Accountants are known as a numbers person, but in the age of technology, big data and lots of competitors, they have to be a combination of a people person and technology person.
As an outsider to the accounting industry, I realize that technology will be the key driver of change. Cloud-based accounting software is still not the norm and the traditional desktop is not going to disappear and mobile devices are everywhere. The modern accounting firm will have to create a hybrid access network.
The replacement sitting between the hybrid access network, the client and the firm is an expert system, and it will take the form of a chat-bot.
Machine learning, natural language processing, artificial intelligence and process robotics automation will create a type of accounting services providers to deliver traditional accounting services. The demand for accounting services will not disappear, accounting service provider, rather than the accounting services industry, will be generating the revenue.