Auditing - Accounting in the age of industrial revolution 4.0

AUDITING - ACCOUNTING IN THE AGE OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 4.0 Ngo Van Hau - Ngo Van Luong*1 ABSTRACT: The world has joined the digital era with the industrial Revolution 4.0 changing the way many industries operate. In the digital era, the supply of labor in the accounting and auditing sector of Vietnam remains high. In addition, fraud and dishonesty in financial information of Vietnamese business organizations is often reported. The paper presents a number of issues related to the current status and trends, working environment in accounting and auditing in the digital era. Solutions to improve the quality of accounting - auditing, help individuals and organizations enhance competitiveness in the field of accounting - auditing in the era of industrial revolution 4.0 are also proposed in this paper. Keywords: industrial revolution 4.0, accounting, auditing 1. INTRODUCTION The nature of industrial revolution 4.0 is based on digital technology and integrates all smart technologies to optimize processes and production methods; Highlighting technologies that will have the greatest impact are 3D printing technology, biotechnology, new materials technology, automation technology, robotics ... The industrial revolution is the current trend of Automation and data exchange in manufacturing technology. It includes physical networking, Internet connectivity and cloud computing. Industry 4.0 facilitates the creation of “smart factories” or “digital factories.” In these intelligent plants, virtual space physics systems will monitor the physical processes, creating a virtual copy of the physical world. With IoT, these virtual physics systems interact with each other and with people in real time, and through IoS, users will be involved in the value chain through the use of these services. The widespread application of ICT and information technology advances, such as IoT, cloud computing, virtual reality ... into industrial production blurs the boundary between the real world and virtual world, called the cyber-physical production system (CPPS). This is the foundation for building today’s smart, factory-built factories. CPPS is a network of online communication between machines, organized as social networking. Substitute accounting and auditing technologies are already on the market today. In the US, AskMyUncleSam chatbot has been put into operation. This artificial intelligence will help you answer questions about any tax deductions you may have. AskMyUncleSam is a standalone database set and capable of chatting with taxpayers. In the Netherlands, an information technology company has launched an accounting data entry solution that is “not in use”. This technology allows accountants to automatically input repetitive data without having to spend their extra time working on other tasks instead of wasting valuable data for hours. Another company in Belgium, Xpenditure, uses mobile technology to allow customers to scan their receipts and invoices on the company’s online system. From there, the company will produce a daily cost report, rather than gathering receipts and receipts into a huge report each month. * Academy of Finance, Hanoi, Vietnam. 499 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE STARTUP AND INNOVATION NATION The impact of the 4.0 revolution on the financial and accounting department of the business can be divided into five aspects: [Luong Thi Anh Tuyet, Pwc Vietnam Audit Director] Analysis of data: In addition to the commonly used excel, the development of technology will provide more modern tools and software. Cloud Technology: Store information in realtime, in large volumes and without much memory limitations as before. Automation Process: Most accounting jobs are standardized, so automation technology can replace many financial and accounting departments in these jobs. Artificial Intelligence: In addition to simple bookkeeping, artificial intelligence can replace human beings with complex accounting practices such as valuation, provisioning thereby, greatly reducing the number of personnel. Blockchain Technology: Link all data of finance and accounting department together. In order to capture technology trends and respond to these changes, the finance and accounting department needs to be proactive in updating knowledge, skills needed and relevant because “knowledge within Five years will be outdated. “ At the same time, the current financial and accounting models of the company should be reviewed to see if it is appropriate for the market trend as well as for the core business. 2. ACCOUNTING - AUDITING IN THE AGE OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 4.0 Firstly, accounting - auditing work is not limited by geographic distance. Accountants - auditors in Vietnam can perform accounting and auditing work in any country in the world, if the individual who performs the accounting and auditing work satisfies all accounting – auditing work. In contrast, any accountant - auditor in any country that is permitted to practice in Vietnam can carry out the accounting and auditing work of the enterprise or organization in Vietnam. This creates both opportunities and challenges, for those practicing accounting - auditing in Vietnam. It is necessary to improve our capacity as well as our conditions so that we can meet the conditions of international practice, improve our position and broaden the scope of our practice. Industrial Revolution 4.0 brings with it a wireless network, digitized data, and auditing accounting not only within a business, but also a nation that extends across the world. This offers great opportunity for those who pursue a career in this field. Job opportunities are extended to those with professional qualifications and knowledge of accounting systems in other countries. Accounting – audit work is no longer dependent on geographic