Maria Gracia Pagsanjan on Technology and Emerging Technology: Its

implications to the Accounting Industry

Abstract
Maria Gracia Pagsanjan, a graduate of Far Eastern University and is currently working in an
accounting firm under Apan-Magdaraog Company undergo an interview regarding the effect of emerging
technologies on her career. Miss Pagsanjan has an 8 year experience on this workfield and also has an
experience as an Industrial Engineer. The questions include her opinion about the emerging technology,
how it helped her in her career, if it is an opportunity or hindrance for her, and if what technology
improvements would she most likely to see in the future. With her knowledge and skills on the topic, the
interview was successfully done for questions are answered professionally, realistically and equipped
with truthful information.

Introduction (KAPAREHAS LANG NO’NG KAY JESS)

The evolution of technology has changed the accounting profession and some say that access to
new software has made the accountants job easier. Gone are the days where accountants use pens, papers,
columnar and calculators to balance the books and verify if the ledgers are correct, which brought us to
certain questions: Which technology has impacted you most during your career? Do emerging
technologies present a threat or an opportunity for you and your practice? What emerging technology will
most impact your work in the next decade? What technology skills will accountants in practice need to be
successful over the next decade? What technology improvements would you most like to see? Answers to
these questions will be our major preoccupation in this work (Alawa, 2013). Before proceeding it is
important to know some terms which will be tackled later in the text.

EXPLICATION OF TERMS
Accounting Software
According to the website Finances Online, accounting software is an essential system for
companies of all sizes and in any industry. The software offers many benefits which has made it
popular. Advantages include faster accounting, reduced costs, and mistake-free taxation. Accounting
systems offer a range of useful features and companies usually select a solution that has an attractive
interface and is easy to use. As there are scores of good quality accounting platforms out there,
selecting the right one can be a hard task.
Microsoft Excel
According to the website Tech Target, for the finance and accounting departments, Microsoft
Excel is a blank canvas on which they paint financial data to tell stories of business health, plan smart
budgets and forecast financial trends. Excel may be losing popularity as financial accounting software,
but it still plays its role in the enterprise. With certain tricks, users can make Excel a more valuable part of
financial processes.
 Maria Gracia Pagsanjan on Technology and Emerging Technology
Upon interviewing **, an Accountant, the students were able to gather these answers from her. **
thinks that Laptop is the one that impacted her most during her career. As we all know, laptop is widely
used by professionals. From saving files, editing documents, researching datum, and sending mails. As an
accountant, she uses laptop as medium of her files. Upon preparing financial statement, documents related
to profit and loss, and up to the saving of important financial documents. Laptop has been accompanying
her since the day she started doing her job as an Accountant.
Upon asking if emerging technologies present a threat or an opportunity for her and her practice,
she quickly answered that these emerging technologies are seen as opportunity.
“These technologies that I am using in my field of work are actually a big opportunity. Of course
it helps me a lot in recording my reports, it maximize my time in doing this job. If technologies were not
available for us (accountants), we still stick to the old way of recording datum which includes the use of
worksheets. And that is way harder than you think.”
Considering the loads of work she needs to accomplish every day, having these technologies
makes her work a little bit easier.
If asked what emerging technology will most impact her work in the next decade? She answered
that it would be Accounting Software. And the skill that accountants in practice need to be successful
over the next decade is the specialization in using it. Accounting Software are different software available
in recording financial documents. “The software offers many benefits which has made it popular.
Advantages include faster accounting, reduced costs, and mistake-free taxation.” (Finances Online) It is
said to be one of the greatest software invention that was made.
As presented by the Finances Online, a business related website, they have prepared a list of
the best accounting software systems company may consider. These includes FreshBooks, Sage
50cloud, FreeAgent, Zoho Books, Xero, Sage Intacct, QuickBooks Enterprise, Brightpearl, NetSuite
ERP, Happay, FinancialForce Accounting, Tipalti, Microkeeper, NEWOLDSTAMP, and last but not
the least Nummuspay.
Of course with the impact of these Accounting Software, the need to learn and master them is
also a must for the accountants and those who work in auditing firms. Specialization and having the
ability to properly use it is a great help not just for the professionals but also to the business itself.
And for the last question, what technology improvements would you most likely to see?
“With the emerging technology we have right now, I am not expecting for a more advanced
one. What I look forward to, is the availability of these softwares to the students who want to pursue
accountancy or any accounting related job. For me these students at a young age, should be
knowledgeable of the softwares that they will deal with as they finally work as professionals.”
Miss Pagsanjan also said that as the technology advances, our knowledge and skills should
also advance.
As the interview ended, what we gathered were pure information from a professional who is
working in an accounting firm. And we all know that with these information, we can foresee that
technology is really a big help to them. Actually, not just to the professionals, but also to the students
and researchers like us. We can say that Miss Pagsanjan knows how to properly use her knowledge in
using this technology, and how to be a responsible user. In this way, she can be a competitive
professional equipped with enough knowledge and skills in her workfield.

