As the accounting industry has evolved over time, many innovations and advances in technology have been made in order to make bookkeeping and tax preparation more efficient. Whether it was the inception of the adding machine, P.C. computers, laptops, calculators, or accounting software, all of these inventions became useful tools that assisted every tax practitioner. With artificial intelligence becoming more mainstream across almost all industries, some tax professionals are wondering if this tool will be useful, or if it could potentially be damaging.
Pros
John Dundon is the president of Taxpayer Advocacy Services in Englewood, Colorado. He believes that the implantation of AI can save tax professionals a lot of time. “Many manual tasks will be automated, including securing signatures, archiving documents, and inputting form data,” said Dundon. “Also, distilling the Tax Code down to basic terms for general understanding is expected to be more thoroughly automated.”
Manasa Nadig is an enrolled agent and owner at MN Tax and Business Services. Nadig says in a statement that they use artificial intelligence for many different things when running their business. “I’ve been looking at AI as a tool for my practice for tasks outside of tax preparation and planning,” said Nadig. “AI can assist tax professionals with research and workflow. To some extent, AI may be a good tool for those who DIY their ‘simple’ returns. I’m not sure yet if AI can take over human knowledge and experience as far as tax advisory goes.”
Cons
While some tax professionals are definitely excited to integrate artificial intelligence to make their practice more efficient, there are still some tax professionals that believe that the technology is not quite there yet. “I’ve seen articles about AI, and some of it is pretty scary,” said Mary Kay Foss, a CPA in Walnut Creek, California. “You may have seen articles indicating that AI [couldn’t] pass the CPA exam and that teachers are afraid that all future assigned essays will be written by AI.”
Another concern of Foss is that AI only searches the internet for answers, and doesn’t look into the Internal Revenue Code. “I’ve seen some misleading tax articles posted on the web myself, things that start with a little kernel of truth or a provocative question and then don’t really go anywhere,” Foss said. Something else that Foss brings up is how artificial intelligence can put a “bad name” on the accounting industry. “People tend to be lazy and try to get a bargain on goods and services. I can definitely see a quick and dirty tax prep service based on AI rather than studying tax law,” Foss said. “Could this mean that the old pro-tax prep folks will become experts in trying to explain to DIYers why their AI-prepared return isn’t just aggressive, it’s wrong? I’m afraid that AI may tend to give tax preparation a bad name,” she said, “and lower the public perception of what we do.”
Wrap Up
As of now, it is relatively unknown if AI will take off in the accounting industry and become one of the most used things in the toolbox of accounting professionals. However, we have seen some professionals begin to use artificial intelligence to automate some processes and ultimately save them time. When working with AI, it is important to take things slow and get familiar with the software and how it can be of assistance. The more tax pros gain familiarity with AI, the better they can understand how to integrate it to assist them and their clients.