The pandemic, new technologies, and the evolving needs of the workforce have caused a lot of upheaval in the way companies do business, and the accounting industry is no different.

Next year, these emerging trends will undoubtedly change the accounting industry and the way accountants work. 

Check out the top accounting trends for 2022:

Automation 

There are no guarantees in life, but one thing is for sure: the future of accounting is automation. In fact, according to one study, there’s a 98% chance that many accounting functions will be automated in the future. 

Automation can be a frightening prospect for many accounting professionals. They are worried that they will be replaced. But the reality is, rather than losing their job to automation, many accounting roles will simply adapt along with technology. Some roles and responsibilities may change, but accounting firms will still need humans to run these automated processes and systems. 

In fact, automation will save many accountants valuable time, freeing them up to focus on other tasks such as providing excellent service to their clients or developing new strategies. 

Cloud-based Accounting 

As the country continues to deal with the new work reality presented by the pandemic, many accounting firms are moving their accounting systems to the cloud. This move makes it possible to access the files, software and data accountants need to do their job from anywhere. 

With 54% of CFOs planning to make remote work permanent, having a cloud-based accounting system will become even more important in the coming years. 

Not only does cloud-based computing make it easier to access the tools accountants need, offering remote work will also help firms attract and retain talented employees. Most firms have began offering remote work or hybrid work as a benefit, and if your firm isn’t offering the same, you could lose out on some top talent.

Search Engine Optimization

If you own an accounting firm or are in business for yourself, you know how important it is to have a website. But a website isn’t worth much if potential clients can’t find it using a search engine like Google or Bing. 

Potential clients nowadays are more likely to search Google for an accountant or accounting firm than to base their decision solely on recommendations. That’s why it’s so important to optimize your website for search engines. 

The first thing you should do is set up a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business). This will help people in your area better find your business. You should also consider implementing a content development process. Continually updating your website with new content helps signal to search engines what your website is about and can help boost rankings for your site’s pages on search engine results pages. 

While these suggestions will get you started, you should also consider hiring a local SEO agency or freelancer to perform an SEO audit of your site to identify and fix technical issues with your website to ensure your site is getting indexed and crawled by search engines. 

Need Accounting Talent?

If you need help recruiting and hiring accounting professionals in the St. Louis area, contact Burchard & Associates. We help connect talented accounting professionals with career opportunities. Contact us today.