Technology is helping accountants drive small business success

While small businesses are the driving force behind the economy, they still face a number of challenges in today's fast-moving and highly competitive market. One of the biggest challenges is managing their finances effectively. It's a daunting task, particularly for businesses that lack in-house financial expertise. Fortunately, accountants have increasingly gone beyond the routine of number crunching and have stepped in to play a significant business advisory role to a growing number of small businesses. By providing vital financial guidance, expertise, and business insights, accountants can help small businesses operate more efficiently, navigate complex financial regulations, and help plan future scaling. With the help of technology like AI and automation, accountants are transforming the way small businesses grow and helping them become more resilient, even in tough economic times. 

The 2024 Intuit QuickBooks Accountant Technology Survey unpacks how accounting professionals drive success for businesses by leveraging the latest technologies.

Jump ahead:

• Unleashing the power of AI
• How technology is keeping businesses resilient in a tighter economy
• Businesses are increasingly relying on accountants for success
• Technology is helping accountants grow client profits
• Accountants aren’t losing the human touch
• Sample and methodology

Unleashing the power of AI

Advancements in technology are reshaping how accountants help drive success for their small business clients, and the use of AI is leading the charge. Data shows that accountants are embracing AI to boost efficiency and give them the foundation necessary to provide strategic business advisory services. 

Nearly all accountants are putting AI into action

Nearly all (98%) respondents say they’ve used AI to help clients over the last 12 months. Topping the list is data entry and processing (69%), fraud detection and prevention (51%), and real-time financial insights (47%).

Ethical AI 

Accountants are leveraging AI with ethics top of mind. Almost all respondents (99%) indicate that AI usage has been under formal ethics guidelines. Two in three (66%) say guidelines have mandated formal notices to clients on how their firms utilize AI in their work.

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How technology is keeping businesses resilient in a tighter economy

As prices have climbed and the federal interest rate remains at the highest it has been in more than two decades, accountants say economic tides are affecting their clients — but technology is a key to staying resilient. 

Accountants concerned that higher interest rates are squeezing clients

Almost all (99%) respondents say clients have been hit by rising costs and higher interest rates. Three in 5 (60%) respondents say clients have had to carry the burden of higher costs of assets for their businesses, and more than half say clients have been impacted with increased difficulty obtaining financing (55%) and lower returns on investments (53%). 

Inflation and higher interest rates are a top client challenge

Respondents highlight how the current economic landscape is pinching clients’ pockets. While ensuring compliance with regulations and tax laws ranks as the top challenge for their clients over the last 12 months, the recent economic environment has also been a significant hurdle. Respondents say maintaining profitability despite higher prices and interest rates (20%) is the second biggest obstacle their clients have faced over the last 12 months.

Inflation and higher interest rates could inhibit clients’ growth with no change — but technology can help weather the storm 

Although inflation has cooled, respondents say businesses aren’t out of danger yet. Nine in 10 (91%) respondents agree that while the rate of inflation has slowed, rising prices and higher interest rates still pose a threat to their clients’ growth over the next 12 months.

With the pressure of the higher cost of borrowing, clients leveraging technology for innovation, risk mitigation, and a deeper understanding of their financial performance are one step ahead. Nine in 10 respondents (92%) agree that more tech-advanced clients are better prepared to weather economic challenges such as inflation and high interest rates than less tech-advanced clients.

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Businesses are increasingly relying on accountants for success

Over the years, the role of accountants has evolved from number crunching and filing taxes to providing invaluable financial counsel and guidance to small businesses. As small businesses grow, so do their financial needs, making it increasingly important for them to partner with accountants who can offer expertise, insights, and strategies to help ensure their financial success. 

Financial and technology management in demand

Businesses are demanding more from their accountants. Slightly increasing from last year (67%)*, 68% of respondents indicate that their clients have needed more support with financial management. But while financial management needs are on the rise, tax filing needs have declined, with 52% of respondents reporting their clients needed more support with tax filings this year compared to 61% last year*.

