2797 Frontage Road
February 28, 2023
February 28, 2023
Dan serves as the primary point of contact for any information or assistance concerning CBIZ & MHM and facilitates new clients’ transition to our firm. Dan works with many of the firm’s largest clients throughout the US and internationally. He has extensive experience in all aspects of audit, review, transaction due diligence, and benefit plan services. Dan spent the first 10 years of his career with Arthur Andersen in Chicago and Tampa. In total, he has almost 30 years of experience in public accounting.”
December 20, 2022
This November, OpenAI released a powerful new AI chatbot, taking the internet by storm.
ChatGPT has inspired awe and excitement with its impressively fluent responses to a wide variety of prompts, from creating a haiku to producing a plausible academic essay.
Its limitations are still clear, however, with Stack Overflow recently announcing its decision to temporarily ban ChatGPT-generated text from the platform.
“The primary problem is that while the answers which ChatGPT produces have a high rate of being incorrect, they typically look like they might be good and the answers are very easy to produce,” a moderator for the programming Q&A website explained.
Like many recent developments in the field, this demonstrates that while the potential of such tools is impressive, they’re still no replacement for human thought and expertise.
Within accountancy and audit practice, the role of AI and big data has been a hot topic for several years now, and more tasks within the sector are already being automated using cutting-edge technologies.
This has given rise to a key question about the future of the profession: as data becomes ever more important, is the role of an accountant changing to that of a data scientist?
Automation in accounting and audit firms has gradually been reducing the amount of manual work required for repetitive, process-driven tasks. Compliance and bookkeeping work has been increasingly automated, while more strategic and advisory work tends to benefit from a human touch.
As the capabilities of AI expand, it’s likely that more of those routine tasks will be carried out by software – so the role of humans will increasingly be about analysing the outputs of machines, understanding patterns in the data, and communicating those patterns in a way that’s valuable to their clients. All of these skills point towards an increased role of data analytics in accounting.
In 2018, the ICAEW predicted that the roles of accountants and data scientists would start to blur over the next five to ten years. And certainly, the tools and techniques of data science are being applied by accountants to their work.
In audit, for example, AI and data analysis practices are being used to organise large data sets, as well as identifying anomalies and outliers in financial data. This can help to highlight potential errors or fraud for further investigation.
Dan Johnson, managing director of CBIZ MHM, says in-house accountants are also increasingly using analytics “to review and understand everything from pricing trends to inventory management”.
“For example, the CBIZ MHM internal accounting teams are using analytics to provide engagement teams with granular information on individual clients,” he says. “With enhanced metrics at their fingertips, professional teams now spend less time on engagement management and more time solving complex client challenges.”
According to the London School of Business & Finance, data science in accounting can be applied in the following ways:
But there’s a challenge for the industry to manage: as the field of data science becomes more popular among those early in their careers, we’re seeing fewer graduates trained in traditional accounting skills.
Johnson notes that many of the top universities in the US are now offering data analytics as a major, attracting highly-qualified students – including those who might previously have elected an accounting major.
“Accounting firms are now hiring data scientists, but are often having to train these new hires in basic accounting,” he says. “Additionally, because data analytics can be used in many fields outside public accounting, some graduates are staying away from public accounting, thus exacerbating the challenge of attracting and retaining talent.”
It’s easy to overplay the abilities of AI, and many still have reservations about its ability to take on the other aspects of an accountant’s role.
There’s still a need for human oversight on compliance work, for instance, and for experts to ensure the results produced with the software are correct.
Many of the firms using AI favour ‘white box’ models – which provide transparency about how they come to their conclusions – to ‘black box’ ones that offer no record of their processes. White box AI offers a clear audit trail, allowing experts to use its results while being able to properly evidence their workings.
Then there are the softer skills of working with clients, understanding their circumstances and communicating on a personal level. Over the years, accountants have built up a lot of experience in explaining complex financial information to their clients in a clear way – this is not a skill to be underestimated.
It’s likely that the future role of the accountant will encompass data science skills and technological expertise. But whether that role transforms completely remains to be seen.
Get in touch to talk about how technology is changing accounting and audit.
October 31, 2022
June 27, 2022
April 11, 2022
March 11, 2022
Kreston Global is still the 13th largest network in the world.
Kreston Global’s Network ranking has just been published by the International Accounting Bulletin, and remains at 13th in the World, thanks to worldwide revenues of $2.6bn, an 8% increase on last year’s figures of $2.4bn. The rankings cover the financial year period of 2021.
“A very good result for the Network, particularly against the Covid backdrop “ commented Liza Robbins, Chief Executive, noting that a number of new firms had joined Kreston in late 2021/early 2022 so were not included in the Kreston 2021 revenue figures. “We feel that 2022 is shaping up to be a transformational year for Kreston Global, with many new firms coming on board and exciting new initiatives in the pipeline.”
