Bookkeeping--a tedious, but crucial, task for business owners--could improve with the help of A.I. tools.
Bookkeeping platforms have incorporated A.I. for years, helping automate expense categorization, identifying clerical errors, and so on. But the generative A.I. boom and the popularity of tools like ChatGPT have sparked additional interest from business owners and accountants alike: A recent survey from QuickBooks found that 48 percent of accountants plan to "invest in automation tools and artificial intelligence over the next 12 months."
Established accounting companies are now embracing--or at least considering--evolving technology in bookkeeping. And aspiring bookkeepers are eager to learn more: Matt Bontrager, managing partner of the Las Vegas-based accounting firm TrueBooks, launched a Bookkeeping Blueprint course on June 22 with a specific focus on A.I. Within two days, more than 100 students signed up to learn more about the program, surpassing the initial goal.
The evolving capabilities of A.I. could bring new value to bookkeeping tools and the businesses they serve. Here are the benefits of using this technology, according to bookkeeping companies that have embraced it.
It can save time
Existing A.I. bookkeeping tools aim to conserve a vital commodity for entrepreneurs and small-business owners: time. For instance, Xero, a New Zealand-based accounting software company, uses A.I. to crunch numbers and forecast cash flows to quickly identify any potential issues. Sage Accounting, a U.K.-based accounting software firm, uses the tech to help small businesses keep track of abnormal transactions as their paperwork volume grows, minimizing the need for in-depth human review on each entry.
New generative A.I. tools can further expedite the bookkeeping process, says Aaron Harris, Sage's chief technology officer. Sage currently has two generative A.I. projects underway: first, Sage is revamping its inbox product to use A.I. to kick off workflows; for instance, if a customer requests a copy of an invoice via email, the A.I. tool can interpret that message, attach an invoice to an email, and await human review before sending, speeding up the response process. Second, Sage plans to embed a digital assistant in Excel sheets of accounting data to answer questions for businesses (like "What's my cash balance?") and provide guidance. While the assistant is in its early stages, the inbox product is expected to launch in the coming months.
Ben Richmond, U.S. country manager at Xero, recommends that businesses experimenting with A.I. tools think critically to maximize the efficiency benefits: "Look at your workflows. Look at your processes: Where are you spending time?" From there, Richmond says business leaders can identify areas where an A.I. tool could take over some responsibility and free up time to focus on other areas of the business.
It can provide deeper insights
In addition to saving time, generative A.I. could elicit valuable insights for business owners through "descriptive analytics or predictive analytics," says Martin Mulyadi, a professor of accounting at Shenandoah University. For instance, it could analyze a declining line of business and quickly provide a deeper layer of insight than surface-level numbers could offer, Mulyadi says.
Jeremy Sulzmann, vice president and general manager of the QuickBooks Partners Segment at Intuit, says that although the company cannot yet disclose how it plans to incorporate generative A.I., specifically, he anticipates the technology will become a powerful tool in facilitating "deeper conversations around the 'so what' of the information versus actually trying to get the data in or out of the system."
In short, generative A.I. could inspire business owners to make "more real-time decisions with greater confidence," Harris says.
But it needs to be verified
While some bookkeeping experts feel optimistic about the technology's potential, they highlight the importance of verifying accuracy, particularly when it comes to finances. "Imagine you're an accountant: The first time A.I. produces a wrong answer, and that makes it into a financial statement, trust is destroyed," Harris says. "Accounting is very, very precise. Generative A.I. is not."
Because of this, in the past quarter, Sage filed five patents regarding generative A.I. with four pertaining to preventing hallucination--or outcomes that don't correspond to a "real-world input"--in accounting data, Harris says.
Mulyadi also worries about a "lack of A.I. literacy" in professional fields. He points to a recent example of a New York lawyer who submitted a federal court filing using ChatGPT, leaving the document riddled with nonexistent cases. He believes generative A.I. still needs to be paired with human review, in bookkeeping especially. "We can trust," he says. "But then we need to verify."
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