AI and the automation of accounting 

9

October

2024

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AI has changed the landscape in many work fields, such as in data, law, finance and even accounting. Recently I have taken an assistant-accounting job at a firm paired with my master studies. I have discovered a lot about AI and what it could do for accounting that I thought were not possible.  Having been there for 2 months, I have learned a lot about accounting itself, but also what AI did for me while I was at the job. According to an article by the open journal of business and management, accountants become more efficient in handling the bookkeeping and become more productive in their work due to the use of AI (peng et al, 2023). I found this to be true as well. 

The first week I began working the invoices in the bookkeeping system, I was very reliant on my own knowledge. I tried categorizing each invoice in a specific item for the ledger, which was confusing sometimes. Because there were a lot of different items and different kind of invoices. With the help of ai however, it showed me what type of invoice belongs to what items in the ledger.  For example, one particular invoice showed me a bill of the restaurant where a particular client of the accounting company was having dinner. At first, I was not sure where this type of cost could be booked in the ledger. I asked AI: “at which item does a restaurant bill belong to in a ledger?” The prompt I gave ChatGPT provided me with this answer:

I asked my employer, who is an RA (registered accountant) for verification is this was true, he confirmed that it was indeed true. From then on, I started using AI a lot more for bookkeeping. Especially for items I was unsure of. It helped me become more knowledgeable, but also helped me to become more efficient and productive. 

Even though there are a lot of benefits of using ai in accounting, there are also downsides. Each bookkeeping for a specific client is different. Tailoring to these clients cannot be done always done through AI. My employer explained to me that the accuracy of knowledge AI has on accounting and bookkeeping is broad, but that I should not always rely on it to keep the books. Because clients sometimes require specific wishes in what purpose their ledger serves and on what books costs are categorized. For example, some clients want to receive a larger tax return. Therefore, they would categorize some cost to a specific item in the ledger that are relevant for that outcome, and others use It to justify cost that they made for the past few months that could be lost in other items, due to inaccuracy of the AI. This type of variety is sometimes very confusing for the AI making some prompts not always accurate to what the client needs. As accepting is also a type of consulting and advisory to companies.

In my opinion, AI is beneficial for the future of financial bookkeeping, and it will probably change a lot of aspects in the financial field. I do however think that when it comes to personalized tailoring to clients with jobs such as consulting and advice, especially in the tax field. It is still of relevancy that accountants or financial advisors take responsibility in helping clients themselves to keep them satisfied and use AI to their benefit. Becoming more efficient and accurate themselves due to the clever use of it.

Peng, Y., Ahmad, S. F., Ahmad, A. Y. B., Al Shaikh, M. S., Daoud, M. K., & Alhamdi, F. M. H. (2023). Riding the waves of artificial intelligence in advancing accounting and its implications for sustainable development goals. Sustainability15(19), 14165

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Amazon, revolutionizing, disrupting and redefining the healthcare industry

20

September

2024

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Amazon, the household name for e-commerce companies, has recently considered to enter the industry of healthcare. Amazon’s resources, which includes data platforms spread all over the world have identified individuals’ patterns in shopping and web searching. This feature consisting of personal health may be able to recognize a health risk for the patient and help them to get the fastest medical help they need. From getting online appointments with a doctor through Alexa to ordering medicine based on your health data. Getting this scenario may not be only a dream but a reality. 

Not only could Amazon make an impact in healthcare, but it is also conceivable for them to disrupt it. Amazon could for instance change how prescriptions are made. For example, with the supply chain, the supply chain of Amazon could have a lot of options to deliver medicine or prescriptions to their customers, through delivery or even pick-ups at stores. This instead of patients having to come to the pharmacy itself to get their medicine. Not only that, but with voice assistants like Alexa. Doctors could use audio to fill in prescription orders instead of writing an administrating it on paper or computer. These data integration abilities streamline everything for patients, especially for members that have amazon prime. This way Amazon Prime could offer lower prices for medicine, because their membership with prime, can lower medical costs for consumers because of the Prime subscription (El Khatib, 2022).  While Amazon, may be a small player at first in healthcare. Their distribution strategies could be crucial into becoming a dominant contender in the industry of healthcare.

Furthermore, Amazon has a lot of potential due to having the ability to offer product recommendations that could be personalized. Recently, Amazon had integrated Whole foods into their ecosystem, which could enhance consumer data. Healthcare data combined with personalized data, could make Amazon capable of offering the right recommendations for patients for things like, medicine, food or advice that could treat patients better or living a better life. In addition, with the technological advancement of the algorithm’s amazon has, they will be capable of detecting certain patterns in purchases and the health of patients that are very sick or terminally ill. These algorithms could provide reports and care to help patients getting better health and curing illness (Provost & Murray, 2022).

Amazon possesses an array of many technologies. for instance, Alexa and Prime are the main fundamental aspects into shifting Amazon from the e-commerce industry to combining e-commerce and healthcare. Fast delivery services and assistants like Alexa, might make it feasible for consumers from rural or developing areas to obtain the right healthcare. Patients for instance that live in places far away from the city may be able to use amazon to arrange appointments or order medicine. Furthermore, echo, another important feature of Amazon, has the possibility to streamline communication between consumers and hospitals. Another example of features amazon has is patients being able to use notifications to take medicine, this could strengthen the care for patients and lower costs of medical costs (Cutler, 2007), because there will not be a break in consistency due to possible forgetfulness.  All these innovations could not only help the patients better but also create a strong loyalty of the brand for Amazon. When all said and done, it raises the question. Is Amazon going to disrupt the healthcare industry, is it going to survive against the competitors and will Amazon be able to provide healthcare for those in need?

Cutler, D. M. (2007). The lifetime costs and benefits of medical technology. Journal of health economics26(6), 1081-1100.

El Khatib, M., Hamidi, S., Al Ameeri, I., Al Zaabi, H., & Al Marqab, R. (2022). Digital disruption and big data in healthcare-opportunities and challenges. ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research, 563-574.

Provost, L. P., & Murray, S. K. (2022). The health care data guide: learning from data for improvement. John Wiley & Sons.

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