Artificial intelligence has been revolutionizing various industries for quite some time, and accounting is one of them.
Although still in its infancy, this advanced technology has a significant impact when it comes to improving productivity, streamlining various operations, and saving resources.
Intelligent chatbots and virtual assistants that make restaurant reservations, predictive analytics that show personalized product recommendations to consumers, Robotic Process Automation that handles dangerous tasks – all of this is a reality thanks to AI.
But there is one particularly powerful aspect of this technology capable of revolutionizing the way we live and work: big data analytics.
The technology’s ability to collect and interpret vast amounts of structured and unstructured data using sophisticated algorithms, learn from complex patterns, and eliminate human error is what makes it increasingly indispensable in accounting.
Improved business efficiency
Research studies predict that AI technologies will increase workplace productivity by up to 40% and help employees use their time more efficiently.
Some accounting functions that contain a large number of repetitive routine tasks, such as bookkeeping, payroll, entry-level tax, or AR/AP management, will inevitably be automated.
For example, robotic process automation (RPA) solutions can complete repetitive, high-volume, low-value tasks much faster and more accurately than humans. As a result, RPA implementation can generate significant cost savings of 20-60% of FTE costs. Ultimately, these efficient robots will allow human employees to focus on more complex and valuable tasks that require critical thinking.
RPA bots can perform data processing, launch and use different applications, or integrate with business tools, among other things. When we talk about the finance and accounting industry, this means that they can redefine a number of business processes.
A standard consolidation process, for example, involves manually collecting information and templates from various departments, reviewing the consolidated results, and requesting additional information on significant variances. RPA can automate and speed up this entire process, as well as eliminate human error.
Ensuring a positive customer experience
Providing an optimized customer experience is of the utmost importance in all industries.
When potential clients come to an accounting website, it’s crucial to give them the best possible customer support, which means their queries need to be addressed in a timely manner. What happens is that many of these queries fall into the category of simple and frequently asked questions.
Having human customer agents spend their time answering these questions is a waste of resources. That’s where AI-powered chatbots can step in, take on this low-value workload and allow human reps to handle more complex calls. Furthermore, these smart programs are available 24/7 and reduce waiting times as they can chat with multiple users simultaneously.
There are different use cases for customer service chatbots in finance and accounting that can optimize communication with customers in a cost-effective way.
Considering that many business owners are not familiar with all tax rules and regulations, accounting firms can take advantage of bots that guide their clients through this complex process, or even help them prepare paperwork and calculate their taxes. taxes.
Provide advanced analytics
Accounting firms already take advantage of traditional analytics to gain valuable insight into their clients’ finances. But these procedures mainly involve number calculations and the creation of reports that show what factors affected financial results and how.
In other words, traditional analysis offers some form of hindsight and allows you to avoid repeating the same mistakes and forecast future results using historical assumptions and data.
AI-powered advanced analytics takes prediction to the next level by combining big data, sophisticated algorithms, and machine learning. There are two types of analysis:
- Predictive, able to anticipate future results
- Prescriptive, which can not only anticipate results but also suggest how to turn predictions into action.
All of this will help accounting specialists identify and understand new market trends, set new performance KPIs, and improve the accuracy of their forecasts.
The benefits of this technology are tremendous and will allow CAPs to take advantage of recommendations based on real-time events and data instead of relying on guesswork. With advanced analytics, they will be able to quickly spot some hidden correlations and market trends and make informed decisions.
Of course, to take full advantage of this technology, CAPs will need to develop their information technology competencies and skills. Learning statistical methods such as regression analysis and hypothesis testing will be a must for those who are willing to raise the bar and offer a better service.
Improved optical character recognition accuracy
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) solutions have been around for a while, but in synergy with AI, their accuracy will improve significantly.
This technology is among the most beneficial to the accounting industry, due to its ability to extract information from paper and digital documents, such as photocopied, scanned or PDF files, and convert them into machine-encoded text.
Before AI, the accuracy of OCR solutions used to be lower, and a major drawback was their inability to interpret unstructured documents. That is, structured documents like checks that have a static layout could be easily read and converted using OCR solutions.
However, invoices and receipts are unstructured documents, and before AI and natural language processing (NLP), it was impossible for OCR to understand them. Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) is powered by NLP and can make sense of text, tables, and images within documents. In this way, it is possible for them to understand the context and extract a particular type of content from various documents.
For example, thanks to its ability to understand context, IPA will capture meaning even if there are typos in a document or if synonyms are used.
Accounting firms can use this technology to scan invoices, checks, invoices, and various receipts, streamlining payment processing and eliminating manual data entry.
AI-powered technology will not replace humans, but will help them perform different tasks faster and more accurately. CPAs will need to adapt to this new reality and embrace these innovations if they want to remain competitive and maximize business opportunities.
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Categories: Technology
Source: vtt.edu.vn