Evaluation and Conclusion:

Miss Maria Gracia Pagsanjan is a great example of a working professional who values the
essence of her job and sees the emerging technologies as an opportunity for her self-improvement and not
just a tool to have an easier job. She also thinks that young students who wanted to pursue the same
career, should have an access on the accounting software that is available now. With her knowledge and
skills on the topic, the interview was successfully done for questions are answered professionally,
realistically and equipped with truthful information. We can therefore conclude that technology really
doesn’t make us lazy. In fact, it develops our skills and helps us to do our job more efficiently.

References:

https://financesonline.com/15-best-accounting-software-systems-business/

https://searcherp.techtarget.com/essentialguide/A-guide-to-using-Excel-as-financial-accounting-
software
Andrian Calanza on Technology and Emerging Technology : Its implications
to the Accounting Industry
Abstract
Andrian Calanza CPA, currently, a junior accounting executive who has been working at Air
Asia for almost 3 years and had a prior experience on bookkeeping under EGI Corporation immediately
after his undergraduate studies which span for 2 years and a half, and was a former auditing associate at
SGV and Co. (Earnst and Young) which last for almost a year. Calanza is a manifestation of an optimistic
person as he viewed technology as something beneficial rather than a threat to his career. It might has
been an unconventional approach in regarding a platform for change but his practicality and realistic
personality sum up his views about inventions that affect the accounting industry. Most accounting
individuals today are immersed to the modern application of technology which enable them to do things
at fast pace especially when meeting deadlines, but along the way it has its cons that we should always be
aware of. Our method was an interview analysis from an accounting employee ( Calanza ) which
hopefully can give us some little sound bites how technology affects the accounting industry.

Introduction:
The evolution of technology has changed the accounting profession and some say that access to
new software has made the accountants job easier. Gone are the days where accountants use pens, papers,
columnar and calculators to balance the books and verify if the ledgers are correct, which brought us to
certain questions: Which technology has impacted you most during your career? Do emerging
technologies present a threat or an opportunity for you and your practice? What emerging technology will
most impact your work in the next decade? What technology skills will accountants in practice need to be
successful over the next decade? What technology improvements would you most like to see? Answers to
these questions will be our major preoccupation in this work (Alawa, 2013). Before proceeding it is
important to know some terms which will be tackled later in the text.

Explication of Terms
Emerging Technologies
According to Reader’s Digest, Emerging technology is a relative term, because someone may see
a technology as emerging and others may not see it the same way. According to BusinessDictionary.com,
emerging technology is a new technology that is currently being developed, or will be developed within
the next five to ten years. The new technology will substantially alter the business and social
environment; the technology will include information technology, wireless data communications, man-
machine communications, on-demand printing, bio-technologies, and advanced robotics.
Accounting
Accounting or accountancy is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial
information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. The modern field was
established by the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli in 1494. Accounting, which has been called the
"language of business",measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys this
information to a variety of users, including investors, creditors, management, and regulators. Practitioners
of accounting are known as accountants. The terms "accounting" and "financial reporting" are often used
as synonyms.
 Accounting can be divided into several fields including financial accounting, management
accounting, external auditing, tax accounting and cost accounting. Accounting information systems are
designed to support accounting functions and related activities. Financial accounting focuses on the
reporting of an organization's financial information, including the preparation of financial statements, to
the external users of the information, such as investors, regulators and suppliers ;and management
accounting focuses on the measurement, analysis and reporting of information for internal use by
management. The recording of financial transactions, so that summaries of the financials may be
presented in financial reports, is known as bookkeeping, of which double-entry bookkeeping is the most
common system.
Accounting is facilitated by accounting organizations such as standard-setters, accounting firms
and professional bodies. Financial statements are usually audited by accounting firms, and are prepared in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). GAAP is set by various standard-
setting organizations such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the United States and
the Financial Reporting Council in the United Kingdom. As of 2012, "all major economies" have plans to
converge towards or adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Andrian Calanza on Technology

