Will I be Jobless as an Accountant?
 

I'm studying Accountancy in one of the local universities (NUS/NTU/SMU). I've recently heard a lot about how automation will displace lots of jobs in the future (with accountants being at high risk). The possibility of automation within accountancy extends from Controller to FP&A functions.

As a result, I'm getting increasingly worried about being jobless in the future. Furthermore, there are lots of supply of accountants into the job market every year. On the other hand, the government also wants to transform Singapore into a "Leading Global Accountancy Hub". Will the job market for accountancy' turn out to be those hyped-up jobs that soon faded away (e.g. semiconductor engineers)?

Appreciate all replies. Thanks!

yes you will be jobless

MNCs are outsourcing finance functions to places like china, I personally know a few cases. So yes, there is a possibility unless you have specialization like corporate finance transaction execution.

In Singapore's corporate culture, the ONLY reason you can get out of jobs is when your boss doesn't like you.

You will get fired using the pretext of competencies.

Otherwise, even terribly unqualified fake degree can stick to the job and IDA came all the way out to defend someone who engage in degree mill.

to TS, its impossible.

Strictly speaking accountancy jobs are in danger of being offshored to cheaper cetnres like India & Philippines rather than being replaced by automation.

Many MNCs have consolidated accounting jobs in cheaper locations or outsourced them to 3rd party providers overseas. Career prospects not good unless you move to a niche specialization or strategice business partnering / strategy side.

My answer is no. I cannot agree that outsourcing and automation will put Accountant's job in jeopardy. The main reason why big companies are outsourcing their so-called "accounting" or rather I would say book-keeping jobs to places like India is because of the voluminous repeating transactions. Book-keeping is not the job of an Accountant.

Being an Accountant is definitely more than that. You should be meticulous, have an eye for detail and able to see things more in depth. The scope of an Accountant varies widely. From financial planning to analysis, from management reporting to statutory reporting, tax, cashflow, costing, etc. If you are an Accountant in a regional office, your job will be more challenging. Some transactions can be so complex that Accountants have to scratch their head thinking how to record. Automation is to help Accountants turn out reports faster so that more time is being spent on analysis because Accountants are always fighting against time.

Try asking the outsourced companies to do the above and see what you get.

Thanks very much for all of your replies. I appreciate them very much!

May I just add that with SQA, anybody with a degree can easily join the accounting line. This is going to post additional challenge to existing/new Accountants.

I meant SQP.