Despite certain pronouncements otherwise, rumors of email's demise have been gravely exaggerated, as recent data shows it is not only still around, it's ubiquitous.
Processing Content
Over the years there have been many articles announcing email is dying or already dead and good riddance. Compared to options like dedicated messaging apps, chat platforms and social media, email can seem downright quaint. Yet, data from lead generation company Leads Navi found that not only do 93% of people still use email daily, even for younger professionals, 42% prefer it over other options like Slack, text or phone calls.
This is not to say that people don't dislike the well-known negatives about email: 52% of younger workers, for example, still feel stressed by constant email pings, and 92% report productivity impacts from email overload. But at the same time, despite these issues, it remains a robust method of communication.
Auditors apparently agree: a 2020 study from the academic journal Current Issues in Accounting found that the two most important modes of communication for auditors are face-to-face and email, split about equally in terms of frequency, though they prefer face-to-face communication the most. Further, a survey earlier this year from the Association for Accounting Marketing found that email remains a primary channel for firms, though they are integrating additional modes of communication while, at the same time, reducing the number of additional communication systems to ensure more clear and effective internal messaging. However, this might vary with remote workers, as another study from the Journal of Accounting Education found that telecommuting accountants preferred instant messaging and texting, as they are perceived as more instantaneous.
It calls to mind the persistence of the spreadsheet in general and Excel in particular. While it is not at all difficult to find a litany of complaints about the extensive use of spreadsheets in the accounting profession—they can be read in articles, heard at conferences and seen in one's own everyday experience with the tool—the spreadsheet endures. While a number of alternatives have been developed over the last few years, none has been able to match its sheer ubiquity in accounting offices.
