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Surveys show firms adopting new technologies at a rapid pace
to attract and retain talent, connect with clients and increase insights.

What is the fastest-growing challenge facing accounting firms and internal audit departments today? More than 90% point to hiring and retaining skilled accountants and auditors. Some are even turning away business due to a shortage of staff.

That’s the finding of two newly released reports by leading software provider Caseware International, which surveyed more than 6,000 accountants and auditors globally.

According to the surveys, to tackle this challenge and boost client collaboration, accounting and auditing organizations are ramping up the adoption of advanced technologies such as cloud services, data analytics and business intelligence.

The Caseware reports ‐ 2023 State of Accounting Firms Trends Report and 2023 State of Internal Audit Trends Report ‐ offer a glimpse into how accounting firms and internal auditors worldwide are adjusting to changing business environments. Responses were gathered from more than 4,100 accountants and 2,300 auditors.

The talent crunch

Nearly 35% of accountants cite finding the right talent among their three biggest practice management issues over the past year, compared to just 14% of accountants who cited it last year ‐ making finding talent the fastest-rising industry challenge.

More than 90% of accountants and 95% of auditors surveyed find it either challenging or extremely challenging to hire skilled talent. When retaining talent, more than 85% of accountants and 90% of auditors said it is either somewhat or extremely difficult.

“With unemployment rates at historic lows, it’s not surprising that accounting firms and audit teams are having difficulty finding and retaining staff,” said David Osborne, CEO at Caseware. “Companies seeking top talent need to employ innovative strategies to address this challenge, such as improving compensation, implementing more flexible work policies and adopting technologies that allow staff to work more creatively and efficiently.”

Technology challenges

Other top practice management challenges cited by accountants relate to new ways of working, including communicating with clients in a virtual world (40%), using new technologies (38%) and adjusting to working remotely (35%). Auditors pointed to moving from manual to digital processes (38%) and adopting new audit technology (36%) as the main issue.

“Accounting and auditing professionals are still coming to grips with technologies that most were forced to adopt due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are placing a heightened sense of urgency on adopting new technologies to enhance their work processes, collaboration and insights,” said Davis Jackson, Chief Commercial Officer at Caseware.

According to the reports, almost 70% of accounting firms expect their rate of technology adoption to increase over the next two years, while more than 80% of internal audit teams are already employing cloud technology.

“Clients today expect their accountants and auditors to deliver more than just numbers ‐ they want deeper insights to help direct their business strategies, so it’s not surprising that more and more professionals are turning to intelligent technology to enhance their role as strategic advisors,” Jackson said.

Other highlights include:

2023 State of Accounting Firms Trends Report

● While nearly 80% of accounting firms use client collaboration tools, almost 52% said their client engagement process is only somewhat efficient.

● Nearly three-quarters (74%) of accounting firms plan to adopt new cloud technologies over the next two years.

● More than half of accountants (56%) have adopted business intelligence software to advise and guide clients on their finances and risk factors, while 30% say they are planning to invest in it.

2023 State of Internal Audit Trends Report

● More than 60% of auditors said the amount of advisory services they provide has grown over the past year.

● Analytics are a critical operational tool for more than 55% of internal audit teams.

● Nearly 42% of auditors said their most significant internal pressure is to prove their value to their organization.

About Caseware International

Caseware is the leading global provider of desktop and cloud-enabled solutions for audit, assurance, financial reporting and data analytics for accounting firms, corporations, and government regulators. Caseware’s innovative tools and platforms help more than half a million customers in 130 countries work smarter, dig deeper and see further as they transform insights into impact.

With the rise in remote working spurred by the pandemic, almost two-thirds of accounting firms plan to adopt some form of cloud technology in the next two years to improve virtual collaboration, visibility, and efficiency. Of those, one-third are accelerating implementation within the next 12 months.

That’s the finding of a recent study conducted by leading software provider CaseWare International, which surveyed 3,095 accounting professionals globally about current industry challenges – from practice management and client/colleague interaction to attracting top talent in an increasingly virtual world. The results are compiled in a first-of-its kind 2022 State of Accounting Firms Trends Report which is accessible free of charge.

“We are driven by the needs of the industry and what we hear from this report is that remote work has accelerated the move to the cloud and those who are embracing new technologies have the competitive edge,” said Dave Osborne, CEO at CaseWare. “This is a clear indication that firms of all sizes need tools that go beyond securely sharing files, and the cloud is where the adventurous forward thinkers are headed to equip themselves for effective collaborative work.”

Why cloud technology? For half of those surveyed, the benefits include easier collaboration and reducing errors through standardization of processes and tasks. Forty-five percent of respondents think cloud technology improves client relationships, while 41 percent believe it saves time and costs. Others cite as advantages real-time access from any portable device, increased security, mitigating risk, and adding flexibility and scalability to help grow their business.

“An increasing number of firms recognize that cloud technology can be more efficient by enabling instantaneous, interactive reviews of continuously-updated engagement files, keeping track of deliverables so managers can quickly reallocate tasks among staff to ensure workloads are equally distributed, and answering team member questions in real-time, even at different locations,” said Scott Epstein, Chief Product Officer at CaseWare.

According to the study, the cloud is not the only advanced technology accountants are bringing into their practices. Ninety percent of respondents are using some form of data analytics to glean more insight from their data, while more than half of participants (51 percent) are using software automation to reduce the time they spend on repetitive tasks.

Other report highlights include:

When it comes to the biggest practice management challenges faced this past year, nearly half (47 percent) of those surveyed point to new tax laws, regulations and deadlines brought on by the pandemic, while 43 percent cite using new technologies. Others see a lack of direct interfacing with clients, adjusting to working remotely, cybersecurity/fraud threats, and finding the right talent as key concerns.

More than half of respondents say they would like to have more visibility into their staff members’ workloads, such as on which engagements staff are spending the most time, with what tasks they are most consumed, and how effectively they are meeting deadlines. They would also like more visibility into their firm’s operations and engagement workflows, such as the current status of the many tasks that go into an engagement (whether they are open, unassigned, or overdue, for example), whether deadlines are overlapping, or where work can be reallocated.

Most respondents (77 percent) indicate they use a collaboration software solution to communicate and share files with clients. However, the majority (57 percent) feel their overall client engagement process is not as efficient as they would like. For some, the barrier is related to finding time to exploit the technology or internal resistance to new tools.

Finding and hiring the right talent is a top issue for accounting firms, with 94 percent of those surveyed describing it as challenging and 42 percent calling it extremely challenging. Nearly nine in 10 find hanging on to staff to be either extremely challenging or somewhat challenging.

“As long as COVID-19 persists, technology, virtual collaboration, and visibility will continue to be top priorities for accounting professionals,” Epstein said. “Given the efficiencies the cloud brings and the headaches it eliminates, accounting firms that stay rooted in pure on-premises technology approaches are almost certain to fall behind their cloud-enabled competitors.”

Number Crunch: Nine in 10 Accountants, Auditors Struggle to Find Talent

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