Leveraging the machine

TheunsHoltshousen– BusinessLeader@CaseWareAfricaCaseWareAfricaadivisionofAdaptIT(Pty)Ltd

ANNUALFINANCIALSTATEMENTS– AUDITSYSTEMS

Intro

• Weusetechnologyinourpersonallivessoseamlessly,yetwebattletobringitintoourbusinessese.g.Uber,AppleWatch,Whatapp,Facebook.• Weneedtomakethatsametransitioninourprofessionalcapacity.• Whatfearsareholdingyoubacktoautomate– addressthosefearstoday• Everybodyistalkingaboutthefuture,butwhatcanwedotodaytomakesurewedonotfallbehindthefastmovingworldaroundus?• Thequestionforfinancialprofessionalsonthecontinentshouldnolongerbe:shouldweadopttechnology?Yourcompetitorsadopteditalreadyandthereforearemovingatarapidpacegainingcriticalgroundthatwilldifferentiatethemtomorrowintermsofspeedandagility.• Thequestionforfinancialprofessionalstodayshouldthereforebe:whattechnologycanweadopttodaythatwillmakeadifferenceinourbusinessassoonastomorrow?

Weusetechnology inourpersonalliveseveryday,weneedtoadoptit

professionallyaswell.

Whenadoptingtech– keyconsiderations

• Whetherwearetalkingaboutaccountingsystems,erp solutions,reportingtoolsorauditingsystems– theautomationdiscussionisreal• Takelegacysystemsintoaccount– donotunderestimateorlosethedatathatyou’vecollecteduptonow• Transitionfromdesktoptocloud– hybridmodelsareoftenthebestsolutionstoday(especiallywiththeavailabilityofconnectionsandassociatedcosts)– bestofbothworldsinthecurrentclimate• Don’tautomateabrokenprocess– redesignwiththefutureoutcomeyouwouldliketoachieveinmind• Cloudcouldopenupcollaborationopportunity– thereforeyoucanthinkbeyondyourcurrentgeographicalborders,structuralborders,etc.

Key considerations when adopting

technology

Integrationiskey

• Singlefilefromcradletogravee.g.whenpreparingannualfinancialstatements,yourtrialbalancethatgetsproducedbytheaccountingpackageshouldintegratewiththesolutionthatwillpopulateyourreportandallowcloudbasedstorageforthevirtualsupportingdocumentsandcollaborationopportunitiesformultiplebranchestoproduceconsolidatedAFSattheendoftheday.• Integrationensuressecurity,quality,accessibility,efficiencyandaccuracy,ultimatelypoweringthegrowthspurgeyouarelookingtoachieve.• Eventhoughweleveragethemachineforthis,weneedtoremembertheimportanceofhumaninvolvement.Allpeoplewant:contactwithotherpeople.Thereforeyouneedtomarrytheknowledgeofyourpeoplewiththepoweroftechnologyforultimateintegrationbenefits.

Integration is key

AuditSystem

Auditor

CloudStorageTrialbalance

FinancialReportingSystem

RegulatorAccountingSystem

ConsolidationDocumentManagerSystem

Beadatadrivenorganization

• Onecentralpointofentrywilleliminateduplicationofeffort(centralizethedata)• Dataquality– whatyouputiniswhatyouwillgetout• Dataanalytics– whatyouputinismadeunderstandable• Cloudpriority– accessibilityofdataiskeyforALLstakeholders• Mobile– fromanywhereatanytimeonanydevice• Bigdata- Bigdataisnotonlytransformingthewaywemakedecisions,butalsothewaywestructureourorganizations,drivingengagement,innovationandproductivitytonewpeaks.Explorethefuturetoday,anddemonstratehowwhatyoudotodaywillinfluenceandenergizeyourcompanytomorrow.

Dataanalytics

• Descriptive– Whathappened?• Diagnostic– Whydidithappen?• Predictive– Whatwillhappen?• Prescriptive– WhatshouldIdo?

• Wearecollectingdataallthetime,wemightaswellanalyzeitthroughmachinelearningtoanswerthosequestionsthatwilltakeusforward.Themachineisreplacingalotofthemanualworkweusedtodo,wecanthereforeusethisadditionaltimetointerprettheoutputsandthroughleadershippredictthefutureforourselvesandourclients.

