Silverfin’s Hannah Bowater on advisory, AI and keeping talent

At Accountex Summit North, the pace of change was impossible to ignore. From looming regulatory deadlines to the promises and pitfalls of AI, every conversation circled back to the same theme: adaptation. For Hannah Bowater, Senior Customer Success Manager at Silverfin, that challenge is as much cultural as it is technological.

“It’s been really busy, lots of people at the stand and some great talks too,” she said. “Change is always at the core of any transition. And it’s not just moving from one software to another, it’s about hearts and minds. If you can win people over and give them the skills and confidence to use new tools, the whole process is easier.”

Compliance is no longer the core

Bowater is frank about where the profession is heading. “Compliance will soon almost be dead. It’s becoming less the core of what firms offer, and more a regulatory cost of doing business,” she said.

That doesn’t mean compliance disappears, it remains a requirement, but the real opportunity, she argued, lies in business advisory. “Businesses need management reporting, KPIs, insights into how they can run better. That’s where the value is. Compliance is just the sunken cost you have to front; advisory is what drives efficiency and growth.”

Technology, particularly data and workflow automation, is critical to making that shift. “Having data at the click of a button transforms advisory,” Bowater explained. “If technology can take care of the grunt work, accountants can spend more time in front of clients, having better conversations.”

The skills and mindset challenge

For Bowater, the next hurdle isn’t software but people. “When I trained, it was all debits, credits, ticking up bank statements, everything was paper. Today, single-ledger software does the basics automatically. So the question is: how do we make sure accountants are still well-rounded, while also being comfortable with technology?”

That requires a change in mindset, both in firms and in recruitment. “You almost need a technology degree alongside your accountancy qualification these days. But the skills firms look for are shifting too. In the next ten years, they’ll prioritise creativity, sociability, and communication. Being good with numbers is no longer enough, you need to be able to explain those numbers, innovate, and engage with clients.”

Silverfin itself is exploring how technology can support those conversations. New functionality is being developed to create “talking points” for accountants, using AI to surface discussion areas during year-end reviews. “It’s about equipping people to have better client conversations. That’s what makes the advisory role stick.”

Retention, relationships, and the role of AI

As automation expands, some accountants worry about losing personal client connections. Bowater sees it differently:

“If technology saves time on compliance, it gives accountants more time for face-to-face meetings and advisory work. The risk isn’t losing relationships but failing to align your services with the new tools.”

Staff retention is another looming challenge. “You don’t see many new accountancy firms opening. The industry is consolidating, with value and efficiency driving mergers into bigger networks. Retaining talent will only get harder. But if your processes are efficient and your technology is strong, why would people want to leave?”

AI, she argued, should be embraced as an assistant, not feared as a replacement. “Every day it gets better. People need to see it as something that strengthens what they can provide, not something that threatens their role.”

What lies ahead

Looking forward, Bowater sees AI as an assistant rather than a threat. “It gets better every day. People need to embrace it and see it as something that strengthens what they can provide.”

Silverfin itself has a roadmap that runs to 2028 with AI at the centre. Bowater said the focus is on making existing functionality slicker, such as pulling data from leases automatically, so accountants never need to key it in manually.

She also pointed to Companies House reforms that will require all submissions to go through third-party software.

“We’ve been compliant for years, but a lot of firms haven’t. These reforms are going to accelerate digitisation and it is governments driving this as much as technology providers.”

Her conclusion was simple. Compliance will not disappear, but it is no longer where the profession creates value. “The firms that embrace technology to deliver advisory, and train their people to communicate and innovate, will be the firms that clients and staff want to stay with.”