There’s a well-worn phrase in the service industry about the customer being king.
For accountants, having to come to terms with technological change and the changing habits and requirements of customers, making the client king has become more of a challenge.
They are having to adapt to the explosion of cloud accounting technology, which presents challenges not only with the threat of accounting software vendors selling direct to clients, but the expectation of customers
One of the UK’s largest private software companies, IRIS Software, found that accountants are under more pressure as one in three (32 per cent) say clients now expect them to deliver advisory services on top of day-to-day compliance work, and without paying additional fees.
Analysis from IRIS indicates there are 71,000 UK accountancy firms and before the pandemic 75 per cent of them were still paper-based, desktop driven and with mainly manual processes. The research believes this number has now dropped to 25 per cent, meaning three in four have gone digital.
The firm’s data now suggests almost half of IRIS customers are in the process of moving some operations to the cloud which is vital with the introduction of Making Tax Digital.
This change allows accountants the ability to evolve and diversify their service offerings and concentrate more on advisory roles, making their services more specialised as a result.
To facilitate this, more accountancy firms are partnering up with outsourcing firms like GI, which can offer a bespoke service with day-to-day accountancy tasks or the more specialised cloud accountancy service.
GI Outsourcing offers accountants the opportunity to embed staff within their operation or supply expert advice and assist with the migrations of data to the latest cloud-based accountancy apps.
GI is pushing the boundaries in its sector, offering expertise and excellence as well as being recognised for the support it gives its team members.
This is delivered through GI Academy, which delivers a world-class training programme and has now been recognised and accredited as a Gold ACCA Approved Employer. ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants.
Commercial director James Marshall said accreditation means you can be confident that GI Outsourcing is attracting and retaining the best talent to deliver our outsourced services as we continue our rapid growth.
He added: “Our clients value quality and deserve the first-rate standard of work we take pride in delivering.
“The GI Academy is central to this commitment and it is great that we have now been recognised as a Gold ACCA Approved Employer.
“Of course, we’re not resting on our laurels, having recently expanded our India-based operations to four offices across the country to ensure we’re attracting the best possible talent.”
As far as GI is concerned, the customer is king and clients can expect a gold standard service.
We at GI meet the challenge of technological change head-on and over the last 20 years have established and built a multitude of strong relationships with some of the accounting industry’s leading experts.
Trust, commitment, collaboration and communication are the foundation for many of our successes.
Contact our UK-based team of account managers today to find out how we can help your firm.
