Like agriculture and commerce, accounting is one of the oldest professions in the world. Hard to believe, but it's a field that's been around for thousands of years! It has evolved steadily with the various technological advances that are still essential to the smooth running of a business today. In today's increasingly digital society, accounting must constantly adapt. Not only does it have to modernize, but there's also an emerging trend that needs to be taken into account: the importance of listening to customers. This trend is increasingly present and must now be integrated into accounting practices.
Customer-oriented accounting
Accounting techniques are static. They line up figures, then post results. As it happens, these results do not always reflect economic reality.
Of course, financial indicators derived from the recording of transactions in the accounts are useful for assessing the company's health. But focusing solely on sales and profits is detrimental in the long run, as the customer factor is not integrated into the accounting policy.
Changing our organizational system to stop spending hours examining accounting data and focus on measures that better reflect the economy seems like a good solution.
Useful economic information, such as the number of old and new customers or the average basket per customer, for example, is not provided by the accounting discipline. Indeed, accounting standards are stuck in the days when companies needed a lot of capital to buy machinery, build buildings, etc., with profits going directly to investors. Apart from the techniques of asset capitalization and accounting depreciation, the cost of capital is not really taken into account.
Today, the service sector represents a significant part of the economy, with a large number of start-ups that don't need much capital. What little they do have is invested in building brand awareness and acquiring new customers. But that doesn't mean they don't have proper accounting records.
Accounting and marketing
Although the accounting and marketing departments are quite separate, it's time to work together for effective management. On the one hand, budget marketing campaigns correctly, and on the other, allocate resources wisely.
Accounting enables us to monitor a company's financial situation and determine its profitability. This is where funds can be allocated for all kinds of commercial actions aimed at increasing sales, but also at building customer loyalty, among other things. That's why it's essential for the accounting department to monitor sales trends, as well as the success or failure of marketing strategies. It is quite possible for a strategy to appear effective in terms of sales, but for the accounting data to show that it is not profitable in view of the costs incurred.