The Possibility Of Artificial Intelligence To Replace Accountants In The Future
Accounting is a process of recording and analyzing data collected from business transactions. After the analysis, managerial accountants draw conclusions aid managers within the company to make decisions about how to operate the business; financial accountants, assist investors and creditors to access the company’s financial performance and to evaluate its financial health and risks; auditors evaluate whether the company’s financial statements represent the company’s financial position accurately and in compliance with various regulatory standards. In other words, data analytics is a tool for accountants and auditors to interpret numbers to the performance of the company’s business activities.
Accountants and auditors are people who analyze the data collected in accounting. Advanced technology like artificial intelligence (AI) can improve data analyzing process “faster, and potentially more accurately, than a human ever could”, especially in carrying out repetitive tasks in auditing. Instead of just testing some samples by human, AI can test the complete set of data and finish the job timely. Besides, there is less chance that an AI system makes a mistake as long as there is no system defect. Therefore, there might be some job loss due to repetitive, simplistic tasks becoming automated. According to Accounting Web, bank reconciliation, accounts payable and expense management will “soon be completed by computers”.
However, AI does save accountants and auditors a lot of time and free them up to focus on more complicated work than just looking through documents. It just pushes them toward performing more interesting and valuable work. With all these advantages, businesses need to consider how to adopt AI in their accounting and auditing process by whether building their own departments or contracting with specialized technology companies. Big companies may afford to build their own technology departments for accounting and auditing, while smaller companies may have to outsource to specialized accounting or auditing firms with needed technology. This allows accountants and accounting firms to differentiate themselves and corner areas of the market by specializing in different areas. They can develop new skills, new ways of thinking, and better understanding of their clients. Hence, they can generate new types of insights for their clients to facilitate ways of improving performance and productivity. It is foreseeable that the standards of accounting and auditing will become more precise in the future, creating more jobs. In general, the capabilities and efficiencies of accountants will improve greatly with robotic data analytics. Accountants can expand the data resources used in risk forecasting to identify risks for fraud detection and predict the risk of longer-term investment opportunities in new markets and products. They are also able to offer more specialized decision-making support in real time.
As a future accountant, I am not worried that there will be less accounting job opportunity. In contrast, I believe there will be more work for us to do, though we might have to acquire more skills such as fundamental data processing and storytelling skills to utilize advanced technology. “To prepare for the oncoming wave of AI, Raphael suggested that interested CPAs gain database and IT skills by taking on specialized projects in their workplace, attending seminars, completing self-directed learning, or taking classes”.
