Sage Intacct speaks: key trends for accounting and finance for 2023

As we turn the corner and enter a new year, we begin 2023 with hope for better times, as the last few years have been challenging for most people and businesses worldwide.  At Sage, we have been taking notes during our conversations with customers, partners, and industry leaders throughout the past few months.  We have assembled a few thoughts on how we’ll be approaching 2023, and how the macroeconomic and socioeconomic changes we see in our communities worldwide will affect the technology decisions we make in the accounting and finance community.

Here are  9 predictions for accounting and finance in 2023 that we’d like to share:

1. With most experts predicting a recessionary climate in 2023, firms will approach the year with cost containment as a priority; few will see IT budget increases, and maximizing use of existing software investments will be a top priority. 
2. The labor crunch of 2022 will continue at the CFO and controller level, but ease in lower level staffing as automation and analytics opportunities guide these staff toward more advanced positions. 
3. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts will continue to be important, even as  compliance costs come under scrutiny.
4. Cybersecurity evolves beyond table stakes as the global climate continues to increase risk.
5. In 2023, the regulatory environment will become increasingly regional, as the U.S. continues in a post-COVID slow period with few changes, while e-invoicing initiatives in Europe and the Making Tax Digital timeline in the U.K. continue to stress accounting and finance resources.
6. Automation and AI will continue to proliferate in 2023.
7. The rise of private equity will continue, centered in the U.S. but making inroads into additional countries in 2023.
8. Supply chain recovery continues to proceed slowly and painfully, with global events affecting the speed and availability of recovery.
9. Superapps and digital networks will gain traction among early adopters and innovative technology leaders who seek competitive advantage.

As we look forward to the coming year, we hope these predictions will help you and your finance team to look holistically at your environment and how you can adjust processes to gain competitive advantage in the coming year, despite the challenging business conditions expected. 

We’ll be going into more detail on these predictions on our upcoming U.S. webinar featuring Sage’s global CTO, Aaron Harris.  The event takes place at 10:00 am PST on Wednesday, January 25. Please register to join us for the webinar or to receive the slides and replay.