Whilst these manual bookkeeping services are being superseded by the vastly more efficient hand of artificial intelligence, other revenue streams are arising for the bookkeeper – and ironically, it is cloud computing itself that is opening up these new opportunities.”

There’s been an ominous cloud hanging over the bookkeeper profession for a few years now. No, it’s not the nimbostratus variety that continually threatens rain. Instead it’s the digital cloud, used to store, manage and process data and it portends the end of the bookkeeping profession.

Bookkeepers have always been the bastion of finance data, ever since Ancient Babylonians, Assyrians and Sumerians first recorded the growth of crops and herds on stone tablets. But as financial data entry and management is being continually automated with a range of accounting software, is it inevitable that the bookkeeper will go the way of the milkman?

The changing nature of bookkeeping

The technological disruption hitting the financial sector continues to drastically change the role of the bookkeeper. Lower value services that were traditionally provided by bookkeepers (data-entry, reconciling bank statements, balancing bank ledgers etc.) are becoming less profitable as automation increases.  Whilst these manual bookkeeping services are being superseded by the vastly more efficient hand of artificial intelligence, other revenue streams are arising for the bookkeeper – and ironically, it is cloud computing itself that is opening up these new opportunities.

Personal wealth

When surveyed, 92 percent of Australian adults recently reported having concerns regarding their financial well-being.  That’s millions of Australians who don’t feel in complete control of their money. This seems counter-intuitive considering there are personal wealth tools like myprosperity out there to help manage their finances. At the core of the problem is a lack of data, and it is this factor that is stopping them from getting informed assistance from an adviser, which they undoubtedly need since they are feeling, well… ‘concerned’.

The technology is there and advisers are everywhere, so what’s stopping Aussies from getting the ball rolling? It’s simple administration. Getting set up on a personal wealth platform takes time – the data doesn’t just simply appear out of nowhere. Furthermore, it requires some expertise about where to source the information efficiently and securely. Many of our accounting and financial planning partners cite “getting clients set up” as a major hurdle in implementing myprosperity. The successful ones have assigned someone in their firm with the responsibility of onboarding clients and inputting this data they need to help their clients. Many others however simply don’t have the resources or have relied on the client to input data themselves and this has often meant that the job simply doesn’t get done.

Enter the bookkeeper

But wait a minute. Who is good at data entry and has a high level of financial knowledge? Of course… it’s bookkeepers. They are the missing piece in this puzzle. For starters, they are trained professionals and importantly, they are trusted. They are typically the ones that will save the day for a disorganised business client, so why would we not turn to them to help get our personal finances all in one place and sorted?

Having someone to set up accounts will be better for both clients and advisers. For the client, it means having all their financial data up-to-date and in one place. For the adviser, it means having up to date information about their clients so they can provide better advice and drive new opportunities for services.

To deliver on this exciting initiative, we are launching the “mypersonal bookkeeper” program as part of our upcoming Roadshow. As part of the program we are offering to train bookkeepers (for free) to become certified in the myprosperity software and we will be promoting them via our online directory to our 270+ strong network of advisers to help get their joint clients sorted. We think personal finance is a huge opportunity for bookkeepers to uncover what could represent the single biggest revenue stream for the industry in years.

To find out more, please register for 1 of our 12 events kicking off nationally on 29th May and running through to 16th June.