What will be the impact of Ai+CAS?
Hitendra R. Patil
??Top 100 Influencer in Accounting ?? Executive Leadership ?? CPA/Accountants' Success ?? CAS ?? CAAS ?? Customer Success ?? Fintech ?? SaaS ?? Outsourcing, Offshoring ?? Author ?? Speaker ?? Consultant ?? AI Evangelist
Three recent news pieces point to huge repercussions for the accounting profession. Anyone providing accounting services to businesses must sit up and take notice.
AI and CAS are progressing together.
Artificial Intelligence (Ai) is becoming (and it is just getting started) a powerful tool in accounting that can provide new levels of automation of routine tasks and deliver super-efficiency never experienced before. Ai can be used in several accounting functions, from basic accounting to more complex forecasting and financial modeling tasks. As Ai makes rapid strides to keep evolving, the future of CAS and accounting is not far off on Ai's radar. Therefore, it is worth thinking seriously about its impact on the future of CAS and accounting.
More importantly, you would want to start thinking about the effects of Ai+CAS on your work and your practice.
Ai's ability to empower accountants to focus on more complex and strategic tasks is especially true for CAS, where accountants provide strategic guidance and insights to clients. Ai will have a significant impact on CAS in the area of data analysis. The rise of big data has increased the need for accountants to analyze large amounts of data quickly and efficiently. With Ai, they can do so in real-time to identify trends and patterns that are difficult and almost unviable for a human accountant to spot. Even in audits, the need to obtain "samples" can go away as Ai can make audits of 100% of business transactions a reality.
With traditional accounting methods, there is always the risk of human error, which can lead to costly mistakes, penalties, and loss of business for accounting firms. Using Ai to automate tasks such as data entry and reconciliation can significantly reduce the risk of human error. This will afford clients more peace of mind and increase their trust in accountants because they know their accounting processes will be accurate and reliable.
Accounting firms will differentiate themselves by how they leverage Artificial Intelligence better than others.
On the other hand, the development of client accounting services (CAS, including advisory, i.e., CAAS) as a business model for accounting firms and using artificial intelligence (Ai) to further automate accounting processes has led to significant changes in the accounting profession. In light of rapidly evolving Ai technology, it has become essential to consider how CAS and Ai together will shape the future of accounting.
Unlike traditional accounting services, CAS is a relatively new approach to accounting, offering clients a wide range of services beyond simply preparing financial statements.
In CAS, accountants leverage their 3E's, i.e., Expertise, Experience, and Education, to guide and assist clients in improving their businesses.
(If you noticed, technology is not mentioned in the 3Es quoted above. In other words, technology alone will not differentiate your firm).
The CAS approach has been widely welcomed by clients who value the strategic guidance and practical business decision-making empowerment provided by CAS.
Will advancing Ai redefine CAS/CAAS?
To examine what will happen to CAS/CAAS when Ai advances further, we need to touch base with the foundations of accounting.
Essentially, accounting is a mechanim to help make better decisions.
From the days of the abacus, humans have been trying to use "tools and technology" to reduce the "counting" work involved in Accounting. The government's fundamental revenue requirement through tax means "record-keeping" is an essential function associated with Accounting.
The accounting profession has spent decades in counting and record-keeping. Computers, the internet, and the cloud made it possible to shift the focus from counting and record-keeping to turning data into information and insights - to help clients make better decisions.
CAS/CAAS is that step forward for accountants to be the catalysts to help clients make better decisions.
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But now comes Ai. The days are not too far for connecting Ai tool(s) with an accounting database to ask for insights required for decision-making.
Ai is likely to become a "professional assistant" to people, not just a "digital assistant" (like Siri, Alexa, etc.). Ai has the potential to become the most available and accessible advisor for people.
What, then, will happen to CAS/CAAS? And how will you prepare for it?
These are not doomsday questions. On the contrary, these questions are meant to align you with the golden era of accounting that will arrive soon.
For this edition of the newsletter, let us figure out the fundamental drivers of the future.
Hint: Digital-to-digital will become all-pervasive. Digital-to-physical (and vice versa) will be faciliated by humans.
In a nutshell, CAS/CAAS in the Ai world will be more about connecting the dots between clients' (humans who own the businesses and/or make business decisions) needs, wants, goals, objectives, dreams, fears, and concerns - with their financial/business situation. What professional accountants can fathom is not easy for non-accounting trained/experienced clients. As powerful as it might become, Ai needs to be used professionally to benefit from it.
Unless you learn the basics of Ai (not as a programmer), it will be challenging to visualize what it can do to the profession and your work. However, as a user, it is not difficult to learn Ai. It is actually fascinating to discover how Ai gets created and shapes up!
The first step to preparing for your future in the AI-powered accounting profession is to learn how Ai tools are created, how Ai learns, and how Ai works.
In my newest book (2023), Rise of The AiCCOUNTANTS? - The What, Why, and How of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Exclusively for Accountants , I have explained several aspects of the Ai-powered future of accounting, including what are the inherent limitations of AI that accountants will leverage in the future. So far, accountants from seven countries across three continents have bought the book.
For this edition of The CAS Newsletter, I will leave you with the starting points mentioned above.?In the next edition, we will dive deeper into the next steps to take. Stay tuned....
Want to get started with/grow your CAS/CAAS practice? Click here to book your complimentary, no-further obligation call with me .
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What Next?
CAS has enhanced the practice performance of many firms. CAS does turn into more CA$H for your firm. Others have done it, and so can you. In the upcoming editions of The CAS Newsletter, I will share many more practical insights to make it easier for you to achieve greater success in CAS.
Retired at home
1 年You have raised many important and critical points in this message. I have not used AI much, myself, but I am intrigued as to what the future may hold as the usage of AI increases, as I see it. I have no doubt that it will increase as time goes on and I want to be able to keep up as well as I can. I am retired and disabled, but the future of an AI in the accounting field is something I would like to keep up on.
In my opinion