Developer Accountants - what they are and why you need them
At first glance, it is hard to see any similarities between accountants and developers. Accounting has typically been associated with traditional skills of tax, audits, compliance, and financial management. The building blocks for the economy for centuries. Developers, on the other hand, are at the forefront of new technology and technical skills. Developers are responsible for creating the building blocks that power today’s digital economy.
But developers and accountants are actually a lot closer than you might think. From building or editing macros to carrying out data analysis - there are similarities that exist already.
Technology is reinventing the accounting profession.
Whether it’s the ability to create working papers in a matter of clicks, or to dive deep into large data sets and derive key insights, accountants in 2023 simply must use technology. Accounting technologies are making the profession more efficient, improving accuracy, and making the work faster, easier and more enjoyable. Access to technology is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a must-have.
You certainly don’t need to be a developer to use the array of innovative accounting technologies available. However, having a few basic development skills does help.
Every practice has its own goals and challenges. They have a wide range of clients, each with their own preferences, requirements and ways of working.
If accountants want to customize their software according to their practice or firm, and their clients’ specific requirements, they need to become what we describe as ‘developer accountants’.
But how far do accountants have to go?
Do they need to fully retrain? Not necessarily. Being a ‘developer accountant’ doesn’t require you to be both developer and accountant. Instead, it means that accountants should adopt a developers’ mindset and learn a few key skills that will make a tangible difference to their firm. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer for what these skills are—it varies from firm to firm, from accountant to accountant.
Importantly it’s good to know that this won’t detract from the day job—it will instead enhance it. By becoming better developers (or rather, by becoming more of a developer), you can increase the value that you drive from solutions. In turn, this will deliver more value to clients—and to the firm in general.
Becoming a developer accountant is a win-win for everybody.
In this whitepaper, we will outline the benefits of using technology to make accountants’ lives easier and discuss how taking a development mindset can help to further increase efficiency. We will also dive into the skills and programming knowledge that accountants need to learn to get the best use out of the Silverfin cloud platform.
Interested in learning more? Download your complete copy of The Developer Accountant.