Beyond the balance sheet: the human challenges of accounting

He also examined how AI was changing the skills accountants needed, with relationship-building, communication and the ability to work effectively with emerging technology becoming increasingly valuable.

In terms of offshoring, Pillans said firms had shifted from viewing offshore talent primarily as a way to reduce costs to using it as a strategy to address capacity and talent shortages.

Creating a positive workplace had ultimately depended on the culture established by the firm’s leadership, he said, and leaders had played a critical role in shaping how their teams behaved, particularly through the example they set themselves. 

“If we think about creating a positive environment that is absolutely about culture, led from the top,” Pillans said. 

“The team is very much looking to you to model the behaviour.” 

Pillans said that as technology had taken on more technical work, human skills such as communication and relationship-building had become increasingly valuable. 

“I think that the interpersonal skills, those non-technical skills, communicating, relationship building and nurturing those relationships, they become even more important with the rise and rise of AI.” 

Having already joined the podcast in 2023, Pillans identified the rapid development of technology and AI as one of the most significant changes accounting firms had faced. 

“The obvious change that occurred during that time, more broadly, is the rise and rise of technology and in particular AI,” he said. 

Pillans also raised concerns about how AI could affect the traditional pathway through which accountants gained the experience needed to progress into senior roles. 

“I think there's AI and to some degree offshoring plays into this as well, raising some really complex issues about what our workforce is going to look like over the next decade; I don't think it's going to look the same.” 

While firms had initially been attracted to offshoring for potential cost savings, he said, the focus had increasingly shifted towards addressing capacity and recruitment challenges. 

“I think what we've seen in the evolution of offshoring is that for many firms, it stopped being about the margin and it started being about just the capacity.” 

He noted that offshore teams had also matured significantly, with experienced workers now taking on responsibilities that went well beyond the basic tasks associated with early offshoring models. 

“A lot of firms I know have people offshore that they've been using for many years, and those people have become quite highly skilled now, so they're senior accountants or managers.”