Technology nowadays feels almost untouchable, possessing unbound potential as though we're all just waiting for that single breakthrough that would allow it to finally break the threshold and shed some light on the world's hardest problems. Still, the future remains to be seen with certainty, but with how fast technology is advancing, it appears we won't have to wait centuries to achieve significant progress. Now, we must remain content with the convenience technology brings to human life from enhancing day-to-day activities in the household to the workplace.
The greatest minds have allowed technology to find its place in the modern workplace, and we shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking that current industry leaders would not take full advantage of technological advancements to leverage their businesses and improve their workforces. In fact, businesses and workforces nowadays are heavily relying on modern technology to operate especially during the new normal.
You may have heard the word "ChatGPT" for a while now. It has proven to be quite a buzzword, and some would even argue that it's revolutionizing the state of artificial intelligence (AI). If you're not familiar with the term, ChatGPT is an AI developed by OpenAI that allows users to strike human-like conversations using its massive database of over a billion words collected from books, articles, and websites as recent as 2021.
What's making the internet and everyone go crazy about this software is its potential in our society. Being able to understand and generate natural language, one would think that its sole purpose is to be used by scholars, students, and academic institutions. But this AI has proven to be quite a gem in other industries as well, even accounting and finance.
In this article, we're going to shed some light on the implication of ChatGPT in accounting and finance, as well as how it can be used by accountants to make their jobs a lot easier.
Easy invoicing and expenses
Bookkeeping is one of the most basic tasks of an accountant, and you’re going to have to do it religiously to keep tax penalties at bay, bankruptcy, or even worse, permanent closure of your company. Managing invoices can be a pain especially if you're doing it manually. Like many smart accounting tools, ChatGPT can easily assist you in creating invoices and organizing your expenses.
No need to worry about underpaying your vendors or making a minor mistake when you’re balancing the books, ChatGPT can collect raw invoice data such as invoice number, amount, and due date, as well as help you with expense tracking. Just make sure that your prompts are clear so you get the most accurate results possible.
Automate data analysis
Accountants face large volumes of financial data every single day, and it’s not always going to be fun and exciting. Accounting tasks such as data entry can be repetitive and tedious, and you could only wish you had an efficient way to automate all that data and get your desired results instantly. That’s where ChatGPT comes into play.
After letting ChatGPT extract relevant data from your invoices, you can then use its built-in reading assistant Lumi, which can analyze PDF content and summarize information within minutes, to automate data analysis. Whether you’re trying to catch up to an important tax deadline or just want to reduce business costs, ChatGPT can come in handy in unexpected crises.
Create financial reports
No accountant would want to spend half a day in front of their computers doing balance sheets only to find out that their assets and liabilities aren’t matching. Unless you’re some sort of math wizard who finds joy in tracking down balance sheet errors, an AI like ChatGPT can save you a lot of time and resources, allowing you to focus on more important tasks and core areas in your business.
Thanks to its advanced algorithms, the software can help you identify errors in your reports, improving your quality of work to accurately reflect your company’s financial situation. Not only that but because ChatGPT is a language processing model, its generated text is clear and direct to the point, so you won’t ever have to worry about crunching in extra time to create a write-up.
Navigate through financial markets
Another handy thing you can do with ChatGPT is identifying market trends that can be utmost crucial to the success of your business. As a business owner, you must stay informed about the most recent trends or developments in your market industry, and what better way to be up to date than having ChatGPT by your side?
With the massive information pool the AI can draw its sources from, ChatGPT can easily give you valuable insights into current industry trends, and how they can impact your business. This lets you and your team strategize better, allowing you to make well-informed decisions.
Will ChatGPT replace accountants?
The debate on whether ChatGPT can replace accountants stems from the classic tale of machines and AI being able to go beyond their programming and take over the workplace. The answer is a hard no. An AI cannot replace the human touch. Sure, it can cut the time you’ll need to accomplish menial tasks, but in an ever-so demanding, meticulous, and detail-oriented profession such as accounting and finance, it would still need an accountant to properly prompt it, as well as verify formulas, technical terms, and specific information.
ChatGPT isn’t the only option for your accounting needs
It's still early to say whether ChatGPT can have a massive impact on accounting and finance. Being fairly new and still prone to errors, business owners and accountants don't really have the time and luxury to solely depend on the software when there are many smart accounting tools primarily developed for accounting functions and offshore accounting providers like UpStaff Remote.
UpStaff Remote is one of the leading offshore partners for when you need quick and efficient staffing of accounting professionals based in the Philippines. Whether you require an alternative staffing setup or just looking for a capable in-house accounting team to work on your taxes in the Philippines, we've got you covered. Shoot us a message at info@upstaffremote.com to get started.