Click here for more IAB ranking information on Kreston Global 13th largest network position – you do need to be a subscriber to access the tables.
March 7, 2022
Kreston Global condemns the war in Ukraine and the violation of international law. We are deeply troubled at the terrible impact on innocent people in Ukraine, Russia and Eastern Europe, and we stand by all people suffering from oppression anywhere in the world. We very much hope for a quick and peaceful resolution to this tragic situation.
We can confirm that Kreston Global does not have any member firms operating in Russia. Our member firm in Ukraine – Kreston Ukraine – has understandably been impacted by the current situation, and we are doing everything we can to support their team during this difficult time.
Accounting firms play a critical role in ensuring relevant economic measures and sanctions are applied effectively. To do so, our firms are encouraged to use resources available from professional bodies and government departments in their respective jurisdictions and to seek guidance from Kreston Global. As trusted advisors, our member firms will continue to support clients as they manage the significant disruption that these changes will bring.
Kreston Global firms from around the network have been in touch with offers of support. Kreston Ukraine has set up a fund to support its employees at this time. If you are a member and would like to offer support, please contact us here.
February 2, 2022
Kreston global mobility expert, Ian Miles, talks us through the benefits of using a global network to relocate businesses and employees overseas.
Global mobility is the movement of individuals around the globe moving from one country to another, usually, but not always, for work.
Our offering is to help to efficiently move employees and businesses to new countries by offering the necessary and relevant tax advice before, while and following living in a new country. A good global mobility strategy should cover tax, visas and immigration, payroll and benefits and relocation services.
A smooth transition benefits the business and the individual moving, whether it is the CEO of a company or an employee. Understanding the culture, local employment laws, working visas and settling in families, if needed, minimises the risk of the relocation failing
The HR department is often involved and can offer assistance to an employee or CEO looking to relocate, however, tax and legal advice is specialist and dependent on the locality. Businesses can choose to source multiple services or use a network that can coordinate everything with one point of contact.
Kreston Global works with two partners to deliver specialist global mobility services.
At each country location is a hub, with a contact from each of the three partners who, together, offer a complete global mobility service. The members of the hub are one person whose business is to physically move people around the world, another member finds housing for the Expat, another finds schools for the Expat’s children, another moves their pet, a wealth manager and so on. The Expat will also need tax advice to help understand the tax laws in the country that they are going to and how the rules of their new country interact with their home country or vice versa if they return home in later years.
Expatland has created a travel planner checklist from their wealth of experience of working with clients around the world, highlighting tasks you should do before, during and after relocation. Follow the link to their website here to use their useful relocation planner tool, download the checklist and research the support we can offer you in each location.
Kreston Global offers tax advice as part of the partnership, which can both advise individuals on the tax aspects of what it means for them to move country and also advise globally mobile entrepreneurs about how to set up a business venture in a new country.
All of our member firms that offer global mobility services are listed here. This list is expanding all the time. You may contact the member firm in the country you wish to expand into, or the country where you reside. Please email us here
January 6, 2022
Our global mobility partners, Expatland, are hosting a webinar on relocating to Canada on 19th January 2022 at 9am (Toronto time).
The panel of experts, including Spence Walker from Kreston GTA in Canada, will discuss everything you need to consider, whether you are an individual or a company seeking to move employees to Canada.
Join the webinar by registering on the Expatland website here.
December 6, 2021
The growth of the Kreston network is in the news again following the addition of two new Kreston firms. The article in International Accounting Bulletin covers the addition of Kreston Bahamas and Kreston Bahrain, who have joined the network as Kreston branded firms.
Liza Robbins, CEO of Kreston Global, said,
“I would like to welcome our new colleagues in The Bahamas and Bahrain to the Kreston Global network in an exciting period of growth as international business recovers from the pandemic. These two firms, so geographically far apart, embody the spirit of excellence and collaboration that we at Kreston Global have always championed. We look forward to working with them to build on their many successes to date, both in their respective regions and beyond.”
Click here to read the full article (subscription required).
Visit our doing business in the Bahamas and doing business in Bahrain for helpful insight on expanding your business into these countries.
November 16, 2021
September 30, 2021
Our US member firm CBIZ MHM have published a new resource for Internal Audit on “How to Incorporate New Internal Audit Developments into Your Risk Management Game Plan.”
The phrase, “the best offense is a good defence” describes how risk management strategies protect your organisation in the current environment. If you haven’t revised your internal audit game plan recently, you may want to check in with your advisory team. The game has changed. You’ll need a whole new playbook that reflects these trends, cultural shifts, technological advancements and other factors that could have a significant bearing on the internal audit function
Read CBIZ MHM’s guide to get more insights into what to do next here.
