Xero Blog

For many accounting professionals, the question is no longer “how will I move to cloud accounting?”, but “when?”.

Xero Global Vice President of Education and USA Head of Accounting, Amy Vetter, recently sat down with Chris Curran and Mike Michalowicz for an episode of their Grow My Accounting Practice Podcast.

The episode discussed important questions facing accounting professionals and their move to the cloud. Vetter said accounting professionals should embrace the future of the profession.

“We’re in the future. [The technology] will continue to expand and be innovative. I think the most important thing is people are using it now and understanding the benefits of it,” Vetter said.

Vetter said cloud accounting software, like Xero, enables accounting professionals to save time and go beyond just the day-to-day numbers.

“[Being on Xero] really creates a lot of efficiencies where you don’t have a lot of that manual data entry,” Vetter said. “You can really move into the advisory services our clients have wanted us to do for so long.

“It gives us the time to actually analyze the work and be able to help those small businesses really be cashflow positive and help them with those business decisions they need on a real-time basis.”

Many accounting professionals may be asking what the future of the profession will look like with the introduction of AI and machine learning in accounting software. Vetter said this innovation will not eliminate the need for accountants and bookkeepers, rather, it will see the role evolve.

“The role itself will change, there’s always a need for accounting entry and validation and verification and all of those types of roles,” Vetter said.

“I think it’s that we start working differently and that’s the change. If we try to hold on to the way we’ve always worked that’s when things are going to pass you by … what you have to really always be thinking about in your practice is, ‘How do I plan for the future and what are the trends?’, and never get too complacent.”

In the past 12 months, Xero has shipped more than 1,200 features and product updates. Many of these innovations are designed to give accountants back time, enabling them to move to a method of value-priced billing while taking on more clients at the same time.

For those firms that have not already made the switch to cloud accounting software, Vetter recommends putting a framework in place to keep the ship steady during the move.

“[It’s about] steadily working toward a plan and having milestones that you’re trying to achieve along the way,” Vetter said.

“It’s not taking what you have today and duplicating it, it’s taking what you have today and enhancing it for the future.”

You can listen to the episode of the Grow My Accounting Practice Podcast here.

Amy will be presenting a keynote at this year’s Xerocon in San Francisco titled, “Great technology attracts great talent”, which will discuss how accounting professionals can leverage cloud technology to hire the next generation of accounting professionals. Secure your spot today.