When asked if what technology impacted calanza over the years of dabbling in accounting
industry, he told us that it was the computer, specifically and especially the software along with it. He
even mentioned some software that really helped him in handling accounting processes such as SAP
which is in definition SAP SE is one of the largest vendors of enterprise resource planning (ERP)
software and related enterprise applications. The company's ERP system enables its customers to run their
business processes, including accounting, sales, production, human resources and finance, in an integrated
environment. The integration ensures that information flows from one SAP component to another without
the need for redundant data entry and helps enforce financial, process and legal controls. It also facilitates
the effective use of resources, including manpower, machines and production capacities. He also includes
Quickbooks which is set of software solutions designed to manage payroll, inventory, sales and other
needs of a small business. The software's features include marketing tools, merchant services, product and
supplies, training solutions. Each solution is developed according to different industries and their needs.
According to him , it includes, Simple Start Plus Pack, Quickbooks Pro, Quickbooks Premier Contractor
and Quickbooks Enterprise Solutions: Contractor. These products are designed to meet contractor's needs
based on company size. These software solutions are used to monitor expenses, create invoices and
reports, track change orders and job status, and manage inventory, customers, vendors and employees. In
addition to these industry specific packages and their corresponding capabilities, Intuit offers add-ons to
Quickbook versions as well as third-party tools that integrate with Quickbooks in order to enhance current
functions.
On the other hand, when asked if technology’s a threat or an opportunity he responded :
“ I don’t think it’s a threat, because it’s still a technology, it has its lapses, no matter how
advanced it is there will always be glitches that might resurface and I don’t consider technology
as a threat but a privilege and a help for us, knowing how hard it is to verify vouchers, invoices
quarterly plus your toxic officemates that you need to deal with, I think it makes our life more
easier not necessarily easier that we no longer do the job but a relief or just a balancing tool for
us to cope up with stress, I think technology is really a big help.”
 Calanza on Emerging Technology
Emerging technology has been without a doubt expanding and improving over years and
Calanza’s sentiments about it was as expected positive, with regards to the emerging technologies that
have a potential in improving his work as an accountant, he mentioned the triple entry and blockchain.
“ I think, triple entry and blockchain could be a potential trend in accounting industry for the
next years to come. It’s actually in testing abroad and hopefully our country could get a license for it
because I think that thing is a revolutionary tool for us”
With regards to the skills of the accountants in the next years he’s very clear to the idea that
everyone involved in accounting industry and the students who’s studying accounting should equipped
themselves with technical and computer literacy, because in our modern age it’s a very essential tool to
cope up with the demands of globalization.
Lastly, when asked about technological improvements he would like to see in the future he
responded:
“ Improvements? I’m not really particular with the improvements, I wanted as much as possible
to focus on the current invention and harness it more and do some measures to improve it in terms of
reliability and efficiency because most of the time, you cannot always rely to technology because it is and
always be subject to some errors and glitches which can cause problems.”
Calanza’s takes on emerging technology, proved his immense knowledge with the changes with
his environment, his idealistic responses towards improvements in technology showed us a lot what’s
needed to be done to have a better understanding on technology and in what way and how can we apply
our disciplines to achieve success in our career in the future.

Evaluation and Conclusion:

. Calanza is a manifestation of an optimistic person as he viewed technology as something
beneficial rather than a threat to his career. It might has been an unconventional approach in regarding a
platform for change but his practicality and realistic personality sum up his views about inventions that
affect the accounting industry Calanza’s takes on emerging technology, proved his immense knowledge
with the changes with his environment, his idealistic responses towards improvements in technology
showed us a lot what’s needed to be done to have a better understanding on technology and in what way
and how can we apply our disciplines to achieve success in our career in the future. Truly technology has
its own ways in providing avenues in every industry and in the case of Calanza it only shows how
beneficial technology is in accounting industry.
 Mary Jane Alfon on Technology and Emerging Technology: Its implications
to the Accounting Industry
Abstract
Mary Jane Alfon, an employee of CHG Global Inc. assigned in accounting department accepted
our interview regarding the effect of emerging technologies on her career. She graduated at University of
the Caloocan City and has a 6-year experience on her work field as an office staff in accounts payable. it
includes her opinion about the emerging technology, how it boosted her career, if it is an opportunity or a
threat for her and what technology improvements would she most likely to see in the future and how the
technology will impact her work. Based on her experienced and expertise with the topic, she was able to
answer the questions naturally, providing us information that we are needed.

