We are stepping into the era of digitalization and automation, and the only thing we are lacking is time. Swift and automated operations are the need of the hour, and the technology that enables it is Artificial Intelligence. Well established companies and business houses are accepting and implementing AI in various areas to grow their services, and one such service that’s on top is accounting. With AI facilitating improved productivity and accuracy while keeping the investment cost low, it is rapidly adopted for statistical and accounting operations bringing a revolution in the conventional system.
AI is automating the mundane and error-prone tasks of accounting fields like data handling and processing, saving the owner a lot of time and effort. All the tax reports are now generated instantly, with high accuracy as every operation is automated, and under any circumstances, there is no scope of human error. AI also enables us to direct the traffic and data to predefined destinations automatically, that is, it can characterize the incoming information and send or store it to a suitable target.
All these features of automated channelizing, error-free processing, less maintenance, and lowered cost come as a boon to all companies and make AI the revolutionary technology of the era.
Possible ways of AI implementation in Accounting
Despite the fact that AI is upgrading the fields of accounting and finances, the implementation of its services in the fields is not more than 50%. Isn’t it a shocking scenario? Well, the main reason for this reluctance in incorporating AI is a lack of understanding and uncertainties regarding growth and returns. Every day a massive amount of data transactions is made, and the financial staffs have to deal with it manually. In this technically progressing era, people are switching to secured and easy digital ways of digital processes, so here are some ways and areas, this blooming technology of AI can be implemented by accountants to make their jobs more streamlined.
1. Data Entry and Analysis
With the assistance of AI, financial managers can easily maintain a high place in transactions, which is otherwise a very time-taking and tiring. Rather than collecting data from resources scattered all over the web like PDFs and Google sheets, using machine learning, which is a branch of AI, one can easily extract all the data they want, regardless of type. It can be images, PDFs, documents, spreadsheets, or any other format.
Along with automatic and timeless extraction, it will also segregate the data depending upon the spend category and gather reports at under one folder for analysis, which will, in turn, facilitate smart insights to upgrade financial and business planning to the company. Machine learning can be used to fetch deeper and valuable insights over time as it learns with time, implying businesses can have a broad view of their spending pattern, and accounting staff can use it to advise ways and to form plans to come up with an optimized budget.
2. Reduced Fraud
With decentralized spending culture taking over the trend, spending records of any company is spreading across multiple platforms. In such cases, as the data increases with time, it becomes more and more unorganized and prone to frauds and malpractices.
As per the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners reports, an average company’s 5% revenue loss is caused by internal fraud. Usually, auditors and experts can only look over around 10% of expense reports made annually, where a significant part goes undetected. Whereas, if we deploy Artificial Intelligence for this task, it can deal with 100% of the reports that are sent. With the help of Machine Learning, typical patterns of fraud can be predicted, and a vast number of anomalies can be detected automatically. By deploying AI, influxes in accounts data can be easily handled with the right level of accuracy as AI is scalable.
It’s a fact, the more data AI analyses, the smarter it gets, and that implies more quickly, and efficiently it detects the frauds.
3. Enforce Corporate Policy
Because of features AI offer, the detection of noncompliance issues is easy, less time-consuming, yet highly accurate and efficient. With the help of AI, all the data about expenses made by the company can be scanned very fast, detecting any unusual activities instantly. All the purchase flow, card payments, employee receipts can be looked thoroughly very quickly, and errors can be rectified right away, helping in the enforcement of corporate policies. It also helps to study which company policies are working fine and for the benefit of the company and which needs to be changed and altered.
Some other accounting tasks machines can be trusted with
Artificial Intelligence is not just about freeing humans from tedious tasks but also about improved results and honest charts. Those accountants who are inculcating this revolutionary technology are gaining incomparable experience, which is increasing their value in the market day by day
1. Closure Procedures
As AI is the fastest way to collect, classify, and merge data, the use of AI gives a company edge of time to formulate adequate policies and perform better, speeding up monthly processes and accuracy.
2. Procurement
The process of tracking and procuring usually includes loads of paperwork and cross platform errors while exchanging files. Using AI with APIs, there will be no scope of incompatibility of platforms, and tracking will be more comfortable too.
3. Accounts payable or receivable
Invoice management system powered by Ai is already in market making processing of accounts payable or receivable very much streamlined
4. Expense management
Checking, tracking, and approving receipts and payments is a very time-taking and error-prone task, but with AI, it is otherwise.
5. AI Chatbots
A AI Chatbox the primary need for any accounting business to cater to the frequent queries of their website visitors. It’s not just an excellent way to answer frequently asked questions but also a smart idea to categorize potential customers from casual visitors.
AI Consulting
AI consulting is helping companies with the latest AI technologies and their implementations that can benefit their business.
The primary reasons for such a low percentage adoption of AI in the accounting field is
• Absence of AI strategy
• No knowledge about the scope AI can offer
• Less AI experts in the field
AI consultants help with these topics. They come up with best-suited strategies to support the company organise and budget. They provide the company with better approaches to attract AI experts that can work for them. They have knowledgeable personnel who identify the best-suited areas and use cases for business.
Currently, the situation in the AI Accounting market is of high demand and low supply. Almost all firms want to prosper their business with the latest technologies, but there aren’t experts available to help them. Considering these statistics, AI Consulting is going to be an industry of high importance in this decade.
AI consulting just like simple Consulting, can be divided into three different categories
1. Strategy Formulation
When a client approaches for a consult, the main question that arises is how they should make the best use of AI. This needs a detailed strategy considering challenges and opportunities, along with data and analytics efficiency. Going through all these factors, consultants suggest best suited AI initiatives for the company
2. Implementation
These strategies will result in various initiatives. The implementation of them is also a multi-step process ranging from planning and management to necessary improvements and changes. Like standard consulting service, these AI consulting is well capable of completing this full implementation.
3. Training
Consulting projects are meant to upgrade skills and ways of working of the client, which is a crucial point in a field like AI Consulting, where talent is of the highest value but scarce. Its AI Consulting firm’s duty to make sure the client’s team is well capable and aware of the platforms and technologies they need to work on.
Depending on AI Consultants, for the long run, it cannot be that beneficial as it may sound. It may lead to a breach of inside assets and high costing projects, but at the same time, AI Consulting is a key to give Accounting field wings to prosper in new ways.
Conclusion:
Events of Bill Gates referring to recent innovations and advancement with AI technology and its application as “Holy Grail” to market, Smacc revolutionizing accounting arena with streamlined and automated bookkeeping as well as cloud-based accounting packages which claim to be already more than 75% automated and intellectuals in the field estimating robots to acquire human intelligence by the end of this decade, it’s no debate that AI is and will take over accounting field completely. Despite numerous challenges and constraints, a regular effort is made to ease the jobs of accounting staff because AI accounting is the future, and no one can deny it. There are severe issues of security arising as it is going to be a sizeable decentralized system, like imagine how heavy and complex the accounting data of a whole firm is going to be. Still, as a solution to it, technologies like block chain are simultaneously researched upon. The future where robots take up all tiresome jobs and make our lives relaxed may be here faster than we assumed. Still, right now, advanced algorithms aided outsourced accounting services can not quite fairly compete with a human touch.
