AI and your accountant: Why human expertise still matters more than ever

So, with much talk about how AI might overwhelm and override functions in many sectors, one would think that accountants might be wary too and may shy away from such technology.

Not a bit of of it. Accountants have embraced waves of automation over many years to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their work on behalf of their clients. But such technology has never been able to replace the need for their expert knowledge and experience. So firms will quite naturally embrace many aspects of AI.

Reassuringly, previous generations of 'intelligent' technology and systems have generally demonstrated the continuing importance of the power of human expertise and the limits of machines.

So all is most definitely not lost. While AI systems might speed up human efforts and in many instances now, or in time provide accurate outputs for particular tasks, for example to analyse historical data and generate accurate financial forecasts for better planning, they do not replicate human intelligence. After all, accountants use both intuition and reasoning in their planning and advisory services to enable prudent yet proactive decision-making by their clients. So even as AI technology advances, this bodes well for a stronger accountant:client relationship, as together you'll explore the most apposite AI tools that fit your business model and goals.

Accountants can advise their clients to best use AI by identifying the repetitive, data heavy tasks within their business operations and deploying AI tools to automate those processes. This might well include budgeting and compliance checks to identify potential issues and ensure regulatory adherence, freeing up time for the accountancy firm to provide more strategic, high-level analysis and valuable insights into their financial data for more informed decision-making.

So, AI can open up many opportunities for a firm's clients, augmenting human decision making not replacing it.

Importantly, human oversight is crucial to ensure the client installs proper data security and, that which is most certainly in-keeping with the GSM ethos, instil ethical implementation of AI technology throughout the business.

By effectively advising clients on how to leverage AI, accountants can position themselves as valuable strategic partners, helping businesses make informed decisions and improve their financial performance.

So the benefits of partnering with a firm, like GSM, which has seen so many advances come along to then be superceded by the next technological innovation, yet has kept pace with them all in over a century of accountancy practice, is invaluable. For a no obligation meeting contact GSM on 020 7935 3793