Torje Vingen Sunde from Abendum on building an MVP on Triple Entry Accounting as a service
What We Discuss With Torje Vingen Sunde
The topic Triple Entry Accounting was introduced on this podcast in Episode 4 with Juan Ignacio Ibanez. For the listeners not familiar with the idea, Triple Entry Accounting is an evolution of the double entry accounting system, and it uses blockchain technology to overcome the trust concern in bookkeeping.
I was curious to unravel how companies are using the theoretical concept of triple entry accounting to gather empirical evidence and commercialize it as a service.
The challenge for use cases in blockchain is to move from proof of concept to commercialization while achieving scalability, cost effectiveness and security.
For the first episode on a series dedicated to how Triple Entry Accounting can be used as a service, I came across Abendum who has developed a beta version of their triple entry accounting offering using a public blockchain and has been testing it with the help of the Norwegian regulator using a sandbox environment.
In this episode, you will learn;
- How Abendum has created a product using the idea of Triple Entry Accounting;
- How an invoice gets digitally signed and recorded on a public ledger in practice;
- The challenges and conclusions learnt from the beta version of Abendum so far;
- The key enablers to transition from double entry accounting to triple entry accounting;
- The future role of accountants with automation;
- And much more.
Shownotes
The approach to build an MVP on Triple Entry Accounting as a service
- Torje shares how he got into blockchain and came across triple entry accounting [2:30]
- With IT knowledge becoming increasingly important for accountants, Torje shares why he studied Computer Science [6:45]
- How Triple Entry Accounting differs from Double Entry Accounting [9:12]
- The MVP Abendum has developed how it allows to sign invoices on-chain [12:47]
- The public blockchain being used by Abendum is Bitcoin BSV, and Torje explains why (scalability, smart contracts) [18:50]
- How is an invoice signed digitally in practice with a vendor and purchase [23:39]
- With triple entry accounting, will we still require a financial audit since we do not need to reconcile accounting records [25:46]
Challenges to drive Triple Entry Accounting innovation
- How fintech regulatory sandboxes can drive innovation in accounting [27:46]
- Prerequisites companies need to have before switching to Triple Entry Accounting [34:29]
- Other features Abendum will add, like ESG reporting, secure invoicing [37:03]
- The obstacles for companies to switch and how Abendum wants to simplify the process [41:58]
Future role of accountants and blockchain education
- How will the role of the accountant change in the future with blockchain [45:37]
- Torje shares what advice he has for accountants to start their blockchain journey
- Besides learning to code, the CISSP offers a course to learn about cyber-security [51:34]
- Torje challenges to look at the pain points of their industry and learn how blockchain can solve those [53:46]
- Torje provides his prediction on when triple entry accounting will become mainstream [55:11]
