Small Businesses At The Center Of Bots Vs Accountants

Behind many shifting trends in small business (SMB) financial services — the rise of FinTech service providers, the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), even regulatory efforts to promote bank switching — is a growing realization for the industry: Business owners don’t just want number crunchers and money holders; they want advisory services and guidance to help grow their firms. One way this shift has materialized is in how small businesses seek and hire financial professionals to join their companies. In a 2017 report from job hunting site Indeed, researchers found that “small business accountant” was nowhere to be found in the top-10 job positions sought after by most small business employers. Instead, small businesses searched for “business development manager,” “data analyst” and “business analyst,” to name a few. “It is interesting that we are seeing business analysts rise to the top of the list, as small businesses have traditionally relied on accountants in their growth phase,” said Indeed’s Senior Vice President of Human Resources Paul Wolfe in a statement at the time. “The healthy economy brings a need for companies to know where their business is thriving financially (or not), to help make decisions for the future.”