AI & Accounting: How Are They Connected?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is seeping into various areas of our everyday life. From Google Assistant to real-life robots, technology is changing the way we live. This is especially true of individuals working in jobs that are typically labor intensive or require a significant amount of brain power, including accounting positions. Here’s how this technology is changing the way accountants do their jobs:
Optimizing Workflow
The main way businesses and accounting professionals are utilizing AI in the workplace is to optimize workflow. Due to advancements in technology, businesses are able to focus more on what is working and what isn’t rather than number crunching. While this technology can’t make all the business decisions, it can help you reallocate time to the tasks that really matter.
However, it is key for business professionals to remember that optimizing workflow with AI technology doesn’t mean you leave everything to the smart machines. Instead, professionals should work alongside artificial intelligence to best optimize workflow and really use AI-powered programs to their full potential.
This is especially true when it comes to accounting and figuring out business taxes. While AI certainly makes the modern accountant’s job easier, it shouldn’t replace them completely. It should simply help reduce human error in the workplace and better optimize current processes. Unsurprisingly, many businesses, especially those focused on accounting, are looking to implement AI this way.
How AI Is Helping Tax Professionals
Businesses are always looking for new ways to incorporate new technology into the way they conduct business. A whopping 74% of tax professionals are looking for ways to incorporate artificial intelligence into their businesses. Using AI helps them adhere to changes in tax law without making any huge mistakes.
“In this transformative age, disruptive technologies such as AI and RPA have already changed the face of tax functions,” stated Marna Ricker, Vice Chair of Ernst & Young Americas on Accounting Today. “This technology enables tax professionals to spend more time on higher level strategy and decision making and less time on repetitive tasks.”
Changes made through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017 inspired accountants to take a closer look at technology that can help them make their jobs a little easier. Around 62% of tax professionals reported that, after the latest changes to the tax law, they began using new technology to reduce errors and streamline processes. The main ways they’ve been using AI so far has been automating administrative duties and providing better data analytics.
Accounting and AI Data Processing
The algorithms AI programs use to help accountants help provide clearer, more accurate data than something provided by manpower alone. Artificial intelligence helps accountants identify anomalies and outliers. Being able to effortlessly identify these can seriously help the business they are working for.
The ability to identify an anomaly in accounting could potentially take months of work in the past. Now, with AI, accountants can see these changes more quickly and alert the business. This can make a huge difference. For instance, if the business is seeing a large uptick in sales, they can take a look at why and adjust their approach accordingly. On the other hand, if something isn’t working, AI can help identify where things went wrong.
This has the potential to be a real game changer and can help accountants provide more clear, direct information to the businesses they are helping. As mentioned above, large numbers of accountants and businesses are looking to AI to streamline their processes. It will only be a matter of time before this type of technology has a place in every office.
The Future of AI
Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly important to everyday life in and out of the workplace. AI is constantly gathering data about your preferences, how to make everyday tasks easier, and analyzing the information it receives to make your life easier. This information is being collected constantly through devices you use on a daily basis, including your smartphone.
The information you access on the devices you use every day, the websites you visit, and the actions you take are all being logged. Eventually, this data can be used to improve your quality of life, make more difficult tasks easier, and help you focus on activities that provide you with more value. This is especially true in the workplace.
For accountants, this means being able to better identify anomalies and information to help the businesses they work with. Medical professionals will eventually be able to use AI like bots to get information about patients and provide better care. Outside of the workplace, AI is showing us advertisements, news articles, and information based on our behavior and preferences.
While all of this is happening behind the scenes, it is constantly working and collecting data. Eventually, these programs will be optimizing everything, enabling us to focus on the things in life that really matter.
