Last week the Silverfin team hosted an AI roundtable with Dan Cockerton from the Digital Accountancy Show.
Attendees included over 30 guests from some of the UK’s leading accountancy firms including Moore South, Haysmacintyre LLP, Cooper Parry, PM + M and Kreston Reeves. Coming together in London, we spent the afternoon hearing from a fantastic collection of speakers including Sven Cornelius from Finplex in Belgium, Rich Webb the Founder of Performance Ninja and Silverfin’s Director of Innovation Ken Bastiaensen.
Following brief introductions, we got stuck into the topic of the issues facing the UK accountancy sector and what role AI could and should have in solving them.
It was great to hear how universal the recognition is that technology is something to be embraced, but a good reality check that identifying, testing and then implementing new software is also difficult with ever-present client deadlines and busy teams.
Despite a consensus that it can be hard for larger firms to overcome risk and compliance concerns when testing new technology, every firm in the room was testing ChatGPT or the AI capabilities offered by Bing.
Understandably, accountants are wary following news stories about confidential corporate data being available to ChatGPT users and concerning research findings such as; 15% of employees regularly post company data into ChatGPT – and over a quarter of that data is considered sensitive information.
So, what were the main AI talking points and insights?
AI is expected to enhance rather than remove the need for accountants
As Ken Bastiaensen pointed out the first job in AI’s crosshairs was graphic designers but, while a different skillset is becoming the norm, the profession very much still exists. The room felt that accountancy was already evolving due in part to cloud-based software, however the change AI would bring was an acceleration. It also brought the need for accountancy firms to have an AI strategy into focus as the resulting changes would invariable affect everyone in the firm.
Don’t limit your usage of AI in accountancy to data analysis
Smart firms, who embrace AI in an appropriate risk managed way, can also use it to standardise elements from data analysis through to client experience. Training AI with a firm tone of voice or corporate style was seen as a real win if it freed up time for individuals and increased consistency.
AI especially will face resistance from Risk and Compliance departments
Most firms report Risk and Compliance teams as the source of barriers to introducing new technologies. Our attendees also acknowledged that it will take time to implement with any risks being correctly managed, but that taking too long risks competitive advantage.
AI and cloud are here to stay
Given this was an AI roundtable event, it isn’t that surprising that AI and understanding how it can modernise the accountancy sector was a common view with most testing it personally if not professionally yet. However, as speaker Sven Cornelius from Finplex BVBA pointed out, before AI the need to embrace cloud-based technologies is key. We all know the quality of AI is dependant on its data sources and providing them in volume, up-to-date and easily. Hence, it was clear to the attendees that a successful AI strategy was interwoven with a firm’s cloud-first approach.
Reassuringly, Sven shared that his firm has “been in the cloud since 2007 and I haven’t regretted it once.”
AI will change the prices clients want to pay
Many firms are already moving away from time and materials pricing, but the consensus in the room was clear that clients will expect AI to drive their fees down. Faced with this pressure on fees, focusing on outputs linked to fixed pricing seemed to be a wiser choice for firms eyeing healthy profit margins or growth.
Ken Bastiaensen’s summary that; “what used to take 30 to 40 minutes now takes two minutes, but not zero minutes” illustrates how great the efficiency gains are and the significant savings cloud and AI smart tech can offer innovative firms.
Short term, the greatest impact of AI on jobs will be felt by juniors
It was easy for our group of accountants to see the multitude of manual checking and data tasks that AI could and should take over. What was less clear was how this available time should be repurposed and what future issues this might create.
Everything still waits for deadlines, but AI could change that
The reality of accounting in the UK today is that accountants have utilisation targets and deadlines that trump everything else, including customer service. This combined with a feeling that the sector has been slower than some to embrace and utilise technological advances – sometimes relying on the protection of legislation to resist digitalisation and other building blocks – could make the AI adoption curve in accounting steeper but also more beneficial.
As a group with representatives from the accounting industry, software providers and sector specialists there was no resistance to using technology to create capacity with great efficiencies and tailored tools. Understanding the exponentially expanding range of AI tools available before testing, selecting and then safely introducing them is a daunting task but it’s a clear priority for all.
If you’d like to talk about the ways Silverfin can make the post-bookkeeping part of your accounting and tax services AI-ready, or the capabilities our Silverfin Assistant’s offer today, please email me.
