Caleb Jenkins RLJ Financial
Earlier this year, Caleb L. Jenkins was named a "40 Under 40" honoree by CPA Practice Advisor – the youngest account professional to ever receive the award.
The honor, Caleb says, further symbolizes the commitment he has made to excellence and innovation within the accounting profession.
Jenkins, CQP, the leader of Cloud Accounting at RLJ Financial, is a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and QuickBooks Ecosystem Advisor. He also handles business taxes, individual taxes and accounting QuickBooks services. In addition to his accounting and tax work with RLJ, Jenkins also has worked with Christian Aid Ministries’ SALT microfinance program abroad to setup a specialized QuickBooks accounting system and continues to bring innovative technologies and ideas to help solve workflow problems and increase effectiveness for those in the field.
We sat down with Caleb to get his thoughts on where the industry is heading:
Give us a snapshot of today's accounting landscape. What are you seeing out there?
The landscape today is becoming very interesting. The bookkeeping can be automated in some cases up to 80 percent. This means that those who are not adopting new technologies such as QuickBooks Online and the power of the cloud will be disrupted from the profession in the next couple years.
However, there is still a lot that needs to happen to continue to integrate our various software applications together so that they seamlessly talk to one another and remove us as the middle-person to review the data or information as it flows from one app to the other app. There is also a need for the software vendors to do more for the accounting professional to make our lives easier. This will help us more effectively serve our clients in the way they want to be served. The next frontier will be focus on the customer experience.
I think everyone in the accounting profession should start to focus on the areas that will never be automated – the human relationship element.
What was the biggest surprise you saw in 2016?
I’m amazed to see other accounting professionals still saying that QuickBooks Online is an inferior product and that they won’t touch. They're missing out on the power of the cloud and the QuickBooks Ecosystem that's offered to them as a professional.
Another big surprise that happened to me was that I was recognized as the "Top Up-N-Comer ProAdvisor" by Insightful Accountant at Scaling New Heights in the Bahamas, and then also recognized as the youngest ever top "40 Under 40" in the accounting profession by CPA Practice Advisor. I was not expecting any of these awards and I’m excited about the potential they bring to further influence the accounting profession in the next few years.
What is the biggest item on your to-do list for 2017?
I would like to fully move to the cloud and utilize the power that cloud applications have to offer. I feel like we have straddled the fence long enough between desktop and cloud applications, and believe we're ready to fully embrace everything the cloud has to offer. We’ve been “preaching” about embracing the cloud for the past two years, and I truly believe now is the time to completely embrace it or get left behind.
What are three areas every accountant should keep an eye on next year?
I would encourage everyone to keep their eyes on Artificial Intelligence. Richard & Daniel Susskind wrote the book, “The Future of the Professions,” which I encourage everyone to read.
Another area to focus on is customer experience. And finally, I think everyone in the accounting profession should start to focus on the areas that will never be automated – the human relationship element. Our clients would love to go beyond the compliance and have us help solve the problems that keep them awake at night. We can change our clients' lives and make a direct impact on their future.
We should use the opportunities we have to make a difference now and move from the “Trusted Advisor” role to becoming a true “Difference Maker” in our client’s businesses.
What goals have you set for 2017?
Exercise purposefully. Read strategically. Love others unconditionally.