Each day our inboxes are bombarded with pitches for some new way to use ChatGPT, Claude, or the latest AI platform. These resources create no shortage of excitement, hope, anxiety, and outright fear surrounding artificial intelligence and what it may mean for the business world. Employees and
business owners are being forced to confront an uncomfortable possibility that technology is becoming capable of doing some of the very things we once thought made us uniquely valuable. 

AI, automation, and increasingly advanced technology are here to stay. The warning shots have already been fired, and it feels like we are rolling through a yellow light, praying nobody jumps the green from the other direction. But once we get past that initial reaction of wonder, dread, or likely some combination of both, we can start seeing AI for what it actually is - a tool.

Tools force us to ask better questions. What are we trying to accomplish? What parts of our work create value? What parts are simply there because “that’s how we’ve always done it?” And what do we want our jobs and businesses to look like if some of the work we never particularly enjoyed doing can be handed off?

Accounting is certainly no exception. Like almost every profession, the accounting industry contains repetitive tasks, tedious processes, seemingly endless memorization, and work that requires far less ingenuity than the people performing it are often capable. AI has the potential to free people from some of that work, but it is important to note – that is only if we use it wisely. Because tools are only as useful as the judgment of the person using them.

AI can produce an answer but cannot take responsibility for that answer. It can process enormous amounts of information, but it does not automatically understand the context of a client, the culture of a company, the consequences of a decision, or when something simply does not pass the eye test.

In accounting, that distinction matters enormously, specifically when we are focusing on consulting, finance, and business. Our value has never been limited to arriving at an answer. Our value resides in knowing whether the answer makes sense, understanding what it means, communicating it to another business owners, and ultimately standing behind it.

Clients call and email us with questions about AI all the time. Some are fascinating and some are not. Either way, I am glad they are asking because curiosity is the best place to start. Ducking our heads in the sand and assuming these advancements will disappear is wishful thinking. On the other hand, blindly plugging AI into every process simply because it is new is not much better. My advice is to engage with technology, experiment with it, and ask the advisors you trust whether there are simple applications that might improve your day-to-day operations.

Several ways we suggest you apply AI into your accounting practices might include –

• Build complex Excel formulas that elevate your work papers and analyses
• Have AI conduct an in-depth interview of yourself on your work flows and processes to find
  ways to improve efficiency and lighten your load
• Offload menial tasks - use AI to extrapolate data from PDFs into spreadsheets, let AI review any manual computations to ensure accuracy, etc.

There is no single perfect way to use AI. In fact, that may be one of the most interesting things about where we are right now. Millions of people and businesses are simultaneously experimenting with these tools and discovering use cases their creators may never have anticipated. Each person brings a different industry, problem, workflow, and perspective to the table, through which we all may benefit. That means we are not simply watching the development of AI. We are actively participating in its development.

Our goal should be to create a culture that explores, educates, and encourages. Give employees permission to find better ways of doing their work. Encourage them to identify repetitive, menial tasks that technology may be able to handle. Share successful use cases across the organization.

Just as importantly though, establish boundaries, educate people about the risks, protect sensitive information, and learn from the mistakes other companies have already made.

The businesses that navigate this transition best probably will not be the ones that chase every new AI product that hits the market, nor will they be the ones that refuse to participate. They will be the ones willing to experiment while retaining the judgment to know when technology helps, when it does not, and when a human being still needs to be sitting behind the wheel. For now, that seems like a pretty good place to start.