CPA or Certified Public Accountant is a respected and high-earning profession in the US. The average basic salary of certified public accountants is $81,696, and today there is enough scope to earn much more. The most effective strategy for significantly increasing the income is to increase the rates by offering a more comprehensive range of services. The more you can provide, the higher your earnings will be. Technology has empowered CPAs considerably, who can now relieve themselves from high involvement in operations in taxes and billing. They can use automation to their advantage and, coupled with the evolution of cloud-based ERP solutions, utilize their time and capabilities more effectively. The CPA solutions provide various tools that help carve out free time so accountants can become strategic advisors.
The Expanded Role of the CPA
Historically, CPAs have been directly involved in the operations related to taxing and billing. They had to do time-consuming jobs hands-on and could hardly think about having some spare time. They were busy discharging their primary responsibility as accountants while working as individual professionals or for some CPA firm. Besides gaining from the free time made available to accountants due to the automation of various manual tasks, they must be more capable and comfortable handling technology. Familiarizing with data analytics and the associated tools should help accountants use the available data to develop effective business strategies.
Changing the Mindset with More Focus on Numbers
As data has become the prime mover of businesses and industries turning more data-driven, it’s an excellent opportunity for CPAs to expand their role by changing their mindset. CPAs can now contribute to the company’s workflow, data management, and internal correspondence by getting a good grasp of cloud-based ERP solutions. The modern accounting landscape has undergone a sea change since the time industries focused more on data for driving businesses. Accountants must adjust to the shift and change their mindset by focusing more on numbers and data than the processes. The change of mindset reflects in the CPA exam too.
What Would be the Role of Cpas in the Future?
Accountants must start seeing beyond the traditional role and transform their mindset to embrace a data-driven future. Tomorrow’s CPAs would play a critical role in business organizations by helping the management drive the business in the right direction. They would no longer stay confined to calculating numbers related to accounting but would play a larger role in analyzing data generated from business processes that help strengthen business strategies.
The changes to the CPA exam are a reflection of the marketplace. The industry now wants to see accountants expanding their roles and emerging as strategic advisors. To play the new role effectively, CPAs must acquire capabilities and skills in data analytics for providing valuable inputs like auditing and round-the-clock monitoring.
Unless a CPA can embrace the change in the accounting landscape and adapt to the number-based mindset, they will lag behind their peers. Accountants must now become strategic advisors for a brighter future and increased earnings.