Structureddata,findthingswhenyouneedthem

Predictingthefuture

• Writeyourownendingbyknowingwhereyougoingandhowyouwillgetthere.• Withtherightreports,youcandiscoverthegaps,planhowtoclosethemandpredictthefuture.• Predictionswithoutactionsaremeaningless.Actproactivelytochangetheoutcome.• Deeperinsightsandsmarterdecisionsarethedifferentiatingfactorsofthebusinessesthatwillstillbeheretomorrow.• Healthierleadershipprinciplesandfasterdecisionmaking- whatwecandotochallengeourpersonalgrowthtoday.

Predicting the future

Continuedadvancementofthemachine

• Evenmoreprescriptiveandintelligentrecommendationscoming• SomepeopleworrythatAIwilldestroyjobs.Historyhasshownthatwhilenewtechnologydoesindeedeliminatejobs,italsocreatesnewandbetterjobstoreplacethem.

• Hopeistheonlyemotionstrongerthanfear.Createhopeinyourorganizationsbyadoptingtechnologythatrelievespressure,supportsthevisionandproducestangibleresultsinstantaneously.

• Makethemachinesomethingthatworksforyou,andnottheotherwayaround.Leveragesolutionsavailabletothefinancialprofessionthatnotonlypromisesabettertomorrow,butalsoproducesabettertoday– thesesolutionswillhaveadirectimpactonproductivityandturnaroundtimes– allcrucialingredientsinsuccessfulbusinesses.

• Blockchain datawhereasimplebankstatementtransactioncancometolifeintheaccountingsystemmappedtoanaccountinthefinancialstatementswithoutanyhumanintervention.Understandthetechnologytoleveragethebenefit.

Continued advancementof the machine

Artificialintelligence

• TheimpactofAIwilldoubleinorganizationsacrossAfricainthenext12months(Salesforceresearch)• TruevalueliesinthecollaborationbetweenAIandpeople• Creatingnewvaluethatishumaninaworldthatisincreasinglydigital• WithAIandmachinelearningmoreprevalentandembeddedwithineverydaydigitalservices,customersareexpectingintelligentanddifferentiatedexperiences– thisisaccessibletoeventhesmallestofbusinesstodayataffordablerates(subscriptionpricingmodels)• Wenolongeronlydeliverflatreports,buttheinterpretationoftheinformationdeliversmoremeaningfulrelationshipwithourclients• Forresterpredicts,“machine-learningalgorithmsusedforbusinessandcustomerintelligencefindanswerstoquestionsthathumansdidn’tevenknowtoask.”

Leveragingtechnology

• AsmoreandmoreexperiencesarebuiltwiththeintegrationofAIandmachinelearning,westillhavealottolearnabouthowtoleveragethetechnologyinmeaningfulwaysandkeeptheexperiencehuman.• Thehumans’abilitytoadapt,connectandtranslateisstillneeded.• Agoodcustomerexperiencespeakstoacustomers’value,notjusttheirpreferences,andwhileAIcanbeameanstoanend,it’snotacure-allsolution.• Makedataeasytouse– dashboards,graphs,etc.• Leveragethemachinetoconnectwithotherhumans,inamoreintelligentwaythaneverbefore.• Understandyourvalueinrelationtothevalueofautomation– findthecomplementingtippingpoint.

Leveraging technology

Whenshouldyoudoit?

• Today• Nottomorrow• Today• Understandthelandscapetodayandadaptyourbusinesstoleveragewhat’savailabletoapointwhereyouexhilarateyourselfexponentially• AsfuturistKevinKellysays:"So,thetruth:Rightnow,today,in2016isthebesttimetostartup.Therehasneverbeenabetterdayinthewholehistoryoftheworldtoinventsomething.Therehasneverbeenabettertimewithmoreopportunities,moreopenings,lowerbarriers,higherbenefit/riskratios,betterreturns,greaterupsidethannow.Rightnow,thisminute.Thisisthemomentthatfolksinthefuturewilllookbackatandsay,'Oh,tohavebeenaliveandwellbackthen!'

When should you do it?

TODAY

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