BONUS | Ep. 2: Dr. Sean Stein Smith - Accountant's Role with Technologies

Contact Dr. Sean Stein Smith:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-sean-stein-smith-dba-cpa-63307444/

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Music: (00:00)

Mitch Roshong: (00:05) Hey everybody. Welcome back to IMA's podcast, "Count Me In". I'm your host, Mitch Roshong and I'm joined by my regular co-host, Adam Larson. Today we are going to listen to another bonus episode as we hear the remainder of the conversation we had with Dr. Sean Stein Smith. Adam, you and I both asked Sean a variety of questions about the impact of various technologies on accounting and finance. What are some of the takeaways you had from what Sean had to offer?

Adam Larson: (00:32) Sean had a lot to share with us. If you recall, Sean recently received the New Jersey society of CPAs, 2019 ovation award in innovation and as an expert in technology, blockchain and data analytics. Throughout our conversation he discussed how the role of the management accountant has changed because of technology, talked to us about global business opportunities, referenced some cybersecurity issues, and even made some future predictions for us. Without giving too much away, let's listen to the rest of our conversation.

Music: (00:32)

Adam Larson: (00:59) You are clearly well versed in the emergence of technologies in accounting and have had great exposure to how they've made an impact on the industry. So I'm curious from your personal experience, how have blockchain, AI, RPA, and anything else you've come across begun to change the role of the management accountant and the accounting profession?

Dr. Stein Smith: (01:25) So, I'd say probably the biggest, biggest change that I've seen is that really all of us have been talking for years on how to transform ourselves to be a business partner or a trusted advisor. Right? And that really now these tools and these processes are actually here to help us do that. Right? Because a audit is, is great, right? It's the core of how companies publish data out to the marketplace. Tax returns are important from a compliance point of view and all the rest. But really those don't add too much value to firms on a ongoing basis. I would, I would challenge you to find a CFO or a board who would argue that their audit team adds actual value going forward. Now again, the audit function and the tax function are cornerstones of what we do. But our true, I think future is to be more forward looking and to be those business advisers. Right? Right. Cause who knows data better than we do. Nobody. Now there are a whole bunch of of new firms out there, new job roles out there, data science, data analysis, all the rest. But all of those fields and firms and individuals lack the foundational knowledge that all of us have on how a company actually works, right? From a financial point of view and they operational point of view, right? Operations, drive, finance, drive data, and then all of that drives to forward-looking choices. And so that's where I've seen that that shift and that transition happen, right? From a compliance or, or a backward looking role or a team or a firm to a to a forward looking field and a team and the individuals working there. Every conference that I go to, every article that I read, every, every book I pick up, podcast, a webinar, all the rest -- This, this whole conversation on all of these tools, right, are just that tools, right? And it's up to us to be able to understand those tools. You'll harness the power of these tools and then most importantly do something with them, right? Because knowledge is is fantastic, but the application of that knowledge is even better. And so that's really where I've seen people in firms really, I mean grow exponentially, right? Individuals who are able to be proactive to humble themselves that you learn new tools, ideas and concepts and, and to then take the time to think, to analyze and to then point out where these new tools and ideas can actually be be put to use. And, and that's really the overall message that I have and the overall theme I've seen, right? You can be a CPA, CMA, any, any of of the alphabet soup, right? But it's that idea of, of harnessing these tools finally, right? The tools and the processes are our, at our hands to help us sort of transition from always having to focus on just doing the work, getting it done and having it out the door to having those tools automate parts of that work for us. And then that frees us up to be able to actually talk to our clients, offer them advice, to help them better understand how their firms are actually doing, and then help them take that understanding and then chart a better course forward. And that's really the, the key value. And it can be AI, it can be RPA, can be blockchain and I'm sure in five years there'll be some new buzz words out there, right? But, but it's that underlying theme, right, that our roles are changing, our jobs are changing and our field is already changing and that it is changing for the better, right? There's always going to be some anxiety and, and angst out there, but it's important to really take a step back to analyze what's happening, to be able to understand which trends are, are coming anyway, like automation technology overall, and to then harness those trends, right? To understand them, to learn them and to then take those to specific processes both inside your firm and outside your firm, have those conversations at both places and then use those conversations as a springboard or as a jumping off point to really help you in your firm evolve transition, have a better handle on your data and current processes and then that frees you up to focus on new business opportunities going forward.

Adam Larson: (05:53) As far as news business opportunities in the expansion of transactional, how do you think these emerging technologies fit into the global business economy?

Dr. Stein Smith: (06:02) On a global scale, I mean we're probably in the first in it, right? The first day and first quarter, first, first pitch tip off, whatever analogy works best, right? And we are just at the very beginning of this transition and it's important to to also note that that our conversation here as comprehensive as it is talking on AI, RPA and on blockchain is only about this much of a much broader change going on, right? Companies are going digital all, all across the world and to that data is really where all of that power is going to be going forward, right? Because the power and the information and the business opportunities are in that data, right? There are all kinds of opportunities out there for firms who are able to, to really analyze that data, go through it, find it patterns, and to then use those patterns to then see opportunities going forward in the marketplace. Now, hedge fund and PE firms have been doing this for years, right? You're mining information to build out trading patterns and all the rest, but now those exact same tools are out there in the marketplace for us as accounting people, to actually use ourselves, right? And to be able to help us analyze it, that data, and I always come back to that data, right? Because companies are built on, driven by and are governed by the information both, both produced internally and then gathered externally. And so we are people who understand data right? At the core of our work and our education, we are people who understand information. And so all of...