Introduction
The evolution of technology has changed the accounting profession and some say that access to
new software has made the accountants job easier. Gone are the days where accountants use pens, papers,
columnar and calculators to balance the books and verify if the ledgers are correct, which brought us to
certain questions: Which technology has impacted you most during your career? Do emerging
technologies present a threat or an opportunity for you and your practice? What emerging technology will
most impact your work in the next decade? What technology skills will accountants in practice need to be
successful over the next decade? What technology improvements would you most like to see? Answers to
these questions will be our major preoccupation in this work (Alawa, 2013). Before proceeding it is
important to know some terms which will be tackled later in the text.

EXPLICATION OF TERMS
Accounting Software (SAP TECHNOLOGY)

A German software company whose products allow businesses to track customer and
business interactions. SAP is especially well-known for its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and
data management programs. SAP is an acronym for Systems, Applications and Products. It is a
multinational software corporation that makes enterprise software to manage business operations
and customer relations.

Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office Excel was designed to support accounting functions such as budgeting,
preparing financial statements and creating balance sheets. It comes with basic spreadsheet
functionality and many functions for performing complex mathematical calculations. It also supports
many add-ons for activities such as modeling and financial forecasting, and seamlessly integrates
with external data to allow you to import and export banking information and financial data to and
from other accounting software platforms.
 Mary Jane Alfon on Technology and Emerging Technology
For the last five years, Miss Alfon saw the different changes of process in her accounting
department. From basic process to the advance process which makes her work easier. With the help
computers and software used to process certain aspects in accounting field she was able to find that she
can do other things and becomes more efficient employee. When I ask what technologies impacted her
the most, her one and only answer was their SAP Technologies.
“I think one of the technologies touch me the most was our SAP technology. Actually that
technology is widely used by the company here in the Philippines. That thing makes our process faster
and efficient because it has a build-in system for accounting’’
I also asked her if that technology is a threat or opportunity for her, and she replied.
“For me, that is an opportunity, since our company is getting bigger, a lot of process and
responsibilities will come on our way. Having that kind of technologies will make our process quickly and
gives us sufficient time for the significant things that are needed to do.”
Being part of a growing company means more responsibilities. Expansion will result of more
process and migration. Since those things are need more time, having those kind of technologies will be a
great help.
The next question that I asked her was what emerging technology will most impact her in the next
ten years? And what technology skills will accountant in practice need to be successful over next decade?
Her answer to the fourth questions leave a remarkable realization.
“I think the technology that will impact me for the next ten years will be advance version of
our technology or adaptation of new technologies needed for accounting that are using now in
different companies all over the world. And for the fourth questions, maybe, the skill that are need to
acquire by accountants in practice today to become successful for the next decade will be able to
adapt in changes.”
And lastly, what technology improvements would you most likely to see?
“Well, technology that will make the process of accounting more precise, more efficient at the
same time reliable and less time consuming. I admit that our technology that is used today are
nothing compared to technologies used in other countries. I know that someday our technologies will
develop and align our technologies to the other countries.”

As the interview ended, I thank Miss Alfon for her time and allowing me to conduct an
interviewed to her. Her knowledge and experience that she shared to us will help not only for those in
accounting but also for all professionals in different industry.
Evaluation and Conclusion:

Mary Jane Alfon is one of the many working professionals, who regards the importance of her
job and sees the emerging technologies as an opportunity for her self-development and not just a simple
tool that is commonly used in her chosen field. With her expertise and knowledge on the topic, the
interview was successfully done. Information was provided truthfully, realistically and professionally.
Actually, technology plays an important role in our lives, even in our works. It helps us to make things
easier and quicker. It lessens our time at the same time inspires us to do our work more efficiently. Thus,
it allows us also to improve our skill, adapting to the modern technologies.
Glenda Dela Peña on Technology and Emerging Technology: Its implications
to the Accounting Industry

