Abridged version published in Channel News Asia, 7 December 2017, link</p

GOH, Clarence

PAN, Gary

SEOW, Poh Sun

Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University

Singapore Management UniversityInstitutional Knowledge at Singapore Management UniversityResearch Collection School Of Accountancy School of Accountancy10-2017Automation and the Accounting professionClarence GOHSingapore Management University, clarencegoh@smu.edu.sgPoh Sun SEOWSingapore Management University, psseow@smu.edu.sgGary PANSingapore Management University, garypan@smu.edu.sgFollow this and additional works at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soa_researchPart of the Accounting Commons, and the Management Information Systems CommonsThis Magazine Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Accountancy at Institutional Knowledge at Singapore ManagementUniversity. It has been accepted for inclusion in Research Collection School Of Accountancy by an authorized administrator of InstitutionalKnowledge at Singapore Management University. For more information, please email libIR@smu.edu.sg.CitationGOH, Clarence; SEOW, Poh Sun; and PAN, Gary. Automation and the Accounting profession. (2017). IS Chartered Accountant. .Research Collection School Of Accountancy.Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soa_research/1640  SMU Classification: Restricted AUTOMATION AND THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION     CLARENCE GOH, SEOW POH SUN AND GARY PAN  Published in IS Chartered Accountant, 2017 Octoberhttp://journal.isca.org.sg/2017/09/25/dons-column-automation-and-the-accounting-profession/pugpig_index.htmlC  SMU Classification: Restricted HOW YOUNG ACCOUNTANTS CAN ADD VALUE AND THRIVE   Automation poses a threat to many of the tasks that are performed by accountants today. Certainly, many emerging technologies have already begun to perform tasks that have traditionally been performed by accountants. For example, advancements in cloud-based accounting software now make it much easier for small businesses to easily and accurately enter and edit financial information on their own without the input of accountants. Looking further into the horizon, newer technologies can now turn hard-copy receipts into a machine-readable format, encrypt them, and allocate them to an account without any input from a human. Such developments will continue to reduce the reliance of businesses on accountants.   However, rather than fear the coming wave of automation in the accounting profession, young accountants should embrace these new developments as opportunities for them to perform more value-added tasks and to expand their sphere of influence within their companies. Indeed, this would echo the sentiments expressed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the recent G-20 summit in Germany, where he said, “When it comes to digitalisation and jobs, we must not yield to our fears and anxieties. It is wiser for us to be optimistic and work hard to make our hopes come true.”  FIVE PATHS TOWARDS EMPLOYABILITY   Experts have identified the augmentation strategy as something that employees in the modern economy could use to navigate the coming wave of automation in the workplace. Rather than fight automation, accountants should instead consider how their skill sets can augment automation. In this respect, the article “Beyond Automation”, published in the June 2015 issue of Harvard Business Review, identifies five perspectives that employees can take to realign their contributions in an environment of rapid automation.   First, employees can step up, to perform tasks that cannot be performed by computers. This is especially so given that while computers are likely to be able to handle mundane bookkeeping and accounting tasks like record-keeping and data entry, they are unlikely to ever be able to perform tasks (such as strategy and planning work) that involve higher levels of abstraction.   The second perspective – step aside – recognises that not every employee will have the opportunity to step up to perform higher-level strategy and planning work which is typically undertaken by senior managers. In such instances, however, it is possible for employees to identify tasks within their existing job scopes that cannot be substituted by automation and to focus on these tasks while stepping aside to allow technology to take over those tasks that can be automated.   Third, when automation processes break down or when changes in the business environment lead to changes in a company’s automation needs, a human is required to step in to rectify the situation. We discuss how young accountants can embrace automation using the step in strategy in the next section.   SMU Classification: Restricted   The fourth perspective encourages employees to step narrowly. This approach involves finding a niche within the profession that would allow an employee to thrive amid ongoing automation.   