ACCOUNTANTS need not fret.
A key finding from a new survey has it that automation and technological development may threaten many jobs, but demand for advisory services is expected to grow in the coming years, as businesses battle to manage digital disruption.
A report based on the survey says that, while regulated professional services such as audit & assurance and tax advisory & compliance will always be required, the rise in demand for business advisory services – that is, professional accounting services that aid businesses beyond compliance and regulatory requirements – is growing “significant and urgent” as enterprises adapt to the changing trends and business dynamics.
The report, released on Thursday by global professional accountants body, ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), examines market demand for professional business and advisory services in Singapore, Asean and China for the next three years and beyond.
Leo Lee, president of ACCA Singapore, said: “This (rise in demand for business advisory services) has been driven largely by growing demand for professional services to assist corporates to address issues relating to their strategic growth areas.
“This provides an optimistic scenario for SMPs (small and medium-sized accounting practices) and consultancies, which will be able to tap into this demand to experience real growth in the coming years.”
ACCA’s report listed the top three professional services in demand for the next three years as audit & assurance, tax advisory & compliance, and IT advisory services.
The top three non-regulated service lines listed were IT solutions business, risk advisory and international tax advisory.
There is expected to be a greater demand for accounting advisory services in Singapore, and a high demand for risk advisory services in the Asean region, excluding Singapore.
But Mr Lee said “there are challenges ahead, including the need for the relevant expertise and skill sets required to actually provide these services”.
The findings of ACCA’s report, titled “Market demand for professional business and advisory services Singapore, Asean region and China”, were drawn from polling 275 senior executives in Asean and China, and from a roundtable discussion with professionals and key decision-makers of professional services in Singapore. These were conducted late last year.
The businesses surveyed said they viewed the quality and relevance of advice provided to them to be crucial, in terms of the largest areas for improvement in service provision.
They said they believe professional-services firms should make efforts to understand their clients, the specific matter at hand and provide feedback to address underlying topics unique to the business.
Companies said it was important that professional services providers deepened their knowledge of the industry and the specific circumstances of the client they are serving.
Evan Law, chief executive of the Singapore Accountancy Commission (SAC), which supported the study, said accounting firms will need to diversify their menu of services to include the areas in demand noted by the study; he added that accounting firms would also need to regionalise and harness technology.
“Lastly, professionals must continually upgrade their skills to be future-ready. Professionals who have multi-disciplinary skills and an international outlook are in good stead to provide high value-adding specialised services to the region,” he said.
Second Minister for Law, Finance and Education Indranee Rajah expanded on this point in her keynote speech at ACCA Singapore’s Annual Conference on Thursday, where the report was unveiled.
She acknowledged that while accountants will need to harness new technologies and data in their everyday work, they would also need “emotional intelligence and vision to be able draw insights from (their) data and offer value judgments to (their) business partners”.
She said the profession needs to hold on to the key qualities of “adaptivity, collaboration and trust … to effectively harness the digital connections created by new technologies”.
The study aimed to discover the areas corporates have budgeted for in the next three years, in respect of professional business and advisory services; this came from the recognition that, while business demand for professional services is growing, the expectation gap between what businesses are demanding and what professional services firms are offering is also widening.
* This post originally appeared on businesstimes.com.sg