3 Trends in Accounting to Watch This Year

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You can’t turn a new year, or new quarter of a century for that matter, without prognostication. So here’s what I see to keep an eye on this year in accounting.

Just a sidenote before we jump in. The fact is, we all like lists; at least I’ve found accountants do. And something about odd numbers is also often appealing. So, when I set out to make a list of trends to watch for, I was mindful of this, and also the fact that five may be too many things to keep an eye out for in one calendar year.

No one can really know for sure how these things go or how accurate they will be, so don’t blame me if something is off. However, I’m fairly confident these are going to be the biggest trends in 2025.

1.) AI Will Continue to Grow in Attention and Importance

This one may be a no-brainer, but this year I think we will truly see how AI tools and the platform in general can impact accounting. We’ve already seen some recent, serious investment in the accounting function and workflow side from the likes of Basis and Truewind, among many others coming into or already growing in this space.

Certainly there will be some trepidation and attrition as expected, but overall AI is here; it is maturing by the day, and finding what works most for your practice is going to be what it’s all about. Like cloud before it, AI already has the potential to fundamentally impact the “how we work” portion of accounting, and far more in the foreseeable future.

But this year is when we truly see more of how AI gets used, and those who’ve actively ignored it will find it increasingly difficult to do so.

2.) A Decrease in Outsourcing/Offshoring Services

While the outsourcing of tax and accounting functions such as prep and basic bookkeeping is not new, the rise in the amount of services entering this space (or marketing to it) has been most prevalent over the past few years. Basically, since the Pandemic pushed many practitioners over the edge, causing them to rethink the amount of “grunt” work they actually did, outsourcing services (most of them in India or the Philippines) have been heavily marketing to accounting firms with the hope of garnering their business.

Anecdotally, accountants on a regular basis have said how frustrated they are with the amount of unsolicited emails and LinkedIn requests for meetings they get from outsourcing companies. And, at a recent accounting technology conference, as many as 37 separate such companies were in attendance, promoting their services.

Firms will continue to look for ways to either reduce or move away from the most time-consuming of tax and accounting tasks. And the value these service providers offer is, in many cases, welcome, with solid relationships to boot.

But the fact is there is only so much the market will bear. This is why I am saying this year it is time for a contraction, and many of them will either leave the market or simply close altogether.

3.) An Increase in Life/Work Balance Moves

This latest prediction has, admittedly, been a wish of mine for quite some time, but anecdotal evidence indicates we will start to see more accounting firms and individuals embrace what I refer to as true “life-work balance.” Burnout and accounting have long been synonymous, but I have been seeing, and will likely continue to witness, a collective conscience that it simply does not have to be this way.

True life-work balance does not happen overnight. It takes planning, commitment, and a clear “tone from the top” at the firm level to enact policies and procedures that put people’s health and well-being at the forefront. This doesn’t mean work stops or quality decreases. Far from it.

What it means is firms value the sanity of their staff, and in an effort to be the most productive and efficient, measures need to be taken to ensure they are happy with the work as well as the environment they work in. This is why, in my boldest prediction yet, I say this is the year we will see accountants, on the largest scale ever, finally say “no” to burnout and “yes” to what can actually make being an accountant better.

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