As accountants step up to be strategic business advisors, small businesses are increasingly relying on them to help navigate a constantly evolving technology landscape as well. Nearly seven in 10 (69%) respondents say clients have needed more support with technology management over the last 12 months. With businesses needing to integrate various technologies into their operations, the role of the accountant has evolved to cater to the full spectrum of client needs.

Advisory services are driving change

With client needs evolving, accountants have adapted accordingly, leaning into more strategic and advisory services that bring added value to clients. This evolution has ushered in a new era in the industry with professionals rising to the challenge and demonstrating just how critical their services can be for the success of their clients’ businesses. Respondents are clear: this evolution has been a game-changer for the industry. An increased emphasis on advisory services ranks as the single greatest positive impact (35%) on the accounting industry over the last 5 years.

Accountants are leveraging technology to empower them with the data necessary to advise small businesses in the right direction — so much so that respondents rank customization of services and advice based on client data analysis as the top competitive advantage they attribute to technology.

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Technology is optimizing client services 

As last year’s survey insights revealed, technology is helping free up time for accountants to focus on taking on more of an advisory role to clients. This year’s data is painting a clearer picture of how. Technology is helping accountants be more efficient and creating a new standard of excellence when it comes to strategic business advisory. 

Streamlining compliance and unlocking new opportunities 

From crunching numbers to strategic business consulting, technology has pushed the accounting industry’s capabilities in a new direction. Looking ahead, technology is the key to unlocking compliance efficiencies as a first step. Respondents say technology will help save time with preparation and filing of tax returns (98%), bookkeeping and financial reporting (94%), and cost accounting and budgeting (93%) the most over the next 12 months.

By streamlining compliance tasks, technology is making it easier for accountants to dedicate more time to strategic business advisory services, increasing face-to-face time with clients and making their client interactions more meaningful. As a result, businesses are increasingly turning to accountants as trusted advisors, rather than just compliance specialists. Accountants are stepping up to the challenge and leveling up their work. More than 8 in 10 respondents expect technology to elevate the quality of their advisory services over the next 12 months — particularly business strategizing (99%), risk management (94%), financial forecasting (93%), and valuation services (93%).

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Technology can help accountants grow client profits

Just as accountants are embracing technology and enjoying business success, their clients are following suit. On average, more than 2 in 5 (45%) respondents say their clients have grown profits over the last 12 months (for purposes of the report, profitability is anything above breaking even or $0). For respondents whose clients have experienced profit growth, implementing or optimizing accounting technology solutions (71%) is the service they say has contributed the most to their clients’ increasing profits.

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Accountants aren’t losing the human touch

Soft skills such as communication, collaboration, and problem-solving are just as important for accountants as tech proficiency. While AI and technology can offer accuracy and efficiency, the ability to build positive relationships with their clients and think critically still holds weight.

Balancing the tech approach with a human approach 

More than 9 in 10 (94%) respondents agree that soft skills are just as important as traditional accounting for business success. Similarly, prioritizing human touch and connection with clients and staff is just as much of a competitive advantage as technological capabilities (95% agree).

Thinking critically is another valuable skill for today’s accountants. Given the detail-oriented work accountants do day to day and the growing importance of strategic business advisory, it follows that the ability to identify and troubleshoot complex issues ranks as the most important soft skill for today’s accountant (99%).

Sample and methodology

Intuit commissioned an online survey in March 2024 of 707 accounting professionals throughout the US, all aged 18+. More than 2 in 5 (44%) respondents own an accounting or bookkeeping business. More than 1 in 2 (56%) are employed by an accounting/bookkeeping firm as an accountant/bookkeeper. Two in 5 (41%) work for firms with more than 100 employees. Nearly 3 in 5 (59%) respondents work for firms with 0-99 employees. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest decimal place, so values shown in data report charts and graphics may not add up to 100%. Responses were collected using Pollfish audience pools and partner networks with double opt-ins, random device engagement sampling, and post-stratification based on census data to ensure accurate targeting and results. Respondents received remuneration.

*Note: The 2024 survey sample excludes accountants/bookkeepers who work in-house at non-accounting firms — whereas the 2023 survey sample included these respondents. Response comparisons year-over-year have been estimated by comparing 2024’s sample to the 2023 respondents who did not work in-house at non-accounting firms. 

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