Will Accountants Take Over the Managed Services Profession?

If the title sounds a little absurd, it isn't. The truth is, I think most MSPs don't pay much attention to things happening outside the industry, but there are many reasons why MSPs should be watching the accounting industry and the moves being made into IT. Here are a few reasons why.

Accountants and Audits

Since the mid-2000s, accountants have been attempting to open new revenue markets through audit work. Audits which started out addressing financial controls within companies (SAS 70) have quickly migrated into IT audits aimed at addressing cybersecurity and data privacy concerns.

While there has been initial adoption of these IT audits within certain sectors of the U.S and Canadian markets, there have been very real boundaries to these audits elsewhere in the world. Alternative certification programs (not delivered by accountants) have taken hold elsewhere in the world, specifically in Europe, Australia, and Latin America, leaving North America primarily dominated by an accountant controlled certification model.

Accountants as MSPs

At the same time accountants were pushing audits for MSPs, they were also embracing the managed services business model. Since the mid-2000s, accounting firms have been buying their way into the managed services profession, developing IT services capabilities. While this move into IT management is still relatively new, accounting firms likely see managed services as the wave of the future and a safe investment to offset the risk of a stagnant industry (speaking only of tax preparation work).