Finally, the step forward perspective encourages employees to work towards developing the next generation of computing and automation tools. With rapid advancements in technology, many opportunities exist for employees to ride on these technological advancements to develop new tools.      SMU Classification: Restricted HOW YOUNG ACCOUNTANTS CAN STEP IN   To thrive, young accountants must step in to use their skills to complement technology, and to add value to their companies. Young accountants who have the skills to facilitate the introduction and implementation of technology in accounting would play a valuable role in enhancing the efficiency of accounting processes and contribute in ways that are of strategic importance to their companies.   For example, continuous auditing – a new auditing concept which seeks to leverage on technology to proactively detect and look into exceptions as they occur  (rather than react to them after they have occurred) – represents an area where auditors now have the opportunity to contribute by adopting the step inperspective.   With continuous auditing, technology is used to continuously and automatically monitor company transactions, compare their characteristics to benchmarks, and identify anomalous situations. When anomalous situations arise, alarms will be triggered and routed to accountants for evaluation and resolution. While the technologies used to monitor company transactions are already available, accountants will have a crucial role to play by stepping in and applying their judgement to select appropriate technologies to build robust continuous audit processes that meet audit objectives.    Another important feature of the continuous audit framework is its reliance on technology to identify exceptions in company transactions, and for auditors to certify the robustness of the continuous audit system. Here, auditors must understand the workings of the continuous audit system, and be ready to step in to ensure that continuous audit processes that have been put in place continue to provide the necessary level of assurance amid changing conditions.   Another area where young accountants have the opportunity to step in is in forensic analysis. As data analytics becomes more prevalent, the use of advanced analytical technologies to identify fraud is set to increase.   A recent article in The Straits Times reported on OCBC Bank’s attempts to use artificial intelligence to detect fraud. Working with two financial technology firms, the local bank plans to use artificial intelligence to combat illegal financing by searching for information on individual profiles and mapping suspicious transactions to examine how they are linked, and to determine if they are fraudulent or illegal. Forensic accountants with the relevant skills and experience can play a crucial role to step in to complement the artificial intelligence to complete the fraud investigation.   The areas of continuous audit and forensic analysis represent just two areas where young accountants can build a thriving career by adopting the step inperspective. Numerous other areas of accounting are similarly faced with the prospect of increasing automation, and accountants should proactively identify relevant areas where they can step in.    SMU Classification: Restricted PREPARING ACCOUNTANTS FOR THE FUTURE   Automation will alter the work of accountants in the coming years. However, accountants will always have a central role to play in business. In order to continue to thrive, the profession will need to position itself to capitalise on the opportunities that automation will bring.   To equip young accountants with the skills to do so, universities will need to ensure that students possess skills that prepare them for accounting jobs of the future. In addition to providing a rigorous accounting-based education, universities should also teach skills that will allow students to navigate a future workplace where computers and technology are the norm.   Beyond that, employers must also continue to advocate and support their employees in upgrading their skills through regular training and education. This is especially important given that future developments in technology are likely to occur rapidly and require new skill sets to navigate.   Overall, young accountants have every reason to be positive about the automation that is occurring in the profession. Rather than fear automation, accountants should embrace it. They should see it as a positive development that frees them from performing many of the mundane tasks that they currently perform, and that allows them to redefine how they contribute to business.      Clarence Goh is Visiting Assistant Professor of Accounting (Practice); Seow Poh Sun is Associate Professor of Accounting (Education) and Associate Dean (Teaching and Curriculum), and Gary Pan is Associate Professor of Accounting (Education) and Associate Dean (Undergraduate Admissions). They are from the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University.  

