How AI, Big Data, OCR and Cloud Bring Accounting to The Next Level

The Importance Of Automation In Accounting

Accounting is moving away from spreadsheets and paper-based procedures and technology is helping it along. One of the most important advancements in the field of accounting is the introduction of automation.

Accounting professionals have always been on the lookout for ways to improve their efficiency and save time. Manual processes are time-consuming and error-prone. By using automation, accounting firms can save time, reduce costs, improve accuracy and increase productivity.

This helps you cut down on labor costs associated with manual processes like data entry or record keeping. In addition, it eliminates mistakes that are common with manual processes because there is no room for human error when everything is automated.

Automation as an answer to the accounting industry's talent shortage

Application numbers in the accountancy sector have reached concerningly low levels, ICAEW Insights states. Statistics show a 33% decline in candidates between May 2022 and June 2022, and a 36% drop in the number of applicants year on year between June 2021 and June 2022. 

Between high levels of burnout, tedious tasks, long hours and relentless busy seasons, life as an accounting professional in the United Kingdom is not for the faint at heart. This is where automation comes in handy.

While digitization and automated accounting solutions for AP and AR can’t completely solve the shortage of accountants, they do relieve some of the stress on those who work in accounting. They also free up employees from mundane tasks so they can focus on higher value activities such as analyzing data or communicating with clients instead of spending hours entering data into spreadsheets manually.

Cloud accounting makes the job easier

Cloud accounting makes the job easier for CPAs. They can access all their client information in one place — eliminating the need to access multiple systems and applications.

Cloud accounting also allows CPAs to do more than just enter data into spreadsheets or keep track of invoices. They can automate many processes that used to be manual, saving hours of time that could be better spent on other tasks.

Last but not least, Cloud accounting gives CPAs more control over their own business operations. For example, cloud accounting allows CPAs to set up automated invoicing routines that will charge clients whenever they want without having to worry about double-invoicing clients accidentally or being late on payments from clients who are slow to pay their invoices.

OCR helps with data entry, processing and retaining documents

Data entry is one of the most common tasks in accounting. It involves transcribing information from one format to another, often manually typing numbers into spreadsheets or databases. It's tedious work that takes away time from other tasks such as analysing data or communicating with clients.

That's where machine learning comes in. Machine learning algorithms can be trained to recognise patterns in documents so they can carry out tasks like scanning forms for specific keywords or numbers automatically without human intervention. This technology is called Optical Character Recognition (OCR).

OCR uses algorithms to analyze images of text and convert them into machine-readable format. It works well for documents with standard fonts and formats like invoices or receipts, making it an efficient way of automating the process of data entry.

It's already being used by companies like Google for document scanning, but it's not yet available for small business owners or accountants due to its high cost until recently when cloud accounting solutions started offering OCR as a service.

AI keeps your books accurate

Accountants are responsible for keeping records of financial transactions across multiple companies, which means they're constantly entering data into complex spreadsheets or databases.

AI helps accountants make faster, more accurate decisions based on real-time data from multiple sources including financial statements, tax returns, bank accounts and e-commerce transactions. This ensures that every transaction is matched with an invoice or purchase order number so there’s never any chance of duplicate entries or inaccurate balances in your books and financial statements.

Manual accounting tasks such as reconciling bank statements, entering transactions into the ledger and generating financial statements can be automated with the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. This helps businesses save time on repetitive tasks and focus on core areas of their business like sales or marketing which will increase their revenue streams in the long run.

Big Data helps accountants make predictions

One way that these technologies are helping accountants is by analyzing large amounts of data so they can make better predictions about what will happen in the future.

For example, let's say that one of your clients owns a restaurant chain and wants to know how much money they're going to make during their busy season. You can analyze their financial history and run projections based on past performance, but that could take days or weeks — time that you don't have when you're dealing with a business that relies on cash flow for survival. With Big Data, though, you can predict the future based on historical trends within minutes or hours instead of days or weeks.

Big Data also helps accountants uncover patterns in their clients' finances so they can spot potential issues before they become problems. For example, if one client has been making more than usual purchases over the past few months, an accountant might be able to tell if there's something wrong with their accounts receivable department before they start missing payments altogether (which would cause serious problems for both parties).