Information technology also known as infotech has become parts and parcels of our daily lives whether we like it or not. The amount of traction that infotech gas gained over the last two decades has made the discipline an overdue candidate for command attention from accountants – therefore, the emergence of infotech accountant.
So, this article is written to provide an answer to the question ‘who is an infotech accountant?’. Infotech accountants are in a nutshell those accounting professionals who have taken the extra step to elevate themselves into this elite club of accountants – these accountants are sometimes referred to as technology accountants. Another sets of accountants that are in a class of their own are the hybrid accountants.
Functional and personality perspectives will be taken in our bid to tackle this question of who is an infotech accountant.
Functional answer to who is an infotech accountant
Under this section, we will be providing answer to the question of who is an infotech accountant by looking at the roles and functions of infotech accountants.
Functions and roles of infotech accountants
- Information systems auditor: an infotech accountant must know how to audit information systems like AIS. This is a prerequisite for becoming a technology accountant. One cannot claim to be an infotech accountant when they have no idea of what an active directory is for example. You are either in or out when it comes to having knowledge of how to audit information system – simply count your self out of the few elite accountants that have made it into the class of infotech accountant if you cannot perform this simple task of starting and completing an IS audit
- Information systems designer: at the heart of infotech accountancy is the design of information systems. The role of accountants in information systems as a whole nicely lays one of the foundational steps that one must climb to be qualified as an infotech accountant. Expert designers and implementers of an information can proudly wear the badge of an infotech accountant without any form of shame.
- Data analysts: those accountants that choose to toll the path of internal auditing and are very proficient in manipulating data using risk-based approach are infotech accountants by virtue of the skill they pose in data analytics. The skill that I am talking about here goes beyond using excel spread sheet to perform basic operations like using excel formula to calculate PAYE.
- Risk management specialist: doing business has always been associated with risks from time immemorial. However, the magnitude of risks that are left unattended has been enlarged by the advancement in technology. I cannot think of any other information professional that is more qualified than the infotech accountant to handle the affairs of strategic risk management. Infotech accountants provide solutions to tomorrow’s risk management challenges today by leveraging on the vast experiences gained from years of interactions with other businesses.
- Cybersecurity expert: the pervasive nature of IT has resulted in a significantly increased cybersecurity threat lurking around to devour organizational resources. Infotech accountant weigh their weight in gold when it comes to cybersecurity advisory. If you must become a technology accountant, get ready to get your hands dirty with basic information security techniques as provided by ISO 27001 at the very least. Follow the cybersecurity trends so as to maintain an updated knowledge in this field.
- Accounting and financial Software tester: the number of accounting and finance applications that are being developed every day is mind blowing. Infotech accountants provide the necessary manual testing services for the developers.
- Cloud based accounting expert: another class of technology accountant that we have are those that specialized in managing and configuring cloud-based accounting solutions.
- Spreadsheet modeling expert: there are experienced accountants that are specialized in building spreadsheet financial models to solve real life business problems.
- IT tax specialist: the IT ecosystem is currently under severe scrutiny from government of many nations. IT accountants that have significant experience in taxation provides the necessary guidance for Fintech business to navigate the turmoil water of entrepreneur’s world.
Personality answer to who is an infotech accountant
Here, our focus is on those soft skills that makes one an infotech accountant.
Personality traits of infotech accountants
- Technology savvy individual
- A great communicator
- People person
- Business sixth sense
Infotech accountants are beginning to be in high demand. I encourage you to do all you can within the bounds of the law to equip yourself with all relevant skills needed to be an effective infotech accountant if your still want to remain relevant as an accountant in this jet age and beyond. Note that you must firstly become a qualified accountant before you can transition into becoming an infotech accountant.
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