Will AI replace humans in Accounting?
Anders Liu-Lindberg
Leading advisor to senior Finance and FP&A leaders on creating impact through business partnering | Interim | VP Finance | Business Finance
This is the channel "Trends in Finance and Accounting" with 121,000+ subscribers! Click "Subscribe" to receive a notification and an e-mail when I publish new articles on this channel every Thursday and the occasional Saturday.
To follow my entrepreneur journey you can head over to my?Instagram account .
If you want shorter snippets of the future of finance and accounting then check out my?Twitter account .
Artificial Intelligence is already part of our everyday lives. Whether we are browsing for a new show on Netflix or posting an invoice to the ledger, AI gives us a helping hand. It’s one of the technologies that we expect will transform accounting, but what about the transformation of accountants?
There has not been such a shakeup in the profession since the launch of Visicalc, the original digital spreadsheet, in the 1970s. Then, finance professionals stepped up their value creation game, taking the efficiencies and insights that digital spreadsheets provided and changing the role for the better.
AI gives us the same historic opportunity to transform the finance function, and the process is well underway. Developments in technology infrastructure, the availability of huge volumes of relevant and properly structured data, and a constant drive to improve efficiency and build value, mean that change is inevitable.
AI is now incorporated into most of the software packages that we use, from Intuit to Oracle. At its simplest, machine learning recognizes and recalls the way we like to treat each transaction. It speeds up bookkeeping and reduces the risk of human error to such a degree that non-financial people can keep reliable accounts.
In planning and analysis, the same machine learning is combined with insights gleaned from deep dives into vast pools of data. Content-aware AI can parse fine detail much faster than humans, and deliver unexpected insights.
There is concern that this technology poses a threat to job roles such as accountants. In reality, it opens the door to a bright new future.
The Silicon Accountant
Machines may be smart, but they need humans. The best models of decision making, planning and analysis, and the most efficient processes, rely upon a hybrid of human and machine. Machines see things that humans cannot: they give us superpowers. We provide the life experience and professional context to complement and interpret their work.
Looking to a bright future
Where does this leave the finance function in the new age of AI? It actually puts us in a much stronger position. A partnership between humans and machines enhances decision-making, shifting the role of the CFO to a value creator within the firm.
There will be disruption along the way. Transformation is a complex process and needs to bring everyone along for the ride, but accountants are versatile people. Many senior finance professionals will have started their careers in the 1980s, adapting and changing throughout the last forty years. They’ve moved from handwritten bookkeeping to ERP systems through the invention of the World Wide Web to a world of IoT data collection, blockchain, and AI.
Throughout all of this time, the finance function has grown in its value and influence in the organization. AI offers us a range of powerful tools that we can harness in our quest to add value and build success.
How are you using AI to support your decision-making and make processes more efficient? Let us know in the comments.
This was the eighth article in my latest series "Frontier Technologies for Finance". You can read the previous ones below. Remember to click subscribe to be notified about future articles.
领英推荐
Continue reading below for more articles about how digital is impacting Finance.
Anders Liu-Lindberg ?is the co-founder and a partner at the?Business Partnering Institute ?and owner of the largest?group dedicated to Finance Business Partnering ?on LinkedIn with more than 10,000 members. I have ten years of experience as a business partner at the global transport and logistics company?Maersk . I am the co-author of the book “Create Value as a Finance Business Partner ” and a?long-time Finance Blogger ?on LinkedIn with 67.500+ followers and 150.000+ subscribers to my blog. I am also an advisory board member at?Born Capital ?where I help identify and grow the next big thing in #CFOTech.
AI really helps us in everyday life and can even change things for the better.. if anyone thinks that AI threatens humans is a big mistake, AI will actually bring humans to a better future Anders Liu-Lindberg ??
I think its a fantastic post. Of course AI is a significant part of our lives now.. From the simple predictive texts, to more complex functions. More importantly, how amazing computing and technology has evolved and WE along with it. We are ever more reliant on technology and trusting that it can do more complex tasks autonomously... We were fortunate to be involved with predictive software regarding a development for patient or health care... Certainly AI is a fantastic tool, can save millions of lives, can save so much time and money.. But, I do believe it should always remain a tool for our benefit, and for us to control. Best wishes to you all..
Online accounting is the future. This automation has already started to replace humans in accounting because of their cost effectiveness and time efficiency.
AI really really helps our daily life by changing things for the better ?? if someone says AI will threaten humans? That's a big mistake, AI will make our work easier
Thank you