When it comes to accounting and bookkeeping for small to medium-sized businesses, the benefits of getting professional help are well known. These benefits are set to increase dramatically as we approach the year 2017!

Professional accountancy helps save businesses crucial time, ensures compliance, maximises the chances of turning a healthy profit and promotes business growth – plus so much more.

But like any professional field, and especially in the rapidly changing 21st century, accountancy is not standing still. Just as the writer no longer uses a typewriter, the world of accountancy has changed fundamentally, and those changes sped ahead at an astronomical rate in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The speed of change in the accountancy world will continue to rapidly evolve in 2017, so let’s look at what has changed and what to expect for 2017:

1. The Cloud

In short, while ‘the cloud’ may have been an accountancy buzzword a few years ago, it’s rapidly becoming a must as we look ahead to 2017. Basically, it’s accounting not on paper or even on computers, but through software that’s online or ‘in the cloud’, making life simpler and easier not just for clients but also accountants.

Arguably, accountancy was late to the ‘cloud’ party, but in 2017 there will be unprecedented access to online accounting services as technology options and client numbers grow.

2. Social Media

We’re all on social media these days, and by ‘We’, we don’t just mean Mum, Dad and Grandma, but the world of business at large. For the accountant, this means not only reaching out and engaging with more people but maintaining and expanding upon business partnerships and much, much more.

3. Outsourcing

Outsourcing is a rapidly moving trend in the world of accounting because it was once considered a domain only for the biggest businesses. But now, outsourcing is available to enterprises of just about any size, levelling the playing field with tools, methods, experience, qualifications, expertise and ambitions that were once the preserve of industry leaders.

4. Collaboration

The ‘cloud’ may be the big C word in accountancy, but another C is not too far behind. The way software, technology and tools are racing ahead means collaboration between clients and accountants is becoming closer than ever. This is being achieved through the easier exchange of information and advice, and the way communication is evolving, with instant and video chat replacing email, for example.

If you’re thinking about how accountancy could help your business achieve greater success in the new year, contact us at AFY today.