location. However, this also becomes a disadvantage for accountants - auditors with limited qualifications.Their work, income is being threatened by other accountants - auditors around the world. In addition, with the development of artificial intelligence, computer-based accounting and auditing has been placing higher demands on accounting - auditing: processing and analysis whether by computer network, confidential information ... makes the requirements of qualified accounting – auditing, steps have changed compared to before. Secondly, it gives people access to infinite knowledge, enabling people to learn anything they need to know, but unofficial information is sometimes provided, which makes it difficult to control and choose the information needed. It makes us cautious about accessing information and using information. Thirdly, it changes the environment, the working context of accounting - auditing. With artificial intelligence, economists predict, many industries are at risk of disappearing due to the tendency of automation. Artificial Intelligence can replace the manual work of accounting - auditing such as collecting, processing, calculating data but the stages such as analysis, find the cause of solutions for 500 HỘI THẢO KHOA HỌC QUỐC TẾ KHỞI NGHIỆP ĐỔI MỚI SÁNG TẠO QUỐC GIA each situation even situations that have never happened ... always involve human beings. Artificial Intelligence is not a replacement for humans, but it is changing the environment, the working context of accounting - auditing. 3. NEW TRENDS FOR ACCOUNTING - AUDITING IN THE AGE OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 4.0 All those factors above are creating new trends for accounting- auditing profession. According to a survey conducted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants of Australia (ACCA) in 2016, the future of professional accounting is taking place in 22 countries around the globe (including Vietnam). The highest impact in the next 3 to 10 years, up to 55% of respondents said that the development of automated accounting system is assessed the highest impact in the trend, in addition to the trends such as accounting standards unification (42%), penetration of cloud computing in business (41%), economic fluctuations (42%)... Accounting includes stages such as collecting, processing, analyzing and providing information. All these stages can be replaced by machines. At this point, it is compulsory for accountant to understand technology and use technology in his work. Machines are artificial intelligence that can do what humans can hardly do. However, they are just tools to support work in accounting - auditing, operating under the inherent programming, they are difficult to give the advice in each case it arises especially with the situation that is new and unprecedented. Moreover, accounting - auditing should follow certain legal norms. People always need the updated equipment used for their work. Artificial Intelligence is a man-made product that can change the circumstances and conditions of work, but it can not only be asserted that artificial intelligence can completely replace people in the field of accounting - auditing but will also place higher requirements in accounting: computer processing, information security, data analysis and computer network. However, every individual and organization working in the field of accounting - auditing must be aware of the importance of technology in order to apply it appropriately to the trend, save resources and increase the efficiency of the work. ACCA has conducted many surveys. The results of the joint research show that in order to survive and develop in the digital age, future accountants - auditors need not only factors such as intelligence and emotion but also other factors necessary for career development such as technology skills, vision ... Future Professional Accountants- Auditors: The factors that led to the change and future skills of ACCA announced in 2016 also indicate that, in the digital era, each professional accountant will be countered the ability and skills in 7 areas: professional skills and ethics, experience, intelligence, digital skills, creativity, emotional indicator and vision. One important thing in the digital age is the globally connected financial information system. This connection is driven by technology and by the internet, which offers many investment opportunities, financial resources, and global financial risks. The history of human development since the technology, the Internet has witnessed many economic crises spread over many countries. Vietnam is also among them and also bear a little influence. Accounting, especially auditing, becomes an effective tool and there will be no surprise that auditing or financial advisory services are becoming increasingly important. Vision is one of the most important factors in the development of those who work in the field of accounting - auditing, financial consulting. To get this accounting-auditing one needs to change to meet the requirements of the new era, global connectivity and meet the expectations of the public. 