In the future for accounting, repetitive work like data entry increasingly becomes automated, propelling accountants into strategic advisor roles. Beyond number crunching, accountants will rely more on soft skills paired with data analysis, financial expertise and commercial acumen to guide their practices and clients.
However, an accountant who can leverage AI to uncover trends and evaluate the business environment holistically is more likely to achieve this and respond to changes quickly and proactively.
Here’s how AI for accountants changes your role and why that’s a good thing for your career.
Will AI Replace Accountants?
Whether artificial intelligence will replace accountants is a common question, and the answer is straightforward. AI will transform how accountants work rather than replace them.
Instead of number-crunching, AI will spearhead the future of accountants, moving them towards more business advisory roles and leveraging traits that set us apart from machines.
Creativity and Strategic Insight: While AI excels at processing vast amounts of data with incredible speed and accuracy, it lacks the human capacity for creative thinking and strategic planning. Accountants bring a unique blend of imagination and experience that is critical when interpreting financial data and making complex business recommendations. Instead of competing with AI, accounting professionals can use it as a tool to enhance their services and deliver greater value to clients.
Personal Relationships: The relationships accountants forge with their clients go beyond numbers. It involves understanding client needs, demonstrating empathy, and providing personalised advice during critical financial decisions. These interactions are deeply human and fundamental to the profession, ensuring that, despite technological advancements, the role of the accountant as a trusted advisor remains secure.
Read More: The AI Advantage: Why AI and Accountancy Goes Hand in Hand
The Future of Accountants: How You Can Leverage AI
AI has incredible potential to make you better at your job and eliminate hours of manual, repetitive tasks. Here are some of the ways AI for accountants is changing how you work and how your firm can make the most of machine learning.
Automating Time-Consuming Tasks
Compliance work and data entry are some of the essential yet time-consuming tasks for accountants. Finding inconsistencies in nominal accounts or posting dates takes ages and is easily missed by the human eye.
Everyone has a bad day sometimes, and when you’re up against tight deadlines and juggling multiple client files, it’s easy to make a mistake. With AI tools like Silverfin Assistant, you can automate those tasks, enhancing efficiency, reducing errors and reclaiming time for analysis, strategy, and client conversations.
“AI should replace processes, not people,” explains Russell Frayne, Director of Transformation at Gravita. “If you automate the processes that you spend ages doing manually, you’ll free up time to have more interactions with your clients and take up more of an advisory role.
With the grunt work out of the way, you can ensure that your skills are used where they have the most impact.
Rosie Cooper, Director at PM+M, reports substantial time savings from using Silverfin Assistant for VAT compliance and management account reports, noting, “Budgets have been halved on the majority of stuff. I do expect that it will just get quicker and quicker, especially with tools like Silverfin Assistant, which further reduces those review points.“
Read more: Technology Used in Accounting Firms: 5 Ways AI is Transforming the Industry
Ensuring Accuracy and Compliance
Accuracy is a non-negotiable in the accounting field. AI can help you swiftly spot discrepancies in large datasets that may lead to compliance issues and suggest solutions, helping you remain proactive and fix errors before they become a big problem.
By incorporating AI-driven compliance checks into accounting workflows, you can mitigate the risk of human error and improve the dependability of financial reporting.
A compelling example of AI’s efficacy comes from Erik Van Looy, a partner at Van Looy Accountants. He recounts an incident where AI detected an anomaly in an annual statement concerning a company car.
“We recently had an item in an annual statement of around 12,000 euros for a company car. The year before, a similar figure was in the accounts. That seems logical, so we didn’t immediately question it,” explains Van Looy.
However, Silverfin Assistant signalled something was wrong.
The previous year’s figure pertained to leasing fees, whereas the current year’s similar sum represented the purchase of a used car—a detail that should be included in the fixed asset and not a cost.
“I wouldn’t have spotted something like that, and certainly not with the same speed as AI,” Van Looy admits.
Read More: Accounting Machine Learning: 7 Steps to Understanding & Managing AI
Proactive Accounting and Advisory Services
The modern customer expects personalisation, whether it’s via recommendations from online shopping or custom onboarding experiences.
Your firm’s clients are no different.
However, trying to create a personalised experience is taxing on resources unless you’re using AI. The machine learning algorithms can do the heavy lifting for you by automatically harvesting your client’s big data, enabling you to offer a personalised service.
This proactive approach allows you to strengthen your client relationships while boosting retention and satisfaction, as you can find anomalies to detect fraud or compliance issues early and identify opportunities for your clients.
During a recent AI webinar, Russell Frayne, Director of Transformation at Gravita, envisioned a future where accountants move beyond traditional roles to become trusted business advisors, delivering value through timely and accurate data.
“There’s too much still too much focus on month end, quarter end, year end compliance, and we run into that constantly. If we gave all this time back to our advisers, the question is, what would they do with that? And, the answer is always better service for clients. So, for me, AI doesn’t replace accountants. It replaces the processes that they shouldn’t want to do.”
With AI tools like Silverfin Assistant that integrate directly into daily workflows, accounting firms are not only saving time but also unlocking the potential to enhance their services continuously.
AI predictive analytics can foresee financial trends and help you make informed predictions that are crucial for effective decision-making. This evolution in data handling transforms accountants into strategic advisors who use real-time data to influence their firm’s and clients’ trajectories towards growth and profitability.
AI for Accountants Provides Always-On Training
AI can streamline the training process for junior staff by providing a custom learning experience based on your firm’s best practices.
For example, Silverfin Assistant provides always-on training when analysing client files. The tool will make suggestions that present onboarding or new junior team members with clear and detailed explanations of the checks.
These insights can supercharge the upskilling of inexperienced staff and their performance, bridging knowledge gaps, boosting confidence and reducing the reliance on senior team members.
With AI handling the regular aspects of training, senior staff can spend more time on strategic planning or client management.
Read More: How to Standardise Best Practices with Software for Accounting Firms
AI for Accountants: The Strategic Advantage for Modern Firms
By harnessing AI tools like Silverfin, firms are not just automating mundane tasks; they’re gaining strategic insights that propel business growth and client satisfaction.
As Mark Thurston, Director at Gascoynes, highlights: “Whether you’re a firm looking to grow, acquire, or just provide high-quality customer service efficiently, Silverfin is a great choice. Cloud access to live client data anytime and from anywhere is fantastic, and combined with standardised templates, automation, and insights, we now have happier staff and clients.”
AI isn’t here to replace you, but it’s a gift that allows you to always be present and build strong relationships.
Book your demo with Silverfin today and see how AI for accountants can transform your workflows.
