Source: Journal of Accountancy

In a recent Journal of Accountancy article, Jeff Drew and Ken Tysiac looked ahead at 2020 to help accountants know what to expect.

Here’s a quick overview:

Accounting and Auditing

• The FASB has delayed the implementation dates for private businesses and accounting standard preparers for credit losses, hedging, and leases, which should be a welcome slow-down for financial statement preparers. 

• Accountants will be acclimating to the new PCAOB auditing standard which requires accountants to disclose “critical audit matters.” 

Technology

• Robotic process automation (RPA) will be further developed and utilized in the field. RPA “bots” can observe as a person completes a multistage process and then duplicate that process across multiple platforms. 

• 5G technology, which is up to 100 times as fast as 4G networks, will be more widely implemented. Similarly, Wi-Fi 6, which is up to three times as fast as Wi-Fi 5, will be an avenue of faster data transfer and will allow for more devices on one network. Higher-speed broadband connections will benefit firms multiple ways including enabling continuous auditing and KPI dashboards that produce live results and analytics, as well as having the ability to process huge amounts of data.

Tax and Personal Financial Planning

• Automation will continue to increase, pushing CPAs further into the role of trusted advisor.

Practice Management

• CPA firms will continue to hire non-accounting candidates—especially as they look to expand their in-house tech expertise.

For the complete article, read “What to expect in 2020.”

From Journal of Accountancy, Dec. 1, 2019,  https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2019/dec/cpa-accounting-issues-for-2020.html.