Did you know that accounting as a profession is more than 7,000 years old? Ancient civilisations like the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians and the Romans used detailed information to track money and goods all over their empires (and it is said to have been connected to the origin of writing and maths to boot!).  

Back then, lots of time had to be spent just in the process of collecting and jotting down all this data. Over the years, there have been huge technological changes that have allowed accountants to spend less time handling the mundane stuff, and more time doing big-picture thinking. 

An accountant used to be someone who records and summarises info and was very much about money and transaction. The accountant of today is a data wizard, insights detective and strategic mastermind all in one, advising companies on how to grow, invest and conquer the complex challenges of today. Pretty epic right? 

The popularisation of Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way we work – like the invention of computing, or the Internet, AI is giving modern accountants the opportunity to focus on the really exciting stuff. 

In this module, we will take a squiz at the role AI is going to play to help accountants bring more value to the table, why having people skills in this role is more important than ever, and why areas like cybersecurity and forensic accounting are going to be vital to make a difference in business and the wider world.