Member Article

Admin agony: Dext survey reveals 39% of accountants spend over half of their day on manual tasks

Nearly two fifths (39%) of accountants spend over half of their day on manual tasks, but nearly a third (30%) of respondents don’t have the tools to automate processes. That’s according to new data from cloud pre-accounting platform Dext, which surveyed 300 accountants in the UK to discover how efficient accounting processes are today.

With so much admin to tackle, 43% of respondents feel that technology and software would make being an accountant easier. In fact, for accountants that have been in the industry for more than 15 years, manual data entry and record keeping was reported as the most painful part of the profession back when they joined (42%).

Sabby Gill, CEO of Dext, commented: “While manual admin tasks were a necessary part of the job 15 years ago, there’s no need for accountants to be drowning in administrative tasks anymore. It’s shocking that despite the advancements made in the accounting software space, there are still so many practices that are not leveraging automation technology and struggling on unnecessarily.”

When all respondents were asked how they see the role of the accountant changing over the next 15 years, the majority (40%) think there will be an increased use of automation and technology. This was closely followed by an increased use of AI/machine learning (34%), as well as more remote and virtual collaboration (34%). Additionally, over a third (35%) of accountants said automation tools are critical to the success of their personal and their practices’ future.

“It’s evident that there is a real appetite for change when it comes to streamlining accounting processes. Automation has the ability to improve the working lives of accountants and the value they can bring to their clients, both now and in the future. With the right investments, automation can take on the hefty load and free up time for accountants to focus on what’s really important: providing actionable advice to clients to ensure they are thriving in the current landscape,” Sabby concluded.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lucy Jefferson .