Software and service suppliers will gather en masse at the iconic Manchester Central on Tuesday, September 19th, and for a very good reason. The building is going to be absolutely buzzing with over two thousand accountancy and finance professionals checking out the latest industry trends, tools and technologies at the Accountex Summit. Now at its fifth edition, the event is becoming a bit of a staple in its category, with visitors pouring in not only from the rainy city, but also Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, and Liverpool.

Alongside plenty of networking, attendees will of course be looking to learn about technological innovation in their field and how it might help the profession. The educational side of the summit is varied and needs to be factored in. Accredited by the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Certification Service, it features no less than 32 sessions across four different theaters. There will be much to pick and choose from, as well as an incentive to do so in the form of 8 CPD points for those who participate.

Luckily, a lot of the seminars are highly interesting and on point. The UK's tax, payments and customs authority, for example, will update visitors on the current transformation and digitalisation of the tax system - with the end purpose of “easier and simpler services for accountants and customers”. Mental Health UK is set to present what impact stress and burnout can have on individuals in the workplace and how organizations can provide psychological stability to employees during turbulent times. And, of course, top present-day topics such as AI, ChatGPT, and automation, will be looked into closely from multiple perspectives.

Many of the companies exhibiting at the Accountex Summit in Manchester are poised to present cutting-edge technological solutions that address a multitude of problems. Some are traveling from the continent for a chance to make an impact on the UK market.

“Technology continues to revolutionize the finance and accounting industry, and we are part of the revolution. Businesses in the UK are some of the most advanced, and used to having useful but tedious tasks automated. That’s why it was an easy decision to set up a booth at the event. We’ll be presenting our award-winning Optical Character Recognition technology, with the best recognition rate in Europe”, said Martijn Beens, a representative of Dutch software company Klippa.

With more than a hundred businesses ‘fighting’ for attention at the summit, organizers felt confident to put forth that their event is a one-stop shop for those interested to sample all the accountancy software available out there.