Online accounting has acted as a slow-burning fuse for an explosion threatening to rock the business world. Particularly among small and medium enterprises, the ability to produce a set of financial reports without paying expensive accounting fees is an enticing prospect. The reality is that the software only produces output based on input, and business owners often have only a vague notion of the inputs needed. That is about to change, as software developers up their game, and artificial intelligence-like features guide users in running their finances. But that doesn't mean accountants will disappear. The findings of the SME Survey 2018, the latest edition of an annual study of success factors among small enterprises, reveals that this profession still has a long life ahead. However, it may not be the life that many of its practitioners had envisaged. Right now, the research shows, a massive 86% of SME decision-makers indicate that the main reason they use accountants is for bookke...
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