Abstract
Glenda Dela Peña, an accountant, received her bachelor degree in Camarines Norte State College
in 2011. She worked as a bookkeeper at Landbank for 4 years and joined Holcim East Asia Business
Service Centre BV - Philippines ROHQ in 2013 where she continued her career as a payroll specialist.
Her almost 10 years of experience in accounting established her extensive knowledge and expertise in the
industry. Dela Peña is one of the accountants that encountered the domination of technology in the
industry and constructed a positive viewpoint, considering it as accounting’s great asset. With her wide-
ranging experience on the field, she has been chosen to be part of interview being conducted to measure
accountant’s insight on emerging of technology. In this work, Interviewers foreseen Dela Peña to be
truthful on her answers and provide informative data.

Introduction
The evolution of technology has changed the accounting profession and some say that access to
new software has made the accountants job easier. Gone are the days where accountants use pens, papers,
columnar and calculators to balance the books and verify if the ledgers are correct, which brought us to
certain questions: Which technology has impacted you most during your career? Do emerging
technologies present a threat or an opportunity for you and your practice? What emerging technology will
most impact your work in the next decade? What technology skills will accountants in practice need to be
successful over the next decade? What technology improvements would you most like to see? Answers to
these questions will be our major preoccupation in this work (Alawa, 2013). Before proceeding it is
important to know some terms which will be tackled later in the text.

Glenda Dela Peña on Technology and Emerging of Technology

Dela Peña claimed that technology plays a vital role on society specifically on her career as an
accountant.

“Technology is indeed healthy for the accounting industry; it is considered one of the
fundamental factors for the success of industry. In this decade, the widespread use of SAP software on
multinational companies brought efficiency on accounting processes especially on tracking data and
fostering reports”

She specified SAP Software Corporation as one of the leading provider of enterprise software in
Southeast Asia. SAP software presents various applications for accounting system, human resources, and
procurements that integrates the whole concept of business processing. With the aid of the software, the
monotonous and tedious tasks brought by manual accounting have been replaced by automated
spreadsheets. Along with SAP, numerous internet based platforms and machines were developed to abet
accounting professionals.

With the question, do emerging technologies present a threat or an opportunity for you and your
practice, she affirmed that:

“Generally, technology is seen as an opportunity for the whole accounting practice and
accountants in profession. Technology allowed the accounting to prosper; it transformed the accounting
into an industry where speed, accuracy, and quality of data gathering improved. When it comes to the
accountants, we will be challenge to continuously adapt on technology’s rapid growth”

She stated clearly that technology presents opportunity on the industry and to her career. She
believed that human capital will never be replace by machines and software, by the reason of technology
is designed to aid humans and its activities. It also urges the manpower to keep up with developments in
field of accounting and assure its ability to adapt.

When Dela Peña is asked about the emerging technology that will impact her work in the next
decade the most, she is expecting that continuous development of AI machines will surely contribute to
extreme reversal of processes of the workplace in the next decade. AI’s are anticipated to take charge on
repetitive tasks and will permit accountants to focus on analyzing and interpreting financial data.

In terms of skills that accountants need to practice over the next decade, she responded:

“Since most of monotonous task will be expected to be done by artificial intelligence, I think
accountants or future accountants should focus on financial reporting, budgeting and cost analysis. These
tasks would be very in demand here in the Philippines aside from being proficient in using technology”

With concerns of technology improvement she would like to see, she asserted that:

“I was looking forward to the success of improvements on current machines being used in
conducting accounting process, after all, loopholes and limitations were found on it. Technologies like AI
and clouds will also be a great help in the future. It will replace labor intensive tasks into automations,
providing more efficient outcomes.”

Evaluation and Conclusion

Emerging technologies like cloud, artificial intelligence, and machine are advancing at a rapid
pace, making them a cost-competitive to human power. Dela Peña, an accountant, is one of the
accounting professionals that displays positive outlook on emerging technology, despite of its
unemployment threat. Discerning technology as the way to cut down accounting’s operating cost and
enhance productivity. An accounting professional who is well cultured to consider the emerging
technologies as leverage that will support the fast-changing demand of businesses, fill in the missing job
growth, and make a rapid progress in the whole accounting industry.