How Congressional Technology Hearings Affect Accounting Firms?

Earlier, the CEOs of some of the tech giants were asked to appear before congress to discuss their potentially unfair trade practices in regard to data security and information sharing.

Congress? Tech companies? What’s this to do with accounting firms?

Companies like Amazon, Apple, and Google have infiltrated human lives from every corner. Every decision you make, every search you conduct, there is a role, no matter how insignificant, by Google, Amazon, and other such technology companies.

Let’s see how it is going to affect accounting firms in the USA.

Google remains the king of search engines and is still the number one choice for most business promotions. Over 80% of the world’s searches are being carried out from Google. This means your customers, as well as clients, are using it.

If such distrust keeps lobbying these tech companies, it is going to be difficult for outsourcing accounting companies to manage their stores.

Is it Time to Move on from Tech Giants Like Google and Facebook?

These companies are great at technology infrastructure, but if their services are not used correctly, the charges can be massive. This is why the technology team at your firm needs to keep a close eye on what you are consuming in terms of data packets and infrastructure. Right now, the only thing to do is to stay on top of billing cycles, usage, bandwidth, and other critical aspects billed by such companies.

What Does it Mean for Accounting Firms?

Accounting firms need to keep in mind that information and privacy rights are not 100% guaranteed on the internet. Confidential information needs to be secured, and stringent data security measures need to be put into place to ensure your clientele’s privacy. When you upload information to public servers like Google Drive, Cloud, or even Facebook, you are uploading data to public servers under terms and conditions that these platforms might get hacked. And, if that happens, the consequences can be catastrophic for your firm.

What is the Alternate?

If cloud solutions are not the answer, what have the outsourcing accounting services been relying on? It’s time to change; it’s time to set up enterprise-level secure and private document sharing as well as management systems that are robust and secure. Accounting firms in the USA and the rest of the world need to consider leveraging such technology platforms to amplify their message about strict security to serve their target client base.

Bottom Line

It’s simple, your clients are using these platforms, and if you want to stay relevant, it’s time to board the technology train. However, with these congressional hearings, technology companies will go through a rigorous process of regulation, so the end consumers are better protected. So, this may seem like a setback for a few accounting firms, but it is actually a benefit in disguise. You need to start exploring and evaluating these technologies and how they have infiltrated into your organization to cater better to your clientele.