AI may have the biggest impact to our society and economy in the shortest period of time in history. Before we even fully understand AI, it may of taken steps to disrupt the accounting industry.
The leading accounting and ERP organisations are already moving with significant investments in AI that will disrupt and reshape the financial industry. For the last 20 years as an integration specialist I have had first hand experience of how Process automation, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) have been central drivers replacing simple tasks and how utilising Business Intelligence has enabled a wave of "Digital Transformations".
Now, Artificial Intelligence is driving forwards both RPA and process automation and can deal with complexity - not just simple repeatable tasks. As an example the entire “order to cash” business process, including the use of unstructured data such as emails or voice calls from customers.
The decline of accounting work is arguably a positive development for industry, enabling a new era of advisory services built from a greater level of business intelligence and data driven decision making.
Lets look at the benefits; and how this might play out in terms of industrial progress.
- Increased Efficiency: AI-powered accounting software can perform many of the mundane, repetitive tasks that previously required human accountants to complete. This means that accountants can spend more time on higher-level tasks, like strategic planning and analysis. Additionally, AI-powered software can work faster and more accurately than humans, which can lead to significant time and cost savings for businesses.
- Improved Accuracy: While humans are prone to error, AI-powered software is not. By automating many of the accounting processes, AI can significantly reduce the risk of mistakes and misinterpretations, which can be costly for businesses.
- Enhanced Insights: With the help of AI, accountants can gain deeper insights into their clients' financial data. AI-powered software can identify trends and patterns that humans may miss, enabling accountants to provide more valuable insights and recommendations to their clients.
- More time: By automating many of the routine tasks and creating more time, AI-powered software allows accountants to focus on providing high-quality customer service to their clients. They can spend more time answering questions, offering advice, and developing customized solutions that meet their clients' unique needs.
Accountants can become management advisors using Business Intelligence
Enhanced Insights and more time drive to advisory services is great news for accountants that are ready to receive it. So lets dig into how AI will enhance the advisory market using Business Intelligence;
- Faster and more accurate analysis: One of the primary advantages of AI is its ability to quickly process large amounts of data and analyze it with a high degree of accuracy. For an accountant with many clients this allows their advisory services to provide insights and recommendations faster and with greater precision than would be possible with manual analysis.
- Customized recommendations: AI can also be used to analyse data at a granular level, allowing accounting advisory to provide customised recommendations to individual clients. This personalized approach can help businesses make more informed decisions that are tailored to their specific needs and goals.
- Predictive analytics: AI can also be used to provide the accountants with predictive analytics, which involves using historical financial and industry data to make predictions about future events.
- Enhanced decision-making: By providing faster and more accurate analysis, customized recommendations, and predictive insights, AI can help businesses make better-informed decisions. This can lead to improved performance, increased efficiency, and ultimately, greater profitability.
- Scalability: Finally, AI can be easily scaled to meet the needs of a growing business. As more data is generated and analyzed, AI can continue to provide valuable insights and recommendations, without the need for additional human resources.
How will we apply all this intelligence? - with an Agile mindset.
Agility for business becomes an outcome of advisory best practice.
When we turn Business Intelligence inwards we gain insights and awareness on our business areas that need improvement. In an agile transformations we take a step further to unite human, cultural and ethical values with operational and financials to get a 360 view of the improvements an organisation can make to achieve its goals.
Making use of BI on top of ERP and industry data, advisors will sit with a wealth of data that will empower change and include new data from HR and operational systems that track employee operations and health. While we can expect more product and service feedback through customer satisfaction scores and surveys form those companys who care to improve their services.
All of this organisation data, centralised and analysed will provide new opportunitys of growth and improvement through Advisory and AI systems trained to understand its industry.
Here are some ways to drive agility through advisory and business intelligence:
- Create Data-Driven Decision Making: BI can provide real-time, data-driven insights that can help Agile teams make informed decisions. This can help teams quickly identify issues and opportunities, and adjust their strategies accordingly.
- Transparency: Agile improves culture through transparency, where everyone has access to information about progress, goals, and objectives to feel part of an organism moving towards its goal. BI can provide this transparency by visualizing business data and metrics in a way that is easy to understand horizontally and vertically from the warehouse worker to the CEO.
- Continuous Improvement: Agile is about continuous improvement, and BI can help teams achieve this by providing insights into areas where they can improve. By using data to identify areas for improvement, teams can quickly take action to address issues and optimize their processes.
- Performance Metrics: BI can help teams track and measure their performance against specific metrics, such as velocity, cycle time, and customer satisfaction. By tracking these metrics, teams can identify areas where they are performing well and areas where they need to improve.
- Predictive Analytics: BI can provide predictive analytics that can help Agile teams anticipate potential issues and plan for future scenarios. This can help the organisation become more proactive, pivot and adapt to market circumstances before they occur.
Frerik Laloux author of "A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness" explains there have been at least five distinct organizational paradigms in human history born through an evolutionary process that started 100,000 years ago and adds that a new form of organisation is emerging into public view and suggested there is a natural next step coming in our evolution - a new transformed organisation that is more like a living organism, that is self managed with wholeness and evolutionary purpose.
Organisation growth and maturity through agile transformation is being made easier for us. the impact will be most effective for those organisations who are already agile to learn and adapt to the new technology.
And thats the challenge for our accountants as AI approaches, become agile...adapt and learn how to benefit your clients through awesome Business Intelligence and drive positive change with the technology we now have at our hands.
About the author : Andy Smith is a senior Product Owner (CSPO) senior Scrum Master (CSM) and Agile Coach, contracted by TheVIT AS in Oslo, Norway.
Andy & TheVIT are building full stack Agile Business Intelligence teams and services with data centralisation and have built one of the first Business Intelligence As A Service through Intelligent Solutions.
If you would like to know more about how prepare your accounting firm for the AI technology wave dont waste too much time to take contact with IntelligentSolutions.no