Are Ohio CPAs ready for accounting transformation?

Are Ohio CPAs ready for accounting transformation?

By Donny C. Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA

Poll responses at OSCPA's October Virtual Town Hall session indicated that attendees felt their teams were ready to navigate the accounting technology environment, yet many haven’t adopted technology tools.

As an advocate for accounting transformation, this dichotomyis one that I’ve seen many times – people saying that they areready but haven’t taken action to ensure adoption of the newtechnologies and business practices needed to embrace thistransformation.

Readiness to navigate accounting technology changes

OSCPA President & CEO Scott Wiley, CAE, opened theTown Hall with a great explanation of the impact of emergingtechnologies and how CPAs need to embrace the comingchanges both in their work practices as well as for theirorganizations. When he asked them “when it comes toaccounting technology, how well is your team prepared tonavigate the environment?” about 61% indicated a high levelof readiness, saying their staff was well versed, a strategywas in action, or they were fully involved. Only about a thirdsaid they were just getting started. Given that there were564 responses to this poll, this is a pretty significant sample,and indicates a higher level of readiness then I have seen inmost states.

CPA Evolution will require more accounting technology readiness by 2024

The AICPA and NASBA have released a new model accounting curriculum where much of what was previouslyconsidered the domain of an “IT specialist” or Certified IT Professional (CITP) will now be part of the base accountingcurriculum. The CITP is a credential that represents a deeperknowledge of information management and technologyassurance, combined with the business acumen of a CPA.The CITP will remain a specialty credential because it requiresfive years of experience and additional training, but the pathtoward CITP will be much more prevalent in the InformationSystems and Controls (ISC) path within the CPA Evolutioncurriculum model – the path that is essentially the new audit –focused path.

The curriculum changes recommended by CPA Evolutionwill also be incorporated into a revised CPA Exam starting in2024. This mean that accounting graduates (i.e., entry levelaccounting staff) will have a much stronger technology skillbase than many current practitioners.

The Town Hall poll indicates the path that CPAs shouldconsider is helping their teams be ready to assist in increasingadoption of technology in the profession. First, understandwhat differentiates accounting technology from “traditional IT”– most of this will be in the form of business application and mitigating their associated IT-related risks (i.e.,the need for better IT general controls). Second,start training your teams on the technologiesand techniques needed to leverage accountingtechnologies. Once your team is well versed inaccounting technologies and understands thechanges they will bring to accounting processes,develop a strategy for incorporating thesetechnologies and business process changes intothe way your department provides its services– whether to clients (public accounting) or toother management colleagues (finance). Lastly,ensure that you have a continuous improvementprocess in place to ensure that your team andorganization stays abreast of new innovationsand their implications.

High readiness but low adoption

Another poll during the Town Hall, however, showed thatwhile people felt they were ready to deal with accountingtechnology, there is actually a low number that have actually adopted some of the key technologies. In fact, almost a third said they haven’t adopted cloud computing, robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), or cryptocurrency. (Total response was 628 people.)

Just over half indicated they have adopted cloud accounting,but only 8% have adopted RPA and only 6% AI. Theseare fairly low numbers – especially with RPA and AI – andindicate these would only be the “leading edge” adopterswho are using these technologies. Cryptocurrency had only0.2% adoption (one person). However, this is not surprisinggiven the tax implications of transacting in cryptocurrency. Ipersonally don’t think we’ll see high cryptocurrency adoptionuntil we see the US Treasury support a digital dollar that istruly treated as currency.

Accounting transformation in 2022

The flipside of the results of the technology tools poll is there is a great opportunity for OSCPA members to leverage their membership to increase their adoption of accounting technologies. OSCPA is working to build out its accounting transformation curriculum in 2022 and as the Inspiration Architect for the Center for Accounting Transformation (www.improvetheworld.net), I’m pleased to be collaborating with the OSCPA team to bring more transformative programs to Ohio Society members in the coming year. Keep your eyes open for more information and courses to help upskill your teams and transform accounting!

Donny C. Shimamoto, CPA, CITP, CGMA, is the founder and managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC, a non-traditional CPA firm focused on innovation acceleration and organizational development for small businesses, middle market organizations, and nonprofits. Additionally, he formed the Center for Accounting Transformation, which provides accounting professionals with a framework for utilizing innovations that are ready for adoption, the training and resources necessary to apply the innovations, and an opportunity to engage the talent and community needed to further the pursuit of innovative accounting practices that drive responsible and mindful business performance. Donny is a recognized thought leader and educator in the fields of accounting technology, innovation, IT-related risk management (including cybersecurity), and performance management. He welcomes questions or comments about the article at: donny@intraprise.us.