Floqast’s Predictions for Accounting in 2025

With a new year comes new challenges, and 2025 promises to be no different. With a litany of emerging technologies, many SAP organizations may struggle to prioritize the new options and budgets they have in the new year.

To help companies prepare for the opportunities and challenges ahead, Floqast’s Katie Thomas highlighted three major predictions for the year:

Talent Shortage

With many Baby Boomers retiring, some important roles are going unfilled at major organizations. One of these roles is the CPA – the number of available accountants is projected to dip by 30% over the next decade, even though there is already a six-figure shortage. Organizations will have to find creative ways to fill these competitive positions and ensure that their existing employees do not leave for another role.

“Creating an environment that attracts and retains talent while thinking outside of the box to find new talent is a critical piece of managing the talent shortage puzzle,” writes Thomas.

Business must also take this tact when filling positions that require advanced technological capabilities. Few companies have the talent that they need to leverage advanced capabilities like automation and AI. They will need to either hire new workers with these skills or find third-party platforms with these capabilities ingrained.

New Solutions will Streamline Tasks

In 2025, Thomas predicts that finance teams will have to accomplish increasing amounts of work, despite having staffing shortages. SAPinsider research has shown that improving the efficiency of important tasks like the financial close is a top priority for finance and accounting teams, and they are turning to advanced capabilities like automation and AI to stay on top of the work they need to accomplish.

Going hand-in-hand with streamlining tasks is the need for a centralized view into these vital workflows. Organizations have found it important to have a single source of truth, such as the FloQast Accounting Transformation Platform to offer end-to-end visibility across these important tasks. This also provides leaders with crucial insights they need to make better-informed decisions.

Shifting CFO responsibilities

Finally, Thomas predicted that CFOs will need to focus more on financial transformation than ever before. With a wide array of new tools becoming available, these leaders will have to find agile tools that bolster their decision-making ability.

“To support compliance and help teams navigate the complexities of digital transformation, CFOs will be championing technology adoption while fostering innovation and leading cultural shifts,” says Thomas.

CFOs are also likely to need to focus more intently on their compliance responsibilities in the new year. Ensuring compliance with all applicable regulations can reduce the risk for any penalties or reputational damage.

What This Means for SAPinsiders

Prepare for automation and AI: Automation and AI have reached a point of maturity in which many organizations are relying on them to accomplish essential finance and accounting functions. These capabilities are rapidly becoming essential to keep up with increasing amounts of work. Companies should prepare to integrate automation and AI in important workflows.

Embrace change: Roles and responsibilities are shifting within finance and accounting teams as technology changes what is possible. From CPAs to CFOs, all members of the organization need to embrace the change that 2025 will bring.