In Europe, a number of converging trends mean that accounting practices are no longer solely about tracking expenditure and managing ledger entries.
For one, the European Commission’s flagship Green Deal environmental policy means that the influence of ESG is now a regulatory matter. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will go into full effect between 2025 and 2026, with tens of thousands of companies being required by law to disclose ESG metrics.
While this is a positive move from a sustainability standpoint, many leaders are worried about how these new climate accounting rules will add to the growing issue of Europe’s competitive edge against the U.S. and China.
Either way, accounting teams are going to be central to maintaining compliance on this new regulatory framework, and leaders will need the right tools at their disposal to help manage compliance.
Another interesting trend for Europe includes the rise of digital VAT reporting. The initiative aims to bring about unified VAT reporting and improve cross-border compliance within members of the European Union through digital invoices and reporting.
However, as organizations prepare for stricter standards on documenting EU trade and transactions, managing tax reports manually is no longer sustainable.
Although these trends are making the reporting landscape more complicated for accountants in Europe, tech innovations are helping to manage these changes and drive a new wave of automation and efficiency in the process.
Here, 41% of accounting professionals in Europe consider themselves mainstream adopters of technology according to global study, The Future Ready Accountant. However, only 9% of firms report fully utilising their technology, suggesting that implementation is a longer and more complicated process due to the sensitive nature of financial reporting.
Looking ahead, the pressure to accelerate implementation is going to be driven by pressure from the aforementioned trends including accounting professionals’ role in climate reporting and the rise of digital tax documentation across borders.
This means accounting professionals need to get ahead of the opportunities and challenges associated across the spectrum of available tech solutions from cloud technologies, AI analytics, digital workflows and strategic automation.
Founded by Shagun Malhotra, SkyStem is headquartered in the heart of New York City, where the company delivers enterprise organizations with powerful account reconciliation and financial close applications.
Malhotra recently exhibited at the 2025 World Credit Union Conference in Stockholm, Sweden which took place Monday, 14 July through Wednesday, 16 July. This three-day event represents the largest global credit union event, featuring more than 25 sessions and workshops, multiple networking events and an international exhibition of solution providers for 1,000s of attendees.
The event covered the most pressing themes for global financial professionals, including how to keep pace with global sustainability regulations, the importance of member experience, how to use GenAI within a financial cooperative, navigating developments in security and discussing how to build the next generation of leaders.