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How important will tech skills be for accounting?

I want to go into accounting, but I am not too tech savy. I keep hearing about how tech is becoming more integral to the accounting world at an exponential rate, but I was wondering how in-depth tech will be for accounting in the next 10 years.

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Ann’s Answer

<span style="background-color: rgb(253, 253, 253);">Hello Joseph, Having technical skills is critical to the future of the profession. I would recommend in addition to your accounting major perhaps consider be a double major or minor such as data analytics. Being able to extract data and understand the story will be critical to success.</span>
Thank you comment icon My issue with that is that I am already going into a double major in finance and accounting. My degrees require me to take some data analytics courses though Joseph
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Zach’s Answer

Not sure any of us know what technology looks like 10 years from now in any industry but given where it is today, it will be critical to any profession. I'd find other ways to stay connected to the explosion of technology (not just in audit), whether through school organizations or podcasts - I personally listen to Data Skeptic, Data Stories, DataFramed and Talking Machines. Many of the accounting firms will make sure you have the necessary knowledge, experience and skillsets to use and audit whatever the technology looks like 10 years from now. Hope this helps, but happy to discuss further if you have further questions.
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Mikayla’s Answer

Hi Joseph,

Tech skills are definitely important to have in accounting. However, most people learn these on the job. I've seen many associates at my firm who don't know how to do many things in excel, such as pivot tables, but are able to learn either from co-workers or online trainings. Additionally, trainings are provided for more difficult softwares, such as alteryx and tableau. As long as you are willing and eager to learn, not having many technical capabilities should not be too much of a hindrance
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Monica’s Answer

I have been working in public accounting, specifically in Tax, for about 1 year and I have found technology skills to be essential in my day to day life. I am working with large sets of data and am challenged to analyze the data and present it to management in the most summarized way possible. I utilize Excel and Alteryx for these tasks. In addition, I have created technology solutions (using BOTS) to automate some of the repetitive tasks that I do. Automation is so important in today's business world. If you can gain the skills to analyze data and built technology solutions, you will be successful in the changing accounting world.
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Paras’s Answer

Great question Joseph - your definitely on the right track as technology is growing more and more popular in the work place. I'd say as already mentioned in this thread - data analytics would be a great area to get yourself familiar with as it will help open you up to many different roles, experiences and responsibilities and will help set you apart from others. Also would recommend being proficient in both excel and alteryx as both are heavily used in the accounting industry. I also agree with what Mikayla said above -- as long as you are eager to learn and willing/able - these technical capabilities aren't a must but instead a differentiating factor that can help you progress further
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Victoria’s Answer

Hi Joseph, great question! Tech skills will only continue to be needed more and more in the accounting field and they are currently highly sought after in most industries, including accounting. At the big four firm where I work (PwC), we are currently in the middle of a firm-wide digital initiative where the the firm is rolling out multiple ways for staff to digitization/automation their current processes across all lines of service (Assurance, Advisory, Internal, etc.). Additionally, employees are being offered trainings on software such as Alteryx and Tableau, which are now required (at a beginner level) at every level within the firm. So, it would be great if you could stay ahead of the curve and become seemingly well-versed with these technological platforms and continue working on gaining a general idea of what these digital platforms do and how they help to automate processes in our industry!

Victoria recommends the following next steps:

Look into college courses around technology as a helpful elective
Listen to tech podcasts, read articles about tech initiatives in the industry
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Tom’s Answer

Technology will continue to become more integrated in most jobs including accounting. I know that it can be daunting to hear that as someone who isn't the most familiar with technology. However, the great part is that you can always learn new technology skills throughout your career. For accounting, I would say that excel is still king when it comes to technology/software used in accounting. There are tons of resources that you can access through a Google search to learn and grow your excel skills. Also, data analytics is becoming a major part of accounting as well. I would recommend that you take a few data analytics courses in college and familiarize yourself with Tableau and Alteryx.
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Ian (Carl)’s Answer

Tech skills is very important in the accounting field as companies have to keep up with the continuous advances in technology. However, companies usually provide adequate training for the use of these technology tools. I think that your current tech skill level should not deter you from pursuing a career in accounting. This is something that you can improve on over time. Also, researching is a valuable skill to have in public accounting because of the dynamic nature of the field. So, regardless of the changes of the technology in the future, the important thing is to know how to find & utilize the resources to keep up with the technology knowledge demands of the field.
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