Prime’s downloadable White Paper titled “The Power of Insight” outlines how the disruption caused by technology has reduced reliance on accountants for compliance services.
The accelerating rate of technology, combined with shifting customer preferences is set to have dramatic implications on the way in which accounting services are organised, delivered and consumed.
The challenge that accountants are facing is how to adopt these developments to leverage their established, strong, trusted relationships to get closer to their clients and deliver services and solutions in real time.
These findings should not only be seen as a call to adapt to survive, technologies are producing opportunities that offset these challenges. The mobile channel is providing ample opportunity to cultivate deeper customer engagement and unparalleled distribution, and is a crucial channel for engaging with highly mobile, entrepreneurial high net worth clients.
The ability to process large amounts of data has also been increasing exponentially through enhanced processing power, storage density and average connection speeds. Effective use of data provides a huge competitive advantage that is separating leading accounting firms from those that lag behind.
Firms leveraging cloud technology have introduced scalable new degrees of standardization and self-service and are benefiting from flexible hosting contracts that create sizeable gains in cost and efficiency.
The relevance of online communities as a platform for clients to share sentiment towards products and services has shaped a new paradigm of ‘trust’, with people increasingly looking to ‘people like me’. Prime sees this as a vital channel to address a prevalent trust deficit, engage and add value as the client’s trusted adviser.
At the same time, Mr Madder warns that upgrading technology cannot be considered in a vacuum. Firms need to map out their workflow and make sure they are utilizing the best solution that offers a means to enrich and extend client relationships.
The best firms will prepare its members to survive and thrive, increasingly focused on their market place, innovation, and providing agile responses to grow and drive sustainable future value.
To learn more, download the White Paper
