In a word? No! But there are some interesting things of note.
I recently came back from the QuickBooks Connect 2024 conference in Las Vegas. I was really interested in the advancements in accounting AI technology since I was last there about four or five years ago.
When I was last there, there were a few booths showcasing what they are up to in AI. I wanted to see what technology I could implement to help streamline and improve my own accounting practice and help our clients get better, faster and more efficient. After meeting at the show and follow up conversations with the CEO’s, I learned there was a lot of smoke and mirrors. People claiming to use AI to handle the bookkeeping, but really it was a smokescreen where the bookkeeping was done by an army of people oversees with an AI looking interface. Not impressed.
So, what’s changed?
Well, there are still booths claiming to use AI to handle your books. One booth claimed, “Month end reduced from 2 weeks to an hour”. Bold claim indeed.
It took me less than three questions to eviscerate their AI claims. Here they are:
Question #1: How does your AI handle Job costing?
Answer #1 We don’t have a job costing module for our AI yet.
What that means to you? It doesn’t handle what is one of your MOST IMPORTANT elements of your books. So, no AI benefit here.
Question #2: How does the AI know how to post when a supplier is used for lots of different line items.
Answer: Our AI looks at the history and makes a determination on where to post it.
What that means to you? The AI won’t work on suppliers that get allocated to more than one place. It ONLY works for suppliers dedicated to one line item on your financials. Which, by the way, can be handled with rules in QBO. So, no AI benefit here.
Question #3: If the AI is using the history and the history of the bookkeeping for that client has been bad, won’t the AI simply pick up the bad habits?
Answer #3: Umm…. Stall stall stall. Word salad.
What that meads to you? Unless your books are already spotless, AI will not help you clean things up. No AI help here.
The short story is I walked away just as surprised at the lack of progress as I did five years ago at the same conference. Don’t get me wrong. AI will completely change the accounting function. There is some things to consider (CAREFULLY) in using AI for data analysis and exception reporting. But it’s not ready for the big time just yet.
The was some upside of the trip. I won $600 playing poker. It didn’t pay for the admission fee, but I had fun and I will take the wins where I can get them!
Curious about AI and your business. I’m happy to chat!