deliver high-valued tasks. Accountant Skill And Ethics Required for Accounting Jobs Professional accountants are the fundamental business pillar and are seen to develop and sustain the growth and value of an organisation. The aim is to withstand these roles and continue to meet the consistent environmental changes, as it is vital to its significance (Suddaby, Saxton and Gunz, 2015). Professional Accountants are seen to remain upfront in cases where they are required to keep the quality of financial reporting and provide a broader perspective to public with reliable information. The critical skills that an accountant is expected to remain well versed with are: Accounting Standards: Accounting standards are seen to be one of the mandatory regulatory mechanisms that brief upon the financial standings and subsequent auditing features. It is moreover concerned towards the scheme of measurement and disclosure of the provision that is related to the financial statements. The accounting standards are issued by regulatory bodies of accounting that comprise of experts specifying a policy document regarding diverse aspects of measurement, handling and disclosure of accounting transactions as well as issues (Christian and et.al., 2015). The principal purpose of introducing these standards is also to ensure uniformity in the financial reporting ensuring further consistency of information published by entities. It is important for an accountant to abide by such Accounting Standards and to comply them in their practice to meet the proficiencies of its designation. Accounting Standards are also recognition to an accountant as an individual. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): These are set up by the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) and have been recognised, as global standards that indicate on how companies are require preparing their financial statements. Accountants that are willing to expose globally and exploit opportunities available to them internationally seek to comply with such standards (Andon, Free and Scard, 2015). The setting up of such standards open up the gates of opportunity for those accountants who are willing to do job overseas and an understanding of such standards make it capable for them to compete globally. Accountants are especially entrusted upon with a crucial role of imparting the skill, knowledge and ethical sustaining of the profession to the next gen. the ethical significance has been compelling professional accountants globally regardless of performing their roles it is their dire responsibility to uphold value of professional competence, integrity, confidentiality and professional behaviors of conduit (Traistaru, 2016). Business seeks accountants that hold ethical significance and follow a moral and values which one must abide by. Due to the varying range of accountings services and growing corporate mishaps attention is drawn towards the ethical standards that one must follow within an accounting profession. It is highly important for the accounting professional to ethical in its practices as by its nature of work it has been positioned out of trust in relation to employers, clients and owners (shareholders). In order to maintain the key confidence of its clients, it is import ant to maintain an ethical conduct. Furthermore ensuring an important role towards public it is important that it performs its duty with pure honesty, objectivity, integrity, confidentiality, commitment and to consider public care before one's own. Information New to Our Group From the above briefing of knowledge in the field of accountancy, it has been seen that our knowledge in relation to the growing software in this field was very narrow. The concepts regarding accountancy were not up to the mark, and an efficient update of knowledge was required to exploit the opportunities lying forth in the changing technologies. Softwares newly introduced within the market in context to accountancy such as Cloud and QuickBooks were new to our knowledge and gaining proficiency in learning them with efficacy was a cumbersome task. While, MS Excel and ERP are some of the known softwares that have marked its prominence in the accounting field of knowledge (Walsh, 2014). They are among the basic knowledge that is seen vital for a professional accountant to be acquainted with. Accountancy with its traditional base and a paradigm shift toward modernised system indicate a strong implication towards accountant to remain well versed with the changing perspective in this fiel d of accounting. Even at its basics, it has become a requisite for accountants to have a basic knowledge of computers to strive within this competitive field of business successfully. Furthermore, it has been remarked that having a mere knowledge of such software is not enough, implementation is also equally important. Effective implementation assures far-reaching results that are important for individual as well as organisation development. It is important to hold expertise in handling such software, and for the beginner, various courses are also introduced that make one conversant with the application of such software. Skills and Ethics Need to Be Adopted for Better Career Opportunities A professional accountant in a business holds up an esteem valuable asset to its company. Such individual possess inquisitive mind for performing their tasks in context to the knowledge it possesses in respect to companys financials. Professional accountants measure their level of value to the extent of not its accountability towards own organisation but also more importantly toward the public. In order to grab the job opportunities that prospective accountant seek for following roles and responsibilities must be held by the respective: It ensures the quality of financial reporting that safeguards the integrity. They often seem to be representing at the frontline to perform the quality of financial reporting