In the wake of the ‘Great Resignation’ and ongoing skills shortages in multiple sectors, making finance an attractive career path is more challenging than ever. The industry needs to upskill existing specialists and groom a new generation for a job pathway that is becoming increasingly reliant on the digital accountant, argues Russell Gammon, Chief Solutions Officer at Tax Systems.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a transformative effect on businesses at every level and in every sector. It has also prompted a number of employees to reconsider their career goals, leaving many enterprises short of skilled staff when they are most needed. That’s why it is important to consider the skills that the next generation of UK tax industry workers will require.

A recent ACCA report shows how digital skills are becoming increasingly important when applying for new jobs in finance and tax. Technologies such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which were once the sole responsibility of the IT department, are now expected to be part of the wider business remit. This transforms the role of the tax professional and means that HR’s approach to hiring must also change. 

The advent of Making Tax Digital (MTD) 

The ongoing evolution of tax administration, as typified by HMRC’s ‘Making Tax Digital’ (MTD) scheme, is driving tech investment, with speed, efficiency, and accuracy becoming key priorities. Companies are now more alert to the importance of correctly filing their taxes, particularly as tougher penalties will be incurred for non-compliance. Indeed, the penalty now for mistakes in VAT returns can now be up to 100% of the amount of the error.

Meanwhile, MTD for Corporation Tax (CT) will require businesses to finetune their CT processes, with quarterly filing and a closer interaction between VAT and CT tax data. Changes in source data must be shown in both CT and VAT in rapid succession to guarantee consistency in the numbers being filed to HMRC. 

Therefore, this process relies on shared data. Currently, for many organisations, poor integration between VAT and CT tax teams is magnifying operational inefficiencies and delivering substandard customer service. MTD for CT and VAT filings are now set to be only around 5 working days apart, meaning visibility across the entire tax team is essential to eliminate siloed processing and potentially differing outcomes.

Corporate employment challenges

This more strenuous workload, with more regular filings and a leaner budget, means tax departments must embrace technology to substitute error-prone, time-consuming admin with automation while becoming more focused on the customer. This is why we are moving beyond the spreadsheet into more advanced tools such as ERP, blockchain, analytics and data visualisation. That’s borne out by a recent survey by ACCA, which reports that 89% of accounting and finance professionals said that digital skills were necessary.

When it comes to automation, it offers a host of benefits, including using MTD software for data collection to minimise errors in manual data inputs; extracting data to reduce transfer time between source and software and validating data to eliminate human intervention while picking up errors. 

Traditional tax departments or specialists must now evolve and upskill, especially when it comes to data interpretation. Companies are no longer hiring tax professionals with only outstanding accounting skills – the remit has now widened to encompass digital skills and AI expertise to cope with changing tax requirements. However, finding and retaining employees with the appropriate skill set requires an employment opportunity which promises additional rewards, such as a challenging work environment or reasonable work-life balance.

Welcoming Gen Z workers to the fold

The work junior tax executives traditionally perform has also changed. While manual data entry jobs were an acceptable starting point back in the day, new digital native employees expect to be trained in new technologies from day one, accelerating their career progression. Historically, it was also common for skilled workers with many years’ experience and qualifications to be stuck doing basic spreadsheet work too. Technology now offers the prospect of eliminating such menial tasks, meaning companies can redeploy these highly skilled tax advisors to add more strategic and fulfilling value elsewhere.

The latest iteration of the workforce, Generation Z, is also influencing the tax employee’s prospects. They want more than just money each month – social and environmental causes are important; flexible working and a harmonious work-life balance are a must; and support with mental health and wellbeing from the employer is expected. Businesses which share these values will be rewarded with hard work and commitment.

The future for tax workers

Inevitably, the balance of technology and human expertise will take time to perfect. How to identify, recruit and retain the digital accountant is the next challenge. Recruitment agents must step beyond their traditional comfort zone and promise extra rewards – whether that’s financially or in terms of flexible working. This will help thwart new recruits being poached by larger tech-driven corporates where their digital skills will be cultivated. 

Managers in the market should now find employees with a perfect blend of skills, across accounting, business and digital. Fluency in data analytics and tax rules, as well as a facility for real-time tax dashboards and visualisation methods are a must. 

Tax specialists can therefore become empowered by technology, providing greater insight into accounts and enhancing productivity. In tandem with clearly outlined career progression, this will encourage loyalty in employees of all ages.