Why Accountants Should Jump on the Digital Wave

The accountant who only retypes data is becoming extinct. We are entering the era of strategic consultants and data analysts who, thanks to technology, save companies millions.

Martin Tischer, the "captain" of NaStejneLodi.cz and winner of the Accountant Firm of the Year competition, revealed in an interview for Sting University how a traditional "accounting office" is becoming a modern tech company that focuses on business instead of paperwork.

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Hidden Treasure in Czech Companies

In the Czech Republic, the market for external accounting for small and medium-sized enterprises (up to 99 employees) is worth approximately 20 to 25 billion CZK per year. However, this is only the 'mandatory foundation.' According to Martin Tischer, the true potential, which lies in information and added value derived from data, is at least five times higher.

This estimate corresponds with European trends, where the role of the accountant is shifting from 'compliance' (fulfillment of legal obligations) to 'business intelligence.' While the market for mere document processing will stagnate or become cheaper due to automation, the market for data consultancy is booming. Companies do not just need to know how much tax to pay; they want to know where they are losing money and how to optimize their cash flow in real-time.

If It Can Be Digitalized, It Must Be Done

'If a machine can do something, a machine must do it,' is Martin Tischer’s core credo. Today, manually retyping invoices from e-shops into an accounting system is not only inefficient but also dangerous for the company. Wasted time means lost competitiveness. While one accounting firm spends days on routine, the winner of the Accountant Firm of the Year uses this time to analyze bank fees, loan conditions, or the profitability of their clients' individual products.

The Accountant as a 'Financial Doctor' and Data Analyst

With the decline of routine work, the profile of the ideal candidate for this profession is changing. It is no longer enough just to 'know how to account.' A modern professional accountant must think like a data analyst and act like a consultant.

Martin Tischer provides a concrete example: 

An accountant sees in the data that a client has had the same operating loan at the same bank for two years. "A modern accountant says: Look, the market has moved, let's ask another bank and save on financing," Tischer explains. The future of the industry and the space for higher margins lie precisely in these active steps that truly save the client money.

Do Not Be Afraid, Create

Even though it may seem that digitalization takes away jobs, in reality, it transforms them. Ideally, accounting should be done "by itself, for free, and without errors," but someone must set it up, monitor the processes, and interpret the results. For students and graduates, this means only one thing: stop retyping data and start managing processes. Become a modern accountant. The golden age of accounting is just beginning.