A lot of job search portals present forecasts of a future shift in professional development, and also focus on the replacement of certain professions by digital systems. Such research highlights that accounting and planning are in the risk zone. According to surveys, digital transformation will lead to a decrease in the number of work places for accounters and planners three times. It is a lot, but every new release of reporting rules, or even increase in the complexity of the production process shows that wide-spread digitalization is still far from being realized.
Let's figure out which tasks can really be replaced by digital systems, and which ones will remain with the employees.
Routine operations
It is more likely that the scope of routine work will shift to a digital system. For instance, it can be scanning and recognition of documents. Now there are already many solutions that allow the system to "read" scanned statements and place accounting items in the appropriate directories.
Simple standardized operations
Such operations as creating Gantt charts for production, defining time periods for production stages, transferring reporting from one standard to another have a great potential for digitalization. It can be objected that only an employee can correctly classify items or consider the innovations in the methodology of planning, but this is all about one-off tasks. As we use inputs for a long period of time, why not leave it for intelligence tools?
Optimization and any changes
At what rate is capacity currently utilized? Is there a potential for increasing the company’s production? All of these questions can be answered only by a human. The introduction of new accounting standards and a change in the accounting cost policy also remain with the employee, since these tasks require a lot of analytical and comparative work.
Business development and modernization
Perhaps in the future, some accountants and operational planners will have to add strategic skills to their duties. Artificial intelligence and robots cannot develop an enterprise strategy that is most adapted to the type of business and the operating environment. Digitalized tools will not be able to consider the specific regulation terms for business, innovative development of production, potential of consumer preferences and all possible options for restructuring production and supply chains.