Automation and the Accounting profession

Singapore Management University 
Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 
Research Collection School Of Accountancy School of Accountancy 
10-2017 
Automation and the Accounting profession 
Clarence GOH 
Singapore Management University, clarencegoh@smu.edu.sg 
Poh Sun SEOW 
Singapore Management University, psseow@smu.edu.sg 
Gary PAN 
Singapore Management University, garypan@smu.edu.sg 
Follow this and additional works at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soa_research 
 Part of the Accounting Commons, and the Management Information Systems Commons 
Citation 
GOH, Clarence; SEOW, Poh Sun; and PAN, Gary. Automation and the Accounting profession. (2017). IS 
Chartered Accountant. . Research Collection School Of Accountancy. 
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soa_research/1640 
This Magazine Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Accountancy at Institutional 
Knowledge at Singapore Management University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Research Collection School 
Of Accountancy by an authorized administrator of Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University. 
For more information, please email library@smu.edu.sg. 
 
 
SMU Classification: Restricted 
AUTOMATION AND THE 
ACCOUNTING PROFESSION 
 
   C
LARENCE GOH, SEOW POH SUN AND GARY PAN 
 
Published in IS Chartered Accountant, 2017 October
http://journal.isca.org.sg/2017/09/25/dons-column-automation-and-the-accounting-profession/pugpig_index.html
C
 
 
SMU Classification: Restricted 
HOW YOUNG ACCOUNTANTS CAN ADD VALUE 
AND THRIVE 
  
Automation poses a threat to many of the tasks that are performed by accountants today. 
Certainly, many emerging technologies have already begun to perform tasks that have 
traditionally been performed by accountants. For example, advancements in cloud-based 
accounting software now make it much easier for small businesses to easily and 
accurately enter and edit financial information on their own without the input of 
accountants. Looking further into the horizon, newer technologies can now turn hard-
copy receipts into a machine-readable format, encrypt them, and allocate them to an 
account without any input from a human. Such developments will continue to reduce 
the reliance of businesses on accountants. 
  
However, rather than fear the coming wave of automation in the accounting profession, 
young accountants should embrace these new developments as opportunities for them to 
perform more value-added tasks and to expand their sphere of influence within their 
companies. Indeed, this would echo the sentiments expressed by Prime Minister Lee 
Hsien Loong at the recent G-20 summit in Germany, where he said, “When it comes to 
digitalisation and jobs, we must not yield to our fears and anxieties. It is wiser for us to 
be optimistic and work hard to make our hopes come true.”  
FIVE PATHS TOWARDS EMPLOYABILITY 
  
Experts have identified the augmentation strategy as something that employees in the 
modern economy could use to navigate the coming wave of automation in the 
workplace. Rather than fight automation, accountants should instead consider how their 
skill sets can augment automation. In this respect, the article “Beyond Automation”, 
published in the June 2015 issue of Harvard Business Review, identifies five 
perspectives that employees can take to realign their contributions in an environment of 
rapid automation. 
  
First, employees can step up, to perform tasks that cannot be performed by computers. 
This is especially so given that while computers are likely to be able to handle mundane 
bookkeeping and accounting tasks like record-keeping and data entry, they are unlikely 
to ever be able to perform tasks (such as strategy and planning work) that involve 
higher levels of abstraction. 
  
The second perspective – step aside – recognises that not every employee will have the 
opportunity to step up to perform higher-level strategy and planning work which is 
typically undertaken by senior managers. In such instances, however, it is possible for 
employees to identify tasks within their existing job scopes that cannot be substituted by 
automation and to focus on these tasks while stepping aside to allow technology to take 
over those tasks that can be automated. 
  
Third, when automation processes break down or when changes in the business 
environment lead to changes in a company’s automation needs, a human is required 
to step in to rectify the situation. We discuss how young accountants can embrace 
automation using the step in strategy in the next section. 
 
 
SMU Classification: Restricted 
  
The fourth perspective encourages employees to step narrowly. This approach involves 
finding a niche within the profession that would allow an employee to thrive amid 
ongoing automation. 
  
Finally, the step forward perspective encourages employees to work towards developing 
the next generation of computing and automation tools. With rapid advancements in 
technology, many opportunities exist for employees to ride on these technological 
advancements to develop new tools. 
  
