Creative, curious and adventurous may not be traits normally associated with accountants and auditors, but a recent study shows that’s just how a growing number of industry professionals see themselves.
The research – conducted by leading software provider Caseware International through interviews with nearly 500 accountants and auditors globally – suggests that the profession is shifting toward more insights-driven and human-centered work.
According to the study, some 37% of accountants and auditors surveyed place a high value on creative problem-solving. Nearly half (47%) say they are adventurous when it comes to trying new technology. Accounting professionals say they want to spend more time collaborating with their clients and colleagues, and their focus has shifted from analyzing what has happened to anticipating what happens next.
“We’ve been listening closely to our customers for over 30 years, and a clear message from this research is that the industry will look significantly different in the future than it does today,” said David Osborne, CEO of Caseware. “What has traditionally been seen as a tedious, number-crunching profession is rapidly transforming into one that’s dynamic, driven by analytical insights and focused on creative collaboration. Cloud-based solutions, intelligent automation and other innovations are sparking new business opportunities and opening up new career paths.”
Caseware, a celebrated software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider to the auditing and accounting industry, conducted the study from August through December 2021. The findings are already being applied in the company’s product and service development and have also informed its newly-unveiled rebrand. Among the insights shared by survey respondents is that many have been developing their people skills in order to foster closer working relationships with clients and teammates. They are also increasingly conscious of their potential to create lasting impact, the research shows.
“More than ever, we see auditors, accountants and financial analysts taking pride in the fact that their work benefits and improves the world,” Osborne said. “They play a key role, for example, in helping organizations move beyond traditional financial disclosure to share environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information. Whether accounting professionals are detecting and preventing fraud, ensuring systems work properly, or helping companies operate both efficiently and ethically, the people who count on Caseware are making a difference.”
Caseware’s Rebranding
To support and drive the industry’s transformational change, Caseware has announced a global rebranding as it begins rolling out the next generation of automation, analytics and problem-solving tools – all designed to enrich the experience of its customers as they help their clients achieve unprecedented performance.
The new Caseware brand was revealed in Toronto at CwX, the company’s first global annual conference. In his remarks to the combined in-person and online audience, Osborne committed to providing customers with versatile, innovative tools that enable them to do their best work. The CEO also shared the company’s renewed sense of purpose: “Caseware is in business to help our customers work more effectively, gain deeper insights and see further along the road that leads to change for the better. We succeed by advancing our customers’ success, and we help them drive transformation by designing technology that reflects our deep understanding of what they hope to achieve – and why.”
Central to the company’s new product offering is a cutting-edge, cloud-based business intelligence tool called Sherlock, which consolidates data across multiple engagements and generates powerful insights that can then be leveraged to sharpen efficiency and accelerate growth. Officially launched on May 19, Sherlock is the first in a series of market-changing products Caseware plans to introduce over the next three to five years.
“As we build the tools that are helping transform the future of accounting, we’re also helping individual customers pursue careers fueled by curiosity and creative intelligence,” said Osborne, who joined Caseware as CEO in June 2021 following a strategic investment in the company by private equity firm Hg Capital in October 2020.
With Hg’s financial backing and under Osborne’s leadership, Caseware has experienced exponential growth. In the last year alone, the company has added over 250 new team members worldwide. Solidifying its position as the leading provider of cloud-based audit and assurance software, Caseware has also expanded its global footprint by acquiring three of its distributors – in the US, Denmark and the Netherlands.
“These are exciting times for the accounting and auditing industry, as digital transformation takes us to places we never imagined,” Osborne said. “We’re looking forward to equipping more accountants and auditors around the world with solutions that meet their high expectations for speed, accuracy, responsiveness, and equally important, their desire for easier collaboration and insight-driven problem-solving. Supported by our thoughtfully-designed tools and platforms, they can focus on what matters most: building stronger relationships with their colleagues and clients – and we’ll be right there alongside them as a trusted, innovative partner.”
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