Final Thoughts On Change

For the last few weeks I have been doing my best to give context on change and its impact on accounting automation. When I write about accounting automation I am referring to getting rid of the paper invoices and the paper checks. To review for the last few weeks I have been writing about positive change as a very intentional process. As I have written many times change is not an event it is a process. Change as a process not an event is obvious, but there is a strange relationship with change and accounting.

In my experience one of the biggest problems with positive change in accounting is where the process traditionally starts. It starts with an Internet search (that’s not so bad because I am getting better at SEO) it leads to a demo and a brisk evaluation of the, what I like to call, points and clicks or the bells and whistles…. Better know at the features of the software. When you concentrate on the features it puts you in a poor position to know at the end of the process if you have been successful or not.

The point of being successful and knowing that you are successful in change is the end game of this series.

I have written about evaluating your process and benchmarking as well as the soft side of change as it pertains to personal change factors. The thing I want to leave you with, as a final thought on this series is reason. Not the reason you talked about when you were in college… I want to finish this series on change by recommending that you start with the point. The late (and great) Stephen Covey said that you always start with the end in mind. It was one of his seven habits.

I try to put what I am about ready to write in as many things that I produce, so that when it comes to pass I can point back to my material to claim that you heard it hear first… (I hope that is enough build up) I believe with automation in accounting that we are one to three laws away from mass adoption. That is my example of reason. When the government steps in and by law mandates a process to become paperless… then the adoption will take off. The reason is law.  To the point (you are welcome) today there is no government mandate, there are no laws, so to change you must have a good reason. My hope is through this series your reason to change is based on numbers. Find your numbers and at the end of the process know how those numbers are impacted and have that impact be your gage on how successful you have changed.

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