iscover Accountants ‘don’t want to be left behind’ in the age of AI
TechnologyAccounting professionals who aren’t already immersed in the use of AI are “a bit of an outlier,” according to one professional.
Recently, on an episode of Under The Hood, Michael DePrisco, president and chief executive of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), discussed how accounting and finance professions can begin adopting AI.
In that episode, he noted the importance of data quality and governance, the ever-changing landscape for accountants, and why curiosity, experimentation, and constant learning will be crucial over the next year.
DePrisco, who is based in Philadelphia, commenced his career in the education landscape before becoming the president and chief executive of IMA in 2023, where he is advancing IMA’s mission to provide education, certifications, research, advocacy, and community engagement that equip professionals to drive value for their organisations and their careers.
As with any profession at the moment, the conversation about AI is prominent. Especially in accounting, concerns are heavily focused on job replacement, with potential privacy breaches as major talking points.
“There hasn’t been a conversation in the last two years where AI has not been one of the main topics of interest,” DePrisco said.
“I still think it's early days for AI in adoption, and really seeing the benefits. Organisations are now leaning into the technology in a meaningful way.”
Whilst it is almost abnormal not to implement AI in some capacity, be it in studying or in the workplace, this was not the case a few years ago.
“Two years ago, based on data, about 30-40 per cent of organisations were preparing to implement AI; that has changed tremendously,” DePrisco added.
“Now you are a bit of an outlier if you are not doing something in the area of AI.”
DePrisco indicated that one of the greatest powers of generative AI is the ability to present complex information in user-friendly ways.
This brings great advantages, such as time efficiency – allowing workers to focus on other tasks that AI may not be able to perform yet – and it also shows how AI can simplify even the most sophisticated tasks into a more manageable matter, catering to everyone with different skill sets.
For accounting, this can mean simplifying financial statements or breaking down tax instructions more clearly and concisely.
In terms of workers, DePrisco said that a number of organisations are using language models to help automate tasks such as contract review and summarising policy documents; it’s cutting out hundreds of hours of manual work, freeing up individuals to spend much more time on more strategic activities.
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