Assignment Requirement Each group is required to prepare report regarding: What and how does future technological innovation such as artificial intelligence and accounting software automation impact...

BUS700 Economics
Assessment 3: Research Report, Paired-Assignment
Introduction
    This report is based on research undertaken by our group on the impact of technological innovations such as automated accounting software, Big Data driven analytics, and Artificial Intelligence on the future career prospects, ethics, job opportunities, and skills needed for students and working professionals alike in the accounting profession. Indeed, this research report is the culmination of the efforts put in by our group as far as the topic mentioned above is concerned. We sincerely hope that this report would be useful to anyone and especially future accountants as far as career choices are concerned.
    The key themes that are covered in this group report pertain to how changes due to technology impact the accounting profession and how Reskilling is the way forward. In addition, this report also focuses on how other countries in the world approach these challenges as well as provide career opportunities for the willing. Apart from this, there is a detailed discussion on how ethics and value based norms are impacted both by technology as well as business and financial trends.
Impact of Technological Changes on the Accounting Profession
The fast changing technological landscape has impacted everything from life, business, and the way we work. Cutting edge technologies such as Big Data powered Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and automation software have changed the way we live and work. Indeed, the impact of exponentially accelerating technology has been such that all professions including accounting have witnessed a dramatic shift in the way they operate. In particular, technology has impacted the accounting profession by automating routine workflow activities, simplifying accounting entries addition, validation, and reconciliation (Crouzet & Véron, 2002).
    In addition, the emerging technologies such as Analytics and AI threaten to upend the accounting profession in unimaginable ways. Indeed, while the introduction of accounting software meant that mostly the jobs at the lower end of the accounting value chain were impacted, the emergence of AI and Analytics threatens the jobs at the higher end as well. Thus, there is cause for concern as far as employment trends are concerned and especially so, for the future jobs that would be created (Drew, 2015).
Future Career Prospects for Accounting Professionals
    This is the reason why we as a group pursuing accounting and finance degrees have to be worried about our future job prospects as we might not find good jobs or for that matter, even an jobs especially when large scale changes in the way the accounting profession operates are underway due to technology. In our research, we found that technology impacts the accounting profession in myriad ways. Starting with changing job roles due to lower value adding jobs being automated and including the migration of jobs offshore where cheap labor is abundant, as well as changes in the way Reskilling of the accountants is required (Dutta, et al., 2015).
    For instance, accounting software eliminates manual accounting entries as well as recording the financial transactions. Further, accounting software also leads to automation of routine administrative processes in terms of making redundant manual methods of reconciliation and preparation of finical statements. By such redundancies, many jobs such as Book Keepers, Accounting Professionals engaged in vetting and validating the accounting entries as well as those accountants whose job is to reconcile the statements manually would find them out of jobs (Murphy, 2015).
    Thus, these workers have to either look for other jobs or reskill themselves to keep themselves abreast of the changing requirements for their jobs. Indeed, as briefly mentioned earlier, Reskilling is a term that we came across many times during our research. Reskilling refers to the retraining of accounting professionals to ensure that they have newer skills and higher value adding skills. By doing so, they can hope for either being promoted to the appropriate positions in their current organizations or can be employed in other organizations where their new skills are required (Suddaby, et al., 2015).
The Importance of Reskilling
    Reskilling is a term that we researched much especially when viewed in the context of what accounting professionals already in the profession and working for corporates are concerned. As we discovered in our research, the stark choices facing existing accounting professionals boil down to either acquiring new skills or having to have their jobs made obsolete and redundant. This is the reason why many firms in Australia are focusing on Reskilling as a means to ensure that workers are not laid off due to automation and instead, they have the necessary skills to survive the onslaught of new technologies (Pan & Seow, 2016).
    Indeed, the respected business and financial publication, Australian Financial Review, ran a series of articles and report, some of them sponsored by the corporates, as to why Australian firms are choosing to reskill their workers rather than laying them off. The reasons cited in the articles and reports are to do with the costs of finding newer workers as well as upgrading to the latest technologies versus the costs of retaining the existing workers and the costs of retraining and Reskilling them (Murphy, 2015).
Focus on Higher Value Adding Activities
    Further, the articles and the reports also mention how the key to success for accountants in the future would lie in how well they adapt to the new skills required of them. For instance, some of the skills that accountants in the future would need to acquire are related to more intellectual and less repetitive and routine work. In other words, accountants in the future would have to posses’ abstract analytical abilities where they can complement and supplement their existing skills (Drew, 2015).
    In addition, they should focus on higher value adding activities such as business and financial as well as management consulting as potential areas for growth. Already most accountants in the Big Four firms do a significant amount of these activities and it is high time others in lesser known firms follow this practice. In other words, what the skills of the future as far as accounting is concerned are the ability to go beyond number...