3 Ways CPAs Can Future Proof Themselves Amid a Software, Tech and AI Boom

The solution to never being replaced by software, technology and artificial intelligence (AI) is to do what software, technology and AI can never do: be a human. What exactly does it mean to “be a human” in the financial space? And how does that ensure that you won’t get replaced by AI or software? Here are three considerations:

1. Leverage the Human Connection

The first way to never be replaced is by leveraging the fact that, as humans, we can connect with other humans at a level that technology can never do.

People buy based on feeling. Virtually every purchase that a person makes is driven by a desire to obtain pleasure and/or avoid pain. So, if someone like you comes along who can display empathy towards the pain that a fellow human — a business owner — is experiencing, they will gravitate towards you. Why? Because people want to be around people who care about them and their plight. People don’t want to be lonely. And being a business owner is lonely, frustrating and stressful.

Consider how many people are in the average business owners’ life that they can turn to for real business help?

They often can’t turn to their employees. They can’t turn to their spouse or friends. But if their CPA displays even a little bit of empathy, it will go very far. They will choose you over software every day of the week. Period.

CPAs can apply this to their practice in three simple ways:

     

• Be a great listener. Make them feel heard and understood.

   

• Show genuine interest in their goals and challenges.

   

• Offer guidance beyond financials and help them grow their business, not just manage numbers.

2. Understand the Nuances

The second way to never be replaced is by leveraging the fact that, as a human, you can understand nuance.

There’s a ton of nuance in business. Just because software detects a trend or suggests a solution to a problem, that same software is not taking into consideration things like the market realities, the personality of the owner, the specific issues the owner is dealing with in their business, the competitor situation or the specific customer issues that the business owner is dealing with. The list goes on and on.

Tax software will always outperform an accountant at inserting the right number into the right box, but it will always fail at truly understanding the client, their wants and their desires — and helping accomplish them.

This nuanced approach, essentially the ability to understand the subtle differences based on unique situations that a business owner is facing, is crucial. And that is something that software, technology or AI can never do.

3. Exert Influence

The third way to never be replaced by software, technology or AI is by leveraging the fact that we, as humans, have the ability to get other humans to act.

Simply: We can influence other people in a way that software never could. If they could, then all sports coaches could be replaced. All teachers could be replaced. And all CEOs would be replaced.

The key here isn’t to be a taskmaster. If CPAs really want to motivate their clients or organizations, they need to communicate to them in their language. Not in the language of accounting, but rather in the language of their business. It’s much easier to motivate people when they understand exactly what they’re doing and why. Once CPAs develop this skill, they’ll find that accountability comes pretty easily.

It is for this reason that CFO advisory services cannot be replaced by technology, software or AI.

Every business owner needs a CPA to help them strategize for the future. A human. This isn’t something software could ever do, because the human connection — the trusted relationship between CPAs and their organizations or clients — is key to a successful partnership.

No AI can do this. No app can do this. Only you.