Business leaders in the next century will be faced with information overload. Although we may already feel overloaded in our role as harbingers of information, CPAs and accounting professionals will undoubtedly be positioned in the forefront of this information onslaught.

Consider this: there has been more information produced in the last 30 years than during the previous 5,000 years. That’s a lot of information.

There are steps we can take to rise above this projected information overload. The first step is to differentiate the relevant from the non-relevant information. This requires a great deal of flexibility when dealing with clients. The key is to stay well connected to your clients’ ever-changing information needs, and help them see what is and what is not relevant in terms of their own financial situation.

It is also vital that we continue to gain and maintain technical expertise. More than being financial experts, we must look at accommodating the diverse information and technology demands that our clients will present to us in the future. It’s certainly not an easy task, but something we will undoubtedly face in the new millennium.