A significant majority of accountants believe that advising clients on the best use of IT to maximise the efficiency levels of their enterprises will play an increasingly central role in accountancy jobs.
That is according to a study from the accountancy software developer E-conomic, which looked into the challenges facing the profession today, and those likely to rear their heads over the coming years.
Of those qualified professionals polled for the study, which has been reported on by Accountancy Age, 80 per cent stated a belief that technology will become an integral part of accountancy jobs, with one in three hopeful that they will soon no longer be confined to a single office, but instead will be able to use cloud-based systems to work alongside clients remotely.
Commenting, Anders Bjornsbo, operational director at E-conomic, stated: "The speed of change brought about by online technology has been the elephant in the room for too long.
"While for most the totally paperless office remains an unattainable vision, the responses we received to our survey clearly show that technology is firmly at the centre of the future of accountancy."
News of the study's findings come soon after the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) argued that changes need to be made to mergers and acquisitions accounting rules.
