May has arrived, which means one thing for accounting – the most prominent accounting conference in Europe, Accountex, is here.
Accountex 2023 will occur on the 10-11th of May at the ExCeL conference centre in London. Professionals from accounting, financial technology (fin-tech) and the financial world come together to discuss the future of accounting, share ideas and, of course, find new clients. I, Uku, the work management software for accountants, will also be at Accountex with a booth. Together we’ll create the future of accounting.
What to expect from Accountex this year?
A record number of participants, over 250 companies and speakers, have registered for Accountex this year. The world’s most popular software present their powerful new solutions at seminars. Specialists share tips on how to grow your business and stay one step ahead of your competitors.
The main topics at this year’s Accountex are mental health, the impact of technology on accounting and labour shortages.
The ecological footprint of the specialists travelling from all over the world is quite extensive. With the help of a partner, Carma, Accountex has promised to plant one tree for every visitor. It is worth mentioning here that the entrance is free, so many trees must be planted because there will be many visitors. Last year, in 2022, more than 8,000 industry representatives visited the conference.
Mental health
Mental health gains popularity everywhere, not just at Accountex. No matter how ambitious you are in your work, you shouldn’t forget your well-being. Burnout is more relevant this year than ever. The number of employees with poor mental health in the UK increased by 25% compared to 2019.
How can you be there for your employees to avoid burnout and, thus, potential labour shortages?
As an employer, there are several steps you can take to ensure the well-being of your employees. In 2023, work-life balance, or flextime, is a popular topic. From the employer’s side, this means enabling flexible working hours. Technology also plays a part here, allowing remote work and overtime management thanks to time tracking for tasks. If an employee works overtime, the easiest way to avoid burnout is to compensate them with vacation.
However, your employer is not the only one responsible for preventing burnout. As an employee, you can also do your part to keep work and life separate, thereby ensuring strong mental health. It is crucial to set boundaries between work and personal life and know how to take time off when needed. Overwork may be acceptable in the short term, but it causes a lot of stress in the long term.
The impact of technology on accounting
Understandably, adopting modern technology is also an important topic at Accountex, partly because the fair features many different software providers – software for accounting, work management, AML processes and others. Increasingly, clients also expect more technical knowledge from the accountant.
Software as the accountant’s new assistant is helpful in many different aspects, such as managing tasks and clients, simplifying accounting, automated invoices or emails, and much more.
The more software can take over simple tasks, the more time you can focus on what matters to customers. The more personalized insights you can extract from the data for your customers, the more accurate your financial recommendations will be for them.
An essential part of that is maintaining the accountant’s sense of mission because sometimes it may seem that technology or even artificial intelligence is replacing our work. However, this is different. The software needs a user to give the commands; therefore, accountants are always necessary.
Labour shortage
The labour shortage in the field of accounting is relevant throughout the world, and where else better to discuss it than Accountex.
Studies predict that by 2030 there will be a global shortage of 85.2 million skilled workers. The most significant loss is predicted for the financial sector, nearly 22.8%. At the convention, the speakers share recommendations on how, as an employer, you can ensure that your company survives the battle for talent.
There are several reasons for the worsening labour shortage in the accounting field, but one of the most fundamental factors is the complexity and diversity of the field. A good accountant is a skilled calculator, precise in their operations, and a good partner for their client. The often stressful and demanding job is not for everyone who knows how to calculate. It is necessary to be a specialist with the spirit of a team player ready to follow line by line to find the problem. However, such people are hard to find, and the value of a good accountant grows more and more over time.
The Uku team visited Accountex London 2023 and shared their experience.
I’m not coming to London. How do I benefit from Accountex?
As always, significant events bring new inventions or tools. We don’t attend Accountex to demonstrate just what we already have. The world demands innovation, and we will give it to them. But here and today, I can’t talk about everything new yet.
Nevertheless, the Uku event “Uku’s new era: The freedom to do less” takes place on May 23, where the Uku team will demonstrate all the new surprises with which the work of accountants will soon become even more effective. Be sure to sign up because you will find out in the webinar what we learned from the best accounting professionals in Accountex and how I move forward based on this knowledge. Sign up for the online event here >
Did you know that I got a complete makeover this month? Both in the application and in the form of the logo. Read more about what this rune on Uku’s stomach means.
