Today’s Accountants Must Be Technology Savvy – Mr. David Lyford-Smith, the Technical Manager at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.

Years ago the most important skill an accountant must possess was the ability to crunch figures. This skill is palling into insignificance as technology’s influence on the profession continues to grow.

According to Mr. David Lyford-Smith, the Technical Manager at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, technology has become an invaluable component of accounting practice and is changing the ways of doing the job.

Areas technology is impacting accounting practice according to him include “training modules, technology for audit and tax, ethics and assurance”.

The main features of technology in accounting is big data and data analytics, he opines, adding that the deployment of technology has already made the codification of non-accounting data possible.

In his view Mr. Ezenwa Echefu, FCA, the Manager, Financial Accounting at Repsol Canada, said the providers of accounting training and education must upgrade their curriculum to address the new skills bordering on technology.

He said accountants must get a good understanding of IT systems and software to help them apply their professional skills.

David Lyford Smith and Ezenwa Echefu spoke at the 49th Annual accountants’ Conference which ended in Abuja recently.