The topic digitalization runs through all industries and job profiles. The digital change does not stop at tax advice either. The** Future law firm** faces new challenges, but also new opportunities. Digital collaboration with Clients enables new opportunities, modern business areas will open up and you can offer consultations at a significantly lower cost.
The first steps into digitalization
have already left
Digital change has long since arrived in tax consulting. Software covers more and more tax consulting services, from simple account management for clients to electronic files. The tax authorities have also introduced increasingly sophisticated electronic processing systems to which you as a tax advisor had to react. Contacts with clients and services for clients have already been digitized to a significant extent.
What further steps in digitalization?
stand at?
However, the industry is still far from digitalized. With increasing IT support, it will become increasingly easier and more cost-effective to offer consulting services digitally. In particular, areas of activity that can be highly automated will be replaced by software solutions. This includes simple accounting services, data collection and evaluation as well as communication with clients and the tax authorities.
The classic segment of help with tax returns also offers strong automation potential and will be done “at the push of a button” in the near future. All necessary documents are recorded electronically, automatically entered into the software and checked. They remain solely as a controlling authority.
Consulting services, especially for companies, can be made much more narrow due to digital change. Since you as a service provider can now be directly in the company digitally, further consulting services on your part will be easier and more in demand. Local ties are increasingly no longer necessary.
What opportunities does digital change offer?
As with almost every technological advance, digitalization will offer two main advantages: the service offered will become more efficient and areas of activity will be automated. This also reduces costs. In order to take advantage of these advantages and not lose out to competitors, you must adapt to this change at an early stage and seize the opportunities presented.
Specifically, the savings potential lies primarily in holistic document management systems for tax advisors. Since your services are heavily document-based and your area of activity is very much organized by standards, appropriate software can automatically record and carry out large parts of your routine work.
These software solutions are now so flexible that any number of employees can work on the same files and interfaces to software solutions can be used by clients to make document capture and service provision easier.
This saves a lot of time, which can now be used in more intensive and individual consulting services. This is the second concrete advantage. You can expand your business areas and, for example, offer more customized consulting services that were previously too expensive or time-consuming. The demand for consulting services in the areas of digitalization, operational and tax management consulting and business organization remains high and will probably continue to increase.
Last but not least, digital change offers the opportunity to offer your own consulting services nationwide. It will no longer be necessary, or only rarely, for you to have face-to-face meetings with clients. This eliminates the client’s personal visit to your law firm or your visit to the company.
What challenges come with digitalization?
The opportunities presented by digital change in tax advice are great, but new challenges are also arising. Of course, the first priority is that you master the new software solutions and continue to train yourself there and in the possibilities of further consulting services. This also applies to your employees.
Finding new skilled workers will also be an increasing challenge in the future. On the one hand, younger generations choose their profession more based on the working environment and “soft” criteria than previous generations and, on the other hand, tax advisor training has not yet been fully adapted to digital working conditions, so new tax advisors are not yet fully qualified in this area.
The increasing independence of the law firm from its own location is likely to lead to greater competitive pressure. This applies both to acquiring clients and to recruiting qualified specialists. Both also offer the opportunity to sharpen your own consulting profile and specialize in certain subject areas.
Switching to suitable software solutions and making your law firm fit for the future will also require some investments. This is especially the case if you have not yet relied heavily on digital solutions and now have to take a bigger step towards the changeover. However, these costs will quickly be amortized. Thanks to significantly faster and more efficient service provision, the investment pays off in the shortest possible time. Not to mention the fact that you could otherwise be more easily pushed out of the market by competitors and new clients are increasingly looking specifically for external service providers with digital solutions.
The profession changes, tax advice remains
The digital change in tax advice does not mean that consulting services will disappear and be replaced by software. The profession of tax advisor will remain, but its areas of activity will continue to change. New IT solutions will continue to automate parts of classic tax and business consulting. As an expert, your professional expertise will still be in demand. Rather, there are new opportunities to bring your own expertise into new business areas and thus increase sales through individual consulting services, while the automated processes for “standard services” reduce costs. Overall, you can look positively into the future if you transform your law firm into a law firm of the future.
