Open Banking, MTD and more from Accountex 2019

Our wonderful team returned this week from our biggest and best Accountex ever! Accountex 2019 was not just a huge success for FreeAgent - with 9,000 attendees, 200 exhibitors and hundreds of seminars, keynotes and panel sessions, it was the place to be for accountants in the UK last week! Here are some of the highlights and themes we’re reflecting on now all the excitement is over.

The cloud accounting landscape

On day one of Accountex, FreeAgent founder & CEO, Ed Molyneux, kicked off Accountex with his keynote, ‘All Together Now: what happens when banking, finance and accounting collide’. His presentation covered the shift in the cloud accounting software market driven by Open Banking, Making Tax Digital (MTD) and a new wave of technology development from providers old and new. Business owners’ expectations of what their banks and accountants should provide have never been higher - both startups and incumbents are rising to the challenge.

Making Tax Digital

There was an inevitable focus on MTD at the conference. It became clear that while a lot of practices are now feeling MTD-ready, there are still some accountants looking for help with educating their clients. FreeAgent’s MTD-accredited experts were offering free consultations at our stand as well as showcasing FreeAgent’s MTD-compatible software and its many features.

Open Banking

Open Banking was a major theme at Accountex this year. During his keynote on day two, Nick Longden, FreeAgent’s VP of Sales, explored the next wave of digital disruption with the development of both AI and Open Banking technologies. Artificial intelligence already touches many of us in our personal lives and this session highlighted the exciting possibilities that open up to accountants - such as the potential to offer additional services and pursue new revenue streams - when AI and Open Banking technologies combine.

Future for accountants

Many industry experts chose to discuss the potential for accountants to become the new trusted advisors to businesses in their seminars. Cloud accounting software, which allows accountants to spend less time on day-to-day bookkeeping tasks and more on offering insights and advice to clients, often featured heavily in these discussions.

Here are our top highlights from Accountex 2019: