2014 Sage Accountancy Index

U.S. Accountants Embrace Advisory Role With Clients

IRVINE, CA--(Marketwired - Dec 9, 2014) -  Sage North America, a leading provider of business management software and services to small and midsized businesses for more than 30 years, announced today the findings from the Sage Accountancy Index, a survey from The Sage Group plc. It was found that accountants in the U.S. are shifting their approach to business beyond traditional accounting to become the most trusted financial advisors for their clients. Sage surveyed more than 1,200 accountants throughout the world, including 264 in the U.S.

The majority of accountants (62 percent) are expanding their range of expertise into new disciplines including business mentoring, startup advice and payroll services. Sixty percent anticipate their firms will grow in the next year, and 37 percent plan to grow their businesses by increasing customer loyalty, followed by increasing their services portfolio (28 percent).

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"I know that becoming more of a trusted advisor will help my clients make quicker, better business decisions, but it won't happen overnight; it's a journey," said Shayna Chapman, CITP.CPA, CGMA, Shaynaco LLC. "In order to realize this level of proactive guidance, I've started offering services outside of 'traditional' accounting such as real-time data analysis facilitated by Sage View. This real-time exchange of data with clients helps me reach out proactively when something needs to be handled and lets me do tax planning throughout the year with every financial move we make versus just a few times a year."

Adoption of new technology is slow

One-third of accountants say the main business challenge they face working with clients is collecting documents on time. Only 10 percent leverage online or cloud solutions to collaborate and share accounting information with clients, and 58 percent most often work with their clients face-to-face and with physical documents.

Currently 51 percent of accountants do not have anytime, anywhere access to view, exchange or update client accounting information, and only 20 percent of firms have these capabilities. Yet more than half of accountants are adopting online and mobile technologies for themselves and their staff (56 percent). Only one in nine have no immediate plans to move to online technologies.