to stat clearly the figures produced by the company (Henry and Hicks, 2015). They contribute aesthetically to the overall progress and stability of society by performing the exclusive roles of taxation and auditing. The assist business with their exquisite corporate strategies and professional advice in matters of cost, profitability and mitigation of risks. They create and drive the strategic direction of business by creating, analysing and communicating the necessary financial information. It prepares and interprets accounting information like budgeting, forecasting, cash flow statements, and compliance as well as reporting variances. Considering the above description of roles it is imperative for a professional accountant to adopt the following skills and ethics that drive the purpose of its financial competencies: Adaptability towards new softwares: the rapid change in accounting field has turned out to be challenging for individual to get familiar and sharpen its knowledge to adapt towards the new accounting software's positively. It is important to remain flexible and resourceful in order to respond to such software effectively to fit the changing circumstances (Pan and Seow, 2016). Responsive: Once we hit the professional mark it is important that we update our base of knowledge with the changing amendments. Australia Accounting Standard Boards (AASB) inform about their update in standards through their online portal, and the same should be revised by an accountant to remain abreast of all the forthcoming agendas of the board. Analytical skill: these skills indicate the ability of an individual to assemble, visualise and analyse information in detail. It also directs towards the capacity one whole to see different viewpoints to specified problem (Huber, 2015). These skills are very important for solving complicated problems help in undertaking decisions in more effective manner. Analytical thinking is considered to be one of the crucial skills as it is vital in every business pursuit. Investment appraisal and Risk analysis that are used in professional space are tools that are often used to develop analytical skills. Corporate Governance: it is one of the skills that are often seen to be in tune with the job and duty of an accountant. It is expected out of him to maintain and comply with the laws and voluntary codes of practices. It is answerable towards the general public and act as a liaison between the company and shareholders. In today's scenario, it is seen mandatory for accountants to hold its authenticity against the company and not leak any confidential information that is critical to the organisation (Cernusca and Balaciu, 2015). Furthermore working as a representative accountant in any public institution it is important that the report presented must be free from any prejudice. Importance of Studying Accounting Courses Accounting is the most important aspect of a business as far as it deals with money related transactions. For those seeking a career in accounting, it is expected out of him to be well educated and versed in the accounting terms, principles and application in real time. Accounting acknowledges you about the state of business in figures and not words. In this technological era, it has been observed that labour driven jobs are disappearing and being replaced by software that perform the everyday manual tasks. But still, there is the scope of opportunity for those who are proficient in running such softwares (Sharpe, 2016). Accounting courses help in analysing the information that pertains to economic affairs of an organisation and learns the advancements traced from the emerging softwares relating towards the progress of accounting. The significance of accounting courses are stated below: Accountants are professional and having mere basic knowledge does not amount to professionalism. Accounting courses help in gaining proficiency and expertise to manage the complications within the accounting matters (Huber, 2015). Accountants to compete within the modernised world of technology need to remain abreast of all running softwares that help in doing the work at a business with ease. Accounting courses help individual to gain expertise with the accessibility of learning such software. Various Accounting Courses provide certification to individual that help it in presenting themselves to the company with authentication. Conclusion Accounting software is not new to the profession of accountancy it is rather seen quite beneficial for the accountants. Major software technologies that are currently recognised to be running in a field of accounting are Cloud, QuickBooks, Fresh Books, MS Excel and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and the perspective such as Artificial intelligence has seemed to be overshadowing the manual work with automation. Professional accountants are a fundamental business pillar. Keeping the quality of financial reporting accounting provides a broader perspective to public with reliable information and thus various skills such as responsive, adaptability, analytical and corporate governance have been identified to keep pace with the changing environment. Lastly, the significance of accounting courses is seen vital to meet the gaining proficiency in the field of accounting. References Andon, P., Free, C. and Scard, B., 2015. Pathways to accountant fraud: Australian evidence and analysis. Accounting Research Journal, 28(1), pp.10-44. Cernusca, L. and Balaciu, D.E., 2015. The Perception of the Accounting Students on the Image of the Accountant and the Accounting Profession. Journal of Economics and Business Research, 21(1), pp.7-24. Drew, J., 2015. Keep Pace with Tech Changes. Journal of Accountancy, 220(4), p.20. Henry, B. and Hicks, M., 2015. A Survey of Perspectives on the Future of the Accounting Profession. The CPA Journal. 85(8). p.6. Murphy, G., 2015. 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