There are two problems that the accounting profession has had for many years. One is that we downplay the importance of technology and do not include good technology training in the educational programs. That is increasingly untenable. The other somewhat related issue is that we educate young accountants in the advanced elements of management, strategy and professional work, but when they gain employment, they are assigned the basic, routine, (let’s face it, dull) tasks. 

Automation of business processes is usually put forward as a means to make those processes  more efficient and less costly - as a means to reduce the involvement of people and free them up for more substantive tasks. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the latest approach most commonly touted as a solution.

But there is another aspect of business process automation that sometimes gets overlooked.

We often hear that technology will enhance the roles of accountants and auditors by taking over the routine/rote tasks and freeing up time for analysis and interpretation. It sounds good until you start to consider exactly what this means.