Blockchain: What you need to know

Among the many disruptive technology trends impacting the way accountants do business, blockchain is one that is less well-known within the accounting community. However, given its potential impact, blockchain is certainly not a trend that they can afford to overlook any longer. Defined as an open, distributed ledger, blockchain technology records and verifies transactions without any trusted central authority. The technology itself exists as a file that maintains a continuously growing list of ordered records called blocks. Each block contains a timestamp and a link to a previous block using a "fingerprint." Blockchains are resistant to modification of data and cannot be altered retroactively.