Will Elon Musk’s New Company Kill Accounting?
Technology has undoubtedly helped make our lives easier but it also comes at a price. As more jobs become automated, certain occupations will eventually disappear. SpaceX and Tesla founder, Elon Musk, is known for his unconventional ideas ranging from spaceships to Mars to winding tunnels underneath the surface of Los Angeles. Yet his newest venture echoes a far-fetched, futuristic sci-fi film.
Musk recently unveiled Neuralink, a brain-machine interface that aims to create technology that will augment our own brain capacity. According to Musk, “it’s mostly about the bandwidth, the speed of the connection between your brain and the digital version of yourself, particularly output.”
He believes that over time this technology will help merge biological and digital intelligence, and has the potential to enhance some of the same industries it may ultimately replace. But will Musk’s new brain technology eventually oust your Controller or CFO? For better or worse, it’s highly unlikely.
Within the accounting world, automation has already played a central role over the past few years with cloud software and mobile applications constantly evolving. Bank feeds are now automatically imported and reconciled, and tax forms are largely filled without human touch. These tasks were once paid on an hourly rate that offered little value-add to organizations.
Technology within the accounting industry will continue to help eliminate menial tasks that many accountants have worked through for years, meaning they can now focus on contributing to the organization in a larger way.
Automation can’t and won’t, replace the human relationship. It offers more opportunity than ever before to create an indispensable relationship with clients, colleagues, vendors and partners – not to mention adds far greater value to organizations.
If you’re waiting for Elon Musk’s technology to help with your month-end close, you may be waiting a while. Scientists say it could be years before prototypes are tested. But why wait when you can automate your close and reconciliation processes today? Sign up for a demo of ART here!