AI Application in Small CPA Firms

AI Application in Small CPA Firms Students Name Institutional Affiliation ABSTRACT Artificial intelligence has been hailed as an integral part of what has been called the “The Fourth Industrial Revolution.” It has continuously replaced jobs in the service sector with computers. It is on the cusp of revolutionizing the finance and accounting sector.it is a trend of the future in accounting and finance firms. This research proposal is going to look at how artificial intelligence has impacted accounting and finance. Its main focus will be how the big four audit firms have utilized artificial intelligence to improve their efficiency. It will look at the tools used by the audit firms and the areas of future development. It will also explore on how AI can further be utilized by the big four and other firms in the accounting and finance sectors to greatly improve and save time as well as resources. Managers will be able to know the implications of incorporating artificial intelligence in their firms, (Kokina, 2017). INTRODUCTION Background Most people’s understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) is a future whereby most of the world’s important jobs will be taken over by robots. Jobs across all the sectors like medicine, law, engineering, accounting and finance will be done by machines in a machine-intensive world signaling the end of a vast majority of jobs as known today. Many organizations however, don’t really understand the true meaning of artificial intelligence and how they can tap into this development to ensure enormous benefits for them. The misconception that artificial intelligence will take over all the jobs is not true as it can be used to empower existing professionals instead of removing them from their jobs. This is especially true for specialist professionals, (Mehr, 2017). The accounting and finance field is one of the sectors that will be greatly affected by AI. There is indeed fear in some accountants that by around 2025 there services will be rendered redundant as artificial intelligence will be able to perform the tasks they are paid to do. Furthermore, artificial intelligence will bring automation to the accounting sector the accountants who will be still under employment will be forced to adapt to their evolved roles in order to keep in pace with the changes in the workplace. Artificial intelligence should be welcomed as it will significantly reduce errors, save time as well as aid in compliance with the rules and regulation governing the profession, (Omoteso, 2012). Ai will also impact the finances of audit firms as it will greatly reduce its workforce. This will lead to the shrinking of the organizations’ payroll and hence save them money which would have been used in hiring new accountants. A top executive in EY, one of the big four audit firms, estimates that by 2020 that graduate recruitment will reduce by half due to the adoption of artificial intelligence in audit firms. This will have a negative impact on employment as accounting and audit firms are among the biggest recruiters of graduates in the world. These graduates will be forced to look for other industries to start their careers. Technology will replace their jobs. Artificial intelligence and automation will reduce the number of emp...