Accountancy practice bosses must not overlook the role tech has in attracting and retaining staff, says a new study from IRIS Software Group.
The study of accounting students, recent grads, and early-career accountants revealed a stark gap in what technology junior colleagues expected to be in place and the reality of what practices were equipping them with!
Nearly half (43%) expected modern, cloud-based systems in place and 34% expected seamless, integrated technology across all workflows. However, 40% of respondents already in training or working full-time admitted to spending significant time on manual data entry – and a quarter (25%) work across more than five disconnected systems day-to-day.
Early career accountants revealed that these issues are leading to five hours being wasted each week, equivalent to 33 days of productive time being lost each year.
IRIS Accountancy’s Jonathan Priestley (pictured) said: “Practice modernisation is often discussed in terms of productivity and profitability. But it’s rarely considered as a factor in attracting and retaining talent – despite chronic skills shortages across the sector.
“The profession is at a crossroads. Firms are being asked to do more with less, while also meeting rising expectations for the new generation of talent who won’t accept inefficient, disconnected workflows as the norm.”
