By Ariege Misherghi.
I’ve seen firsthand throughout my career how technology can transform accounting practices. But what’s even more powerful is when accountants have the opportunity to help shape that technology.
I don’t know how accountants got branded as tech-wary, but I’ve not found this to be true. This community is so practiced in evolving the way they work to take advantage of technology trends that I’d argue they are among the most strategic innovation partners around. And as firms increasingly leverage technology to drive growth and deliver more value to clients, the relationship between accountants and product teams in technology companies is growing in importance.
Product managers have a crucial role in this relationship. Speaking on behalf of this group, we have all the context of what tech can do today, and we’re entrusted to take the inputs from customers and apply the right technology to reimagine solutions above and beyond what our customers think is possible.
To be transformative with tech in the space of accounting and finance, we need to understand the unique dynamics of accounting firms and your relationship with clients. And no matter how well we think we know small business owners, accountants know them better.
Beyond that, unlike small business owners, accountants use the back-office solutions we create as their professional tools. You live and breathe our products and often know them better than we do.
Which is why success for accountants, tech companies, and the products themselves depends on meaningful collaboration between those who build the technology and those who use it daily. Here are three factors that influence the product manager – accountant partnership:
Understanding the Product Development Mindset
To influence product development, accountants need to understand how tech companies think. Software developers often start by tackling a specific problem for a small group of customers, a “thin slice” of the market.
This focused approach is a sign of a great, customer-focused product manager. It narrows our focus so we can nail the experience for some people and then, over time, we’ll expand who we’re solving for to address more and more customer needs.
This, however, is not how great, client-centric accountants think. In your role as the trusted advisor, you’re juggling a wide range of clients, each with unique needs, and your job is to look out for and advocate for them. This means a one-size-fits-all solution rarely cuts it, and you often need a whole toolbox of tech to keep everyone happy.
Realigning Agendas
Because accountants and product managers are often focused on different things, it’s so important to get on the same page when you’re talking about problems that need to be solved. We both want the same thing: a killer product that solves real problems super well. But this tension between solving for some exceptionally well versus meeting the needs of all has to be dealt with.
On the product management side, we’ve got to operate differently when we engage with accountants. We need to be clear about what problem we’re trying to solve and where we’re headed over time. Most importantly, product managers should explain what specifically we’re working on first so you can understand our strategy and sequence before we ask you to dive into the narrow slice we’re focused on right now.
If the software developer you’re working with doesn’t operate that way, you’ll need to ask questions to get the context you need to drive the most impact. What is the problem we’re tasked with solving? For whom? How are we thinking about sequencing the work? Remind software developers that your goal is to solve a problem for all your clients and to minimize the number of solutions you adopt to meet all those needs.
All of this will ensure we both have all the necessary context for a productive conversation that maximizes customer impact on the work we have prioritized.
Communication Barriers in the Partnership
While it’s true that every industry has its jargon, I don’t see tech language versus financial knowledge as a barrier. You’re used to explaining what you know in terms others without your level of expertise can understand. It’s a big part of why you’re so good at working with business owners with varying degrees of familiarity with a P&L or a balance sheet.
On the product management side, we’re great at putting ourselves in the customers’ shoes — in this case, accountants — and are eager to learn.
The communication gap I see is around goal alignment for each conversation. While product managers need to avoid confirmation bias by actively listening to concerns to address feedback effectively, I always encourage accountants to differentiate between actionable feedback and general comments.
Strategies for Effective Communication and Collaboration
(1) Engage Early
In a perfect world, product managers would be connecting with accountants before we even develop a prototype. This starts way up front when we’re exploring the problem space and picking a posse of accountants for regularly scheduled feedback. When we get early enough feedback, we get the benefit of having accountants “pressure test” what we’re working on, and you get to feel a sense of ownership over the product based on your valuable insights. You may even end up becoming a megaphone promoting our feature to the broader accounting community.
(2) Bridge the Knowledge Gap
Informational meetings between accountants and product managers should be a two-way exchange. In addition to providing feedback on screens and interactions, you should feel completely empowered to step away from the screens and educate us when we seem to be misunderstanding the craft of accounting or the process you like you go through to complete your work.
(3) Translate Needs into Outcomes
I always encourage accountants to articulate your feedback in terms of business impact, explaining how a change would enhance efficiency, mitigate risk, or support compliance. Real-life scenarios can effectively illustrate your pain points and help clarify your desired outcomes.
The Bottom Line
User input is essential to the product building process. While product managers may not be able to fulfill every request immediately, by fostering strong relationships with product teams and consistently providing thoughtful feedback grounded in business outcomes, accountants can help shape future developments to better align with your needs.
==
Ariege Misherghi is SVP & GM of Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Accountant Channel for BILL.
Thanks for reading CPA Practice Advisor!
Subscribe Already registered? Log In
Need more information? Read the FAQs
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, BILL, Technology
