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Efficiency and productivity will be key for many businesses, says regional chief.
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Economic headwinds shape opportunities for tech: Ignition
19 December 2022
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9 minute read
Businesses will look to turn to technology for greater efficiency and help to overcome economic challenges in 2023, according to Ignition’s head of APAC, David New.
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After a record year in which the firm engaged over half a million clients and surpassed $3.5 billion in transactions, Mr New said Ignition would seek to expand further and expected financial headwinds in 2023 to generate opportunities for tech firms such as Ignition.
“In many ways, 2023 will be more of the same, but hopefully bigger and better for us,” he said.
“I think it’s been well documented the economic climate challenges that lie ahead, and one of the benefits of being in technology is [that] often, you’re a benefactor of challenging times, people turn to technology for greater efficiency within their business or within their practice.”
“So whilst unfortunate, certainly we’re going to see a lot of people looking at technology to bring greater efficiency.”
Ignition said that its services, including proposals, engagement letters or ensuring businesses received client payments, helped enterprises react and raise productivity.
“Cash flow is going to be as important as ever, if not more important, and of course, we have a huge cash flow benefit there by being able to bring in payment in a more timely manner than otherwise,” said Mr New.
“So I think you’re going to see more of the same, but only even better.”
Mr New said accountants were getting stretched thin by increasing client demands while the skills shortage meant growing workloads, which led to fatigue.
“I think the other big one would be burnout and overservicing, which has been a big issue for our industry,” he said.
“We’ve seen that a bit where accountants have been providing additional service, out-of-scope work, and not been able to collect payment on a lot of the work that they’ve provided.”
“Our recent State of Engagement survey revealed that the average firm is missing out on up to $103,000 of potential revenue.”
Looking to 2023, Mr New said Ignition would aim to expand from the tax profession into other professional services.
“We’ve been servicing accountants and bookkeepers for a long time and what we’d love to do is also extend that reach to their clients,” he said.
“When you think about what we do, proposals, client engagement and payment collection that applies to most professional services, so we’d like to continue to work with accountants not just to help them but also help their clients that are in the professional service space,” he said.
“Ultimately, our premise is to be the leading client engagement platform and commerce platform for professional services, and that’s really what we are hoping to secure and accelerate in 2023.”
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