Page 42 - DCICAI SOUVENIR 2019

INNOVATION AND

DISRUPTION –

TWO SIDES OF THE

SAME COIN

CA GEORGE ISSAC
Past Chairperson of Doha Chapter of ICAI

Throughout history, invention and innovation will significantly change the way transactions
have been drivers of progress of humankind. are conducted and verified and will impact a
Starting with the invention of the wheel, inventions number of areas including banking, finance and
and innovations over time such as inventions of auditing. AICPA and CPA Canada have published
the printing press and paper, the steam engine a guidance paper “Block Chain Technology and
and other propulsion methods, the discovery of its Potential Impact on the Audit and Assurance
penicillin and medical innovations, innovations that Profession” wherein they predict that roles and skill
lead to the personal computer and the internet, all sets of auditors may change as new blockchain
these have enabled us to live better, longer and based techniques and procedures emerge.
richer lives.

However, every innovation with its attendant
benefits has also brought about socio-economic
disruption. The way we interact with the world and
each other has changed. New industries have
been created and others have become obsolete.
Jobs have been made redundant and new jobs
to meet new needs have been created. We have
continuously had to adapt, unlearn and relearn to
keep pace and keep relevant.
So what of our world, the world of accounting and
finance. What innovations are going to benefit
this sphere and cause disruptions to the current
environment?

There are already a number of studies which show Some time back in June 2015, the World Economic
that automation will replace humans in bookkeeping Forum together with Deloitte published a project
and clerical accounting tasks in the near term report “The Future of Financial Services; How
future (within the next ten years). Progressively, disruptive innovations are reshaping the way
routine accounting and book keeping tasks are financial services are structured, provisioned
being done without human intervention. Payables and consumed”, wherein they examined which
accounting, customer invoicing and receivables innovations would be most impactful to the
accounting, banking transactions are all being financial services industry and the implications of
automated. The pace and scope that automation the changes on customers, financial institutions
covers will only grow, rendering human intervention and the overall financial services industry.
in many areas redundant. Auditing and Assurance
too will change. AI and Block Chain technologies