ABSTRACT
The overarching theme of the digital technologies discussed in this chapter is the ability to outsource surveillance (e.g. drone-based surveillance), physical actions or activities (e.g. robot-based action), and manufacturing (e.g. 3D / 4D printed objects) to smart machines (e.g. drones, robots, 3D / 4D printers). These capabilities of drones, robots, and 3D / 4D printers represent significant product innovation, cost-saving, productivity improvement, operational effectiveness, risk mitigation, customer experience enhancement, staff engagement optimization, and organization agility opportunities. In accounting, early accounting workflow-focused robotics use cases have focused on robotic process automation (RPA), using virtual robots to perform routine accounting tasks (e.g. rules-based, routine, or calculation tasks), and inventory valuation (e.g. drone-based valuation of inventory piles). And accountants have been focused on identifying, or separating from the hype, the real efficiency / cost-saving opportunities offered by robotics, drones, and 3D / 4D printing. But while accountants’ exposure may vary across industries, in general, accountants are anticipated to be deeply involved in almost any use case of these digital technologies (e.g. assessing business value / business benefits, identifying opportunities and risks, tracking implementation effectiveness and optimization effectiveness, etc.). As a result, it is essential for accountants to keep up with the evolution and use cases of these technologies, to support strategic leaders and operating managers to safely adopt them, and to ensure maximum business value is leveraged from them. In this chapter, we provide an overview of each of these technologies, how they work, the business value and use cases, some of the key issues associated with them, and their implications for accountants.
