In the animal world, an ostrich will run and hide and avoid a problem, while a meerkat will sit up, scan the horizon to watch for danger and look for ways to address the risks and adapt.

Why are we giving you a little lesson on the animal world? No, we aren’t going to talk about animal husbandry – we’re going to use it as an analogy to describe the current environment within accounting.

Please pardon us for trivialising such an important topic, but it’s a true reflection of the present market.

We’ve all read the latest research surrounding the future world of work.  While the exact figures differ pending which research you read, they all have one thing in common: accountants are under threat and robots are to blame.

Why are we giving you a little lesson on the animal world? No, we aren’t going to talk about animal husbandry – we’re going to use it as an analogy to describe the current environment within accounting.

Please pardon us for trivialising such an important topic, but it’s a true reflection of the present market.

We’ve all read the latest research surrounding the future world of work.  While the exact figures differ pending which research you read, they all have one thing in common: accountants are under threat and robots are to blame.

Just recently The Economist said 94 per cent of the responsibilities of accountants and auditors will be completed by robots in 20 years’ time. Interestingly, recreational therapists are safe with only 0.003 per cent to be affected in the future.

Earlier this year, the Minister for Communications released a CEDA report on the Future of the Australian Workforce. The report discusses how although new technologies will without a doubt create job losses, there will be new jobs created in other areas. Therefore, it’s likely there will be a similar amount of accounting jobs in 20 years’ time, but the responsibilities of an accountant will look distinctly different.

The facts are we all know the role of an accountant is going to change, but what is not being discussed is how to stay ahead of the pack and be well placed for the new jobs that will be created.

Combined, we have 20 years of experience in recruiting in this space and we speak to clients and candidates within our field every day.

The way we see it, accountants have two options. Either retrain as recreational therapists or start sitting up and working out how they will be able to provide more than the automated processes of robots and become a valuable business advisor for future employers.

Everyone is reading and hearing of the latest research mentioned before, which is very directed at accountants, but the way they respond is very different.

Some process the information and stick their head in the sand: the ostrich-like mentality. And yes we know, in reality ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand – they lie low at the approach of trouble and press their necks to the ground in an attempt to become less visible… but the effect is the same.

While others process the information and say to us ‘ok, what should I do to ensure I’m in the six per cent who are not only employable in 20 years, but highly in demand?’  Or ‘how do I find the staff who are equipped for the future and technology advances?’ This is what we call the ‘meerkat-like’ approach to the future world of accounting.

So what are the traits of a ‘meerkat’ accountant? Through sourcing high-performing talent within this field, we have observed the following traits within accountants.

A ‘meerkat’ accountant:

An ‘ostrich’ accountant:

Ben Suddaby and Toby Walsh are Consultants with Davidson Corporate.