501 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE STARTUP AND INNOVATION NATION 4. ADAPTIVE SOLUTIONS IN THE AGE OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 4.0 Industrial Revolution 4.0 provides the opportunities and challenges for every accountant - auditor as well as important responsibilities for the quality of information provided to the audience to improve the skills of handling situations, improve the adaptability of the working environment of the age - Industrial Revolution 4.0, ccurrent and future accountants - auditors should do the following: First, improve their professional ethics The digital era is bringing new opportunities and new challenges for individuals and organizations working in the field of accounting and auditing. For individuals who have been active in the field of accounting - auditing, there are two highlights in the digital age that every person must be aware of to change, namely, technological ability and ability to provide a judgment (vision), in addition to a professional competence, core element and professional ethics. When all the work can be handled by technology, professional ethics become more necessary than ever before, so it is possible to build and define the true image of the enterprise. Only accountants who are with professional ethics, respect the truth have the ability to create real value for shareholders so that shareholders continue to invest in businesses. Only ethical auditors can help investors determine the direction of risk and opportunities, and help protect the legitimate interests of the public. Professional ethics requires that each accountant or auditor must understand the professional standards and standards of their specialty. This requires that each accountant must be educated, professionally trained and have work experience. Moreover, accountants and auditors must regularly update new professional knowledge in order to avoid backwardness in the professional and handling of work according to the current accounting regime and professional standards. Professional ethics requires that each accountant and auditor consider the consequences of each possible solution. Thus, each accountant and auditor should consider the facts, the ethical issues involved, the underlying ethical principles, the established internal procedures, the alternative solutions. Then, the accountant and auditor should determine the consequences of each method and find the appropriate solution. Secondly, always learn to cultivate experience, update the changes In order to make the most of the opportunities in the digital age, first of all it is mandatory for each accountant - an auditor - to understand the fundamentals of every behavior in the professional field, to know if the behavior is right accordingly to the principles set forth and must understand the most basic knowledge, then can advance to the higher level knowledge in the process of becoming professional accountants - auditors. To do this, people in the field of accounting - auditing must understand the basics of knowledge, experience, frequent updates and changes. In addition to that, it is necessary to maintain professional ethics, put the public interest on the benefits themselves. This will contribute to the formation and development of professional skills and ethics, experience and vision for accountants and auditors. Moreover, the accounting and management accounting sector is also playing a growing role in the new trend, helping businesses regulate business at the present and in the future. Thus, at the basic level, accounting work can be automated, businesses also need people to examine, analyze and even make assessments for current and future financial situation. An accountant - an auditor who seizes the opportunity not only to foster his or her professional skills, 502 HỘI THẢO KHOA HỌC QUỐC TẾ KHỞI NGHIỆP ĐỔI MỚI SÁNG TẠO QUỐC GIA but also the ability to use technology for his or her work, vision and ethics as well as creativity, sensitivity and intelligence. At this point, every existing and future accountant -auditor - needs to cultivate the use of artificial intelligence (using technology) for his work from simple as the excel function to accounting software, management software, analysis ... and how to secure information for the business itself and its customers, thereby exploiting the customer market thoroughly. In addition, they need to improve the knowledge and application of the ability to see the problem of accounting management in enterprises, besides the trend of financial accounting as today. This is the field that helps increase the investment interests for businesses. In addition, indispensable means helping current and future accountants - auditors reach beyond their range of activities is the international language. Particularly in the area of accounting and auditing, the language provides added value not only in language but also in international professional knowledge. Therefore, the opportunity will be expanded for accounting staff - auditors of international standards recognized in many countries around the world such as ACCA, CMA, CIA ... These certificates can help Vietnamese accountants and auditors maximize their scope of activities and raise the competitiveness of human resources in the field of accounting and auditing in Vietnam. 5. CONCLUSION: For organizations providing accounting, auditing, financial consulting services, in the global trend, investment far beyond the national boundaries, it is required for professional accounting - auditing to have a vision, evaluate the financial capacity honestly, preserve the investor. Financial counselling companies are forced to make changes so they do not fall into disruption or be defeated from the market when they do not exploit the value of the digital era. Basic, easy-to-carry services such as accounting services provide financial information in the form of basic data that yields normal returns, but more advanced services such as providing differential data for fi nancial, specialized consultancy ... can bring new sources of high profits for businesses. Thus, globalization, large data, internet, technology is bringing a global market for enterprises operating in this field, especially for ones providing the international quality employees and service. REFERENCES The Finance Ministry, the accounting and auditing professional ethics (2015), Hanoi (issued together with the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 70/2015 / TT-BTC of May 8, 2015); General Statistics Office, Vietnam Labor Market Update. Seminar: “Technology revolution 4.0 and transition of higher education in 21st century” organized by National Economics University in cooperation with Microsoft Vietnam.