Role of Coding in the Accountancy Profession

As we all know, accountancy plays an important role in the lives of accountants. Therefore, in the world of an accountant, digital and technical skills are essential. Accountants should support digital initiatives to improve the value of an organization, says ACCA as per a latest research paper called ‘Coding: as a professional accountant, why you should be interested‘. 

Coding is very useful in accounting. The coding guidelines describe what professional accountants should know. In technology, development solutions are linked to coding. There are many types of programming languages e.g. high-level language and low-level language. ‘It is not necessary that all the accountants are required to code, but a basic understanding of coding can enhance their skills and add value to the organizations there are working for. This will also help them to differentiate themselves from others and be more suitable for future career opportunities, said Narayanan Vaidyanathan, ACCA’s head of business futures.

After research amongst 992 members of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, 57% of the participating members did not have any knowledge and know-how of coding but the remaining were interested to learn. According to this research, everyone wanted to know coding in the next 3 years, 6 out of 10 desired to develop a basic understanding of coding whereas 1 out of 4 wanted to have an advanced knowledge of coding. 

The paper emphasizes that the coding language should be contextualized to the accountancy atmosphere and environment, along with a detailed explanation about the benefits and challenges, and a practical case study that demonstrates how coding fits with the accounting profession and how it will enhance the skills of accountants to cope with the modern world.

Narayan concludes that “coding knowledge is inevitable and can be a valuable skill set to have. An accountant can involve himself/herself at various levels of coding i.e. from a broader and high-level awareness to a user level involvement with specialists for detailed coding experience. 

The modern day accountants and accounting firms and their staff must adapt to the changing business environment by making sure that basic coding knowledge is obtained and enhanced over time. In order to achieve this, companies and audit firms should arrange regular trainings for their staff so that they are well coped with the ongoing speedy changes in the business environment.