 
 
 
SMU Classification: Restricted 
HOW YOUNG ACCOUNTANTS CAN STEP IN 
  
To thrive, young accountants must step in to use their skills to complement technology, 
and to add value to their companies. Young accountants who have the skills to facilitate 
the introduction and implementation of technology in accounting would play a valuable 
role in enhancing the efficiency of accounting processes and contribute in ways that are 
of strategic importance to their companies. 
  
For example, continuous auditing – a new auditing concept which seeks to leverage on 
technology to proactively detect and look into exceptions as they occur  (rather than 
react to them after they have occurred) – represents an area where auditors now have the 
opportunity to contribute by adopting the step inperspective. 
  
With continuous auditing, technology is used to continuously and automatically monitor 
company transactions, compare their characteristics to benchmarks, and identify 
anomalous situations. When anomalous situations arise, alarms will be triggered and 
routed to accountants for evaluation and resolution. While the technologies used to 
monitor company transactions are already available, accountants will have a crucial role 
to play by stepping in and applying their judgement to select appropriate technologies to 
build robust continuous audit processes that meet audit objectives.  
  
Another important feature of the continuous audit framework is its reliance on 
technology to identify exceptions in company transactions, and for auditors to certify 
the robustness of the continuous audit system. Here, auditors must understand the 
workings of the continuous audit system, and be ready to step in to ensure that 
continuous audit processes that have been put in place continue to provide the necessary 
level of assurance amid changing conditions. 
  
Another area where young accountants have the opportunity to step in is in forensic 
analysis. As data analytics becomes more prevalent, the use of advanced analytical 
technologies to identify fraud is set to increase. 
  
A recent article in The Straits Times reported on OCBC Bank’s attempts to use artificial 
intelligence to detect fraud. Working with two financial technology firms, the local 
bank plans to use artificial intelligence to combat illegal financing by searching for 
information on individual profiles and mapping suspicious transactions to examine how 
they are linked, and to determine if they are fraudulent or illegal. Forensic accountants 
with the relevant skills and experience can play a crucial role to step in to complement 
the artificial intelligence to complete the fraud investigation. 
  
The areas of continuous audit and forensic analysis represent just two areas where 
young accountants can build a thriving career by adopting the step inperspective. 
Numerous other areas of accounting are similarly faced with the prospect of increasing 
automation, and accountants should proactively identify relevant areas where they 
can step in. 
 
 
 
SMU Classification: Restricted 
PREPARING ACCOUNTANTS FOR THE FUTURE 
  
Automation will alter the work of accountants in the coming years. However, 
accountants will always have a central role to play in business. In order to continue to 
thrive, the profession will need to position itself to capitalise on the opportunities that 
automation will bring. 
  
To equip young accountants with the skills to do so, universities will need to ensure that 
students possess skills that prepare them for accounting jobs of the future. In addition to 
providing a rigorous accounting-based education, universities should also teach skills 
that will allow students to navigate a future workplace where computers and technology 
are the norm. 
  
Beyond that, employers must also continue to advocate and support their employees in 
upgrading their skills through regular training and education. This is especially 
important given that future developments in technology are likely to occur rapidly and 
require new skill sets to navigate. 
  
Overall, young accountants have every reason to be positive about the automation that 
is occurring in the profession. Rather than fear automation, accountants should embrace 
it. They should see it as a positive development that frees them from performing many 
of the mundane tasks that they currently perform, and that allows them to redefine how 
they contribute to business. 
  
 
  
Clarence Goh is Visiting Assistant Professor of Accounting (Practice); Seow Poh Sun is 
Associate Professor of Accounting (Education) and Associate Dean (Teaching and 
Curriculum), and Gary Pan is Associate Professor of Accounting (Education) and 
Associate Dean (Undergraduate Admissions). They are from the School of 
Accountancy, Singapore Management University. 
 


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