Technology adoption: How do you compare?

Technological enablement is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s become an essential part of operating a company in today’s digital-first environment.

In large part, that’s because of the convenience and productivity gains that digital transformation can bring.

Almost all – 97.5% – of businesses in Australia are small enterprises with less than 19 employees. As such, because they make up such an enormous part of the economy, every innovation and productivity gain those businesses achieve can have knock-on effects across the entire economy.

Many technologies and processes that can boost productivity – appointment management, cloud collaboration and messaging, e-signature tools, marketing automation, and more – are in reach of small firms.

“Digitalisation means you can access critical information wherever you are, and whenever you need it,” says Alice Hodgson, Managing Director of TrainTheCrowd, a company that specialises in helping companies with their digital transformation.

“As long as you have internet access, then you can access all client files and other information.

“It’s also a great way of streamlining processes and ticking tasks, such as getting documents signed, off your to-do list. It’s not a big job when you can just send it digitally.”

Productivity gains have flow-on effects that can improve the client experience and create more meaningful work for accountants.

If a time-consuming and menial task can be automated, it might free up time for accountants to focus on higher-value work.

“Accountants could spend more time consulting and providing advice that they might not have time to do when they’re bogged down in manual processes

“Then there’s risk mitigation. It reduces the risk of losing information because it’s easier to have a backup of everything.”

Although the benefits of digital transformation are widely known, transitioning from a paper-based system to a digital one won’t happen without the right resources, skills and support in place.

There’s also a host of different areas that accountants ought to consider – from the storage of client information and communication with clients, to marketing strategies they use to reach new clients.

To help you gauge how your company is faring in these different areas of technology adoption, we’ve pulled together a nine-question benchmarking quiz.

Note: This assessment is designed to give you a high-level insight into your technology adoption. For a thorough assessment that’s tailored to your organisation, contact a technology expert.