AI for Accounting and Finance Blog

With automation available directly to clients via ERP systems, and tech-focused accounting firms pricing traditional accounting firms out of the market, it might seem like the war is over before it has barely begun. Is there even any use for traditional accounting firms anymore?

The answer is a resounding “Yes!”

The benefits of AI in aggregate will help to improve your staff, your firm as a whole, and your clients’ businesses.

Satisfied employees, happy clients and a broad service offering all help accounting firms find success in a competitive environment. All three of those are increasingly predicated on AI and machine learning.

While it is a boon to those who use it well, that technology also inherently brings with it two new and formidable forms of competition: tech-focused accounting firms that aggressively deploy AI and ERP systems with built-in AI.

When looking for the right AI platform, it can be difficult for an accounting firm to assess the AI technology that is powering each platform.

AI and machine learning lead to higher employee satisfaction, more robust recruiting, happier clients and a superior service offering to those clients. Here is how these two core technologies are fundamentally transforming the way outsourced accounting services are priced, purchased by and delivered to clients.

For small and medium-sized business, automating approvals can be difficult since there are usually no efficient systems in place for handling approvals in the first place.

Implementing AI and machine learning in an accounting firm does not just allow it to offer lower prices and value-added services. It also gives it the final cornerstone of a competitive firm: a broader set of services than other firms.

Every company has a different way of organizing its general ledger into a chart of accounts. And every company has a different grasp of how to classify their costs in their various general ledger accounts.

A quality AI platform for accounting can understand incoming costs and code those costs directly to the proper general ledger account(s). With these capabilities, AI is a huge time saver and even improves accuracy (yes, we humans make mistakes).

When exceptional service is augmented by technology, accounting firms can help their clients’ businesses run better, grow faster and become more profitable.

As a starting point for building a productive workflow, the AI technology you select needs to understand what you’re sending to the platform. Historically, it’s been tough for a computer to understand documents because of the challenge in extracting relevant content.

AI technology could not previously comprehend context. But this has changed, thanks to rapid progress in the evolution of AI.