Discussions of artificial intelligence (AI) in the accounting and finance world are nothing new. As a matter of fact, this topic has been on trend for well over 10 years. As artificial intelligence has done for almost every other industry, it has provided significant benefits in the accounting world too. Every day we see new blogs, articles, webinars, and more about how new AI tools are going to make your job easier and enable you to drive more meaningful financial insight – transforming your role as a finance professional to a more strategic one.
But what does all that really mean? It can all be a bit overwhelming and sounds like more than a simple product purchase. Is AI going to eventually replace your role?
We’ve compiled 5 “must know” concepts about AI that will help you understand how it can actually improve your day-to-day work – and don’t worry, robots will not be taking your job.
- AI in accounting software: A large part of AI is how it uses machine learning to understand repetitive tasks and use that knowledge to automate those processes. Those repetitive and “robotic” tasks can be very time consuming and don’t require a human to handle them effectively. There is no judgement involved in the process. Computers can’t make judgement calls but they are great at executing tasks based on a rule set. In fact, they will do it far more effectively than a human, leaving people to do the important work that requires judgement and perspective. Automating those tasks will free up time for finance professionals to focus on the overall financial health of an organization.
- AI to increase efficiency: Well-designed, multi-tenant, cloud-based accounting software will have AI built in. It can draw on data from all users in all companies to “learn” about how its users work and the types of transactions they process. That aggregate data allows the publisher of the accounting software to provide features that handle the routine, repetitive transactions, allowing people to focus their attention on the outliers. Some examples of this are automatic coding of expenses from a photo of a receipt and GL outlier detection in posted transactions. By automating predictable transactions it allows the finance professional to focus their attention on only the anomalies, freeing up time for more strategic activities.
- Meaningful insight: It’s clear that easily accessible and error free data is necessary for finance professionals to guide the direction of their organizations. With automation in place, finance professional will be in a position to provide guidance to their leadership team. To do that effectively, they will need: 1) real-time data, 2) anytime access and 3) trustworthy data. That transforms the role from one that looks at the past and reacts to one that looks at today and strategizes on the future. AI and machine learning will play a significant role in providing predictive analytics, identifying trends and allowing real-time course corrections now, not months after the fact.
- Growing intelligence: AI needs data to work. Multi-tenant cloud systems are uniquely positioned to gather data from multiple sources. The more data available, the faster it “learns”. This growing intelligence can then start making recommendations based on your organization’s data and transaction history. The bottom line; AI needs data. Lots of data.
- AI won’t replace you: AI in accounting and finance is just the beginning. A shift in thinking is required for organizations to fully benefit from adopting Cloud-based solutions that have AI capabilities. There is a fear that eventually AI will replace the finance professional. That’s not the reality. AI may replace the mundane, routine work, but humans will always be needed to do the meaningful work, ultimately making the finance professional invaluable to the organization. Machines lack context and judgement which are still uniquely human attributes. The role of today’s finance leaders is evolving; it only makes sense that the tools they use evolve as well.
At North49 we’ve worked with CFOs, controllers and other finance professionals for more than 30 years to help find the right solution for their organizations. We help new and existing clients with the adoption of technology that will empower them and their businesses.