When will bookkeeping die out?

reader

Given all the automation and machine learning that is going on, when do people think bookkeeping will die out?

How long till the AATQB status last for until it is made extinct by a computer?

Surely only high level advisory/consultancy from highly qualified/experienced accountants will stand the test of time?

MarieNoelle

I am not sure. Even if tasks like inputting data can be automated you would still need human input to allocate to the right categories for VAT and tax purposes.

reader

A software will be able to figure this out pretty soon.

We put a man on the moon.

So I'm pretty sure a software will be able to automatically allocate a £200 bill from the Ritz to business entertaining at 0% using machine learning/big data, a £5 bill from Tesco to subsistence at 20% vat using some basic rules.

MarieNoelle

Ah, but how will the software know that £200 bill for the Ritz is staff entertaining and the £5 bill at Costa is business entertaining :-)

reader

The software will throw the nominal ledger at the client and ask them to verify the accuracy before the client clicks submit.

The software is smart, it will make sure it is covered and provided all the disclaimers etc

MoWright

Bi and AI are inevitable in the accountancy field. Its a matter of when and not if.

reader

I say definitely in the next 10 years!

I feel sorry for bookkeepers in their 20's/30's. They will have to retrain completely in their 40's/50's.

Then again, this probably also applies to accountants too (I give accountants 15 years).

Expert auditors/tax advisers will probably last max 20 years.

sjtoomer

reader said:

I say definitely in the next 10 years! I feel sorry for Book-Keepers in their 20's/30's; they will have to re-train completely in their 40's/50's.

Then again, this probably also applies to Accountants too (I give Accountants 15 years).

Expert Auditors/Tax Advisers will probably last max 20 years.

Yes, it seems likely a lot of Accounting/Book-Keeping tasks will get completed automated by software in the near future. Which is a bit worrying for me, as I am in my late-40s, doing the AAT L3 Book-Keeping course, and hoping to change careers to some sort of Accounting/Finance path/role, to last me for the next 20 years, until I retire. It is difficult to know what job(s) will stand the test of time, given relatively high levels of programmed software intelligence nowadays; probably just manual jobs and those difficult for a computer/robot to physically do. If only it were the 1960s again, when we had much fuller employment than nowadays, due to a lack of computers! I was hoping that businesses would pick-up after the recent Corona-Virus Pandemic, so there would be more of a demand for Accountants/Book-Keepers, thereby making it easier to get a job in the field. I thought there would always be a demand for Accountants/Book-Keepers by businesses, but maybe I under-estimated the level of software automation in the field. I really hope you're wrong, but I'm not sure you're wrong...

cswannell

@sjtoomer Automation is an opportunity not a threat.

Getting real time data into our accounting software quickly gives us opportunities to help clients understand their data and spend time adding real value and using your L3 Bookkeeping course to great effect.

Historically Bookkeeping would sit underneath mountains of paperwork making very occasional mistakes which would have a compounding effect.

Ultimately there will always be a need for bookkeepers as business owners don't have the headspace or time to deal with the software. It may seem very easy to use and manageable for us, but for a non financial minded, they are still a massive headache

Neillaw

No chance.
MTD for SA has already dictated that book-keeping will be more relevant than ever before. For practices even small ones will have to adapt to meet the deadlines for MTD which means more monthly book-keeping.