Management accountants—those corporate finance operators who help their companies manage costs and forecast cash flow—have a front-row seat to how technology is changing the businesses they help guide. Their own roles also are changing as data analytics and strategy management become increasingly integral.
The Institute of Management Accountants, a Montvale, N.J.-based accreditation group with more than 125,000 members globally in 150 countries, has worked to guide accountants who focus on budgeting and analysis of capital spending as the industry’s embrace of operational skills and automation has made their jobs something of a moving target.
IMA Chief Executive
Jeffrey Thomson
spoke with CFO Journal about the struggle to find capable talent, financial technology and other obstacles facing management accountants in the year ahead and beyond. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.
WSJ: How concerned are you about the phasing out of traditional accounting duties? What gets lost in that process?
MR. THOMSON: I’m very optimistic. From inside the profession, the party line is: “Yes, jobs involving audit, transaction processing and the book-close process are going away. But automation is a good thing that makes organizations more efficient.” It’s happening at a faster pace than ever before, but that’s OK.
But you know what? Lower-end boring jobs are going to go away, and they’re going to be replaced by more value-added jobs—more exciting jobs that influence the business and make a difference. Look, this is a call to action. There’s a sense of urgency here. Accountants were not trained to be inquisitive and exploratory. But data analysts and CFOs are now expected to be anticipatory and seek answers in the data that may not be asked by their boss.
WSJ: What are other looming threats to the profession?
MR. THOMSON: The biggest trend is the challenge of sourcing talent. The expectation is that if you come into the firm, you’re going to be more of an influencer, offering insight and foresight. How do you groom that kind of individual? Also, I think the move toward fintech and digital will put additional strains on our corporate governance and internal control systems.
WSJ: Why do you say that?
MR. THOMSON: Because if the world is driven by algorithms—whether it’s auditor samples, auditor evidence, management evidence or choices being made inside the company—there needs to be some control over the algorithmic bias. If we allow algorithms and robots to take over completely and just let the algorithm do it, we need to be understanding of an unconscious bias.
I’ve heard blockchain referred to as the truth serum. If we lose our focus on internal controls and good corporate governance, it’s not about the technology. It’s about technology that enables more ethically sound, agile, productive organizations. In a way, a supply chain’s digital operation is an incredible power, but our profession must stand tall for corporate governance, internal controls and risk management, now more than ever.
WSJ: What is the future of U.S. corporate disclosures?
MR. THOMSON: The last thing in the world preparers wants to see is mandatory reporting. Call it a selfish pet peeve. I had the same concern. The likes of the Business Roundtable are all sounding the cry of “We need to move away from short-termism and toward a model where we embrace profit with purpose.” Probably nobody disagrees with that conceptually. That might sound good for society and investors.
But unless you have a very tight view of what those measures are, you could be creating a lot of unnecessary activity. Many would argue that our current disclosures process is already overwhelming.
WSJ: What kind of action can management accountants take to remain relevant?
MR. THOMSON: At the end of the day, we have an opportunity as a profession to actually increase our relevance if we adapt to these new skills on strategy management, data analytics, data visualization and storytelling.
With all due respect to audit and [public accountants]—they’re both critically important, but they’re not necessarily the growth areas of the profession. Clearly there’s evidence that parts of the profession are in decline and parts are in growth mode. That which is in decline, we need to keep embellishing it and keep it going. But we also must nourish and incentivize the growth part of the business, which is advisory.
Write to Mark Maurer at [email protected]
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