The Effects of Digitalisation on Accounting Service Companies

Abstract

Rapidly expanding digitalisation profoundly affects several jobs and businesses in the following years. Some of the jobs are expected to disappear altogether. The expanding digitalisation can be seen as an example of the diffusion of innovations. The world has witnessed similar developments since the early years of industrialisation. Some of the sectors that will face the most disruptive changes are accounting, bookkeeping, and auditing. As much as 94 to 98 per cent of these jobs are at risk. The purpose of this study was to find out how digitalisation, automation of routines, robotics, and artificial intelligence are expected to affect the business structure, organisations, tasks, and employees in Finland in the following years. In this study, 11 of the biggest companies providing outsourced accounting services in Finland were interviewed. According to the results, the development of the technology will lead to substantial loss of routine jobs in the industry in the next few years. T he results of the study will help estimate the changes the rapidly developing technology will bring to the industry in focus. The results will also help the organisations in the industry to learn from the experiences of the other organisations, see the potential benefits, and prepare for the forthcoming change through strategic choices, management, and personnel training.