Will Accounting Automation be Enough to Replace Accountants?

History shows that jobs are becoming obsolete with technological advancements. Artificial intelligence (AI) rolling in the financial landscape is alarming accountants as they have a 95% probability of being replaced by bots. Accountant’s core responsibilities, such as billings, bookkeeping, tax returns, and reconciliations, are slowly being automated. What’s left is the job of feeding data to AI-powered software —A task that anyone can perform with a lower overhead cost. However, a separate research by the Brookings Institution has an optimistic view regarding accounting jobs. It predicted that jobs with repetitive tasks might become obsolete, but those that demand a high level of education, like accountants, are safe. So, will accounting automation reduce the demand for accountants? Let’s dive deeper into the blog to explore more!

1 Will Automation Replace Accountants?

Accountants spent much time on minor tasks like data entry, compromising tasks that required their attention. Sophisticated technologies, like artificial intelligence, took over those, but accountants were still needed to perform tasks. Thus, automation will help accountants but will not replace them totally. Accounting automation allows professionals to focus on high-impact tasks. AI will actually create more value for accounting professionals by making their basic tasks faster and more efficient. 

What Does Automating Accounting Operations Mean for Businesses?

Increased Efficiency and Accuracy

The accounting department has repetitive tasks that are susceptible to human errors. This is true, especially when an accountant enters data all day. Often, an item is duplicated, placed wrongly in a spreadsheet, or a keystroke is missed.

Visualise spending an hour daily to verify the numbers rather than the usual four hours spent on the same task without technology. Automating all the tasks using artificial intelligence will reduce the time required to finish them. As a result, accounting professionals can focus on strategic and creative tasks requiring more attention and time. For example, RecordMe’s expense management solution allows accountants to retrieve data from receipts and invoices. Its management process makes it stand out because it reduces processing time and bookkeeping costs, ensuring that accountants can focus towards meeting other business challenges. 

More, Happier Clients

Improved accuracy and efficiency are what every accounting business is struggling for as they lead to more and happier customers. As time-consuming accounting tasks are automated, professionals can focus on strategic initiatives. Furthermore, they can respond quickly to client requests, addressing concerns like expenditure and income patterns suggestions for future actions and trends. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that technological advancements will show 7% growth to auditors and accountants between 2020 and 2030.

Streamlined Tax Operations

Tax season is quite burdensome for accounting professionals as they have piles of transactions, receipts, forms, and spreadsheets to categorise for preparing taxes. Leveraging AI can help streamline tax-related tasks, eliminating data entry and performing reconciliation in real-time. Artificial intelligence will ensure that numbers are compiled accurately and that they are optimised for tax purposes. 

Suggested Read: The Future of Bookkeeping: Accounting Automation and AI Approach

Accounting Tasks to Automate Immediately

1. Payroll

One of the critical functions of the finance team is managing payrolls and payouts that require greater attention to detail. Payroll professionals review an individual’s tax records to create accurate reports. Automating the payroll tasks can save accountants time and effort. Moreover, it ensures accurate payroll reports, reducing disputes and enhancing employee satisfaction. When it comes to dealing with hourly freelancers or fixed-pay employees, automated bookkeeping solutions facilitate depositing funds into employees’ accounts directly, calculating pay, syncing with time-tracking software, handling payroll taxes, and generating filings automatically.

2. Purchase Management

Companies have to deal with volumes of paperwork, from buying goods to contacts. Automation in the purchase management functions ensures that no item is misplaced and that all the required paperwork is done correctly. AI helps purchase management successfully automate low-value, repetitive processes. Thus, companies can reduce the procure-to-pay cycle, save accountants’ expenses, and eliminate human errors by automating their purchasing process.

3. Finance Management

Monthly or yearly financial close is a labour-intensive and stressful period for accounting and bookkeeping businesses as tasks pile up because everyone races to compose the open accounts. A few of the common challenges faced during this period include:

• Error detection, authentication, and correction
• Maintaining regulatory  compliance with tax deductions
• extracting missing receipts and invoices lost whilst transferring data from one system to the other
• Detecting anonymous payments

However, all these processes can be automated by leveraging artificial intelligence technology.

Suggested Read: From Innovation to Impact: Unveiling the Future of E-Invoicing with RecordMe

4. Expense Management

Collecting payment receipts from co-workers is a challenging task to do as, in many cases, they either have lost them or have incomplete ones. However, the automation software makes the expense management task easier by quickly collecting, transferring and monitoring payments. Corporate credit cards are added to the accounting software to gather receipts and charges automatically. Employees have to scan receipts and upload them on the portal; the accounting software does the rest. 

5. Accounts Payable (AP) and Accounts Receivable (AR)

AP and AR are integral to a business as they may affect its cash flow. Mismanaged accounts payable result in higher costs for the company and result in a bad market reputation. Contrary to this, firms that fail to manage their accounts receivable are at a higher risk of not getting paid on time, causing working capital challenges. Thus, all AP and AR tasks can be automated using AI-powered accounting software and reduce the load on the finance team significantly.

6. Cash Visibility and Forecasting

Accountants can access the company’s confidential data and help shape the firm’s strategic decisions. Thus, their ability to gather and present information to the leadership teams is essential. Businesses must consider cash visibility whilst making investment decisions. The teams must leverage modern accounting solutions to predict cash flows, create trend reports, and track critical metrics quickly. The accounting automation process rapidly compiles data from several sources, helping accountants prepare well-rounded reports.

How to Switch from Manual to Automated Accounting Solutions?

Shifting from manual to automated accounting is a need of the hour in this age of widespread digitisation. Here are the top tips for implementing accounting automation solutions successfully:

1. Analyse your firm’s current accounting process and pinpoint areas for improvement.
2. Invest in budget-friendly accounting automation software that meets your business’s specific needs.
3. Choose an accounting service that offers customised invoice templates, integrates well with banks, etc.
4. Give your team proper training on how the software works.
5. Schedule a transition time and notify all team members affected by the change, notably the CFO, accountants, and the finance department.

What Does RecordMe Bring to the Table?

RecordMe, an AI-powered financial bot, has a team of fintech experts who collaborate with firms to understand their unique requirements and offer customised accounting and bookkeeping solutions. We offer robust accounting automation covering every aspect of finance-related tasks, from payroll management to invoice processing and data reconciliation.

Here’s what makes our digital accounting solutions stand out:

• Pocket-friendly
• Immediate processing
• 99.99% accuracy rate
• Integrates with your accounting software in minutes and automates tasks in seconds