Accounting Industry Gears Up for AI

Artificial Intelligence, ,

Artificial intelligence isn’t exactly a new trend – people have been dreaming about robots and automated labor since ancient times, and the phrase “AI” was actually coined as far back as 1956, at a conference at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

In practical terms, too, artificial intelligence has been part of our world for more than a decade, since IBMs Watson computer competed on TV’s Jeopardy! program (and defeated two ex-champions) in 2011. Since then, machine learning has come to play a role in virtually every area of modern life, from shopping to entertainment to investing and more.

By nature, however, the accounting sector is a conservative one, and accounting firms have been slow to adopt developments that rely on AI.

That trend appears to be changing. Patrick Morrell, Chief Revenue Officer at accounting software startup Anduin, says the emergence of practical AI solutions and the economic challenges of the coronavirus pandemic have forced the industry to rethink its relationship with machine learning.

“Firm leaders still may be saying: ‘But I have partners and clients married to their pen and paper. How do I bridge the gap between the old way and the new?’

“The most effective way to build AI expertise among your workforce and create a sustainable firm of the future is to focus on AI solutions that are tailored to the accounting industry and employ “mutual learning” to solve problems and support your staff,” Morrell writes in Accounting Today.

Morrell says the industry’s use of AI is actually better described as “mutual learning,” a combination of algorithm-generated information which is then reviewed and implemented (or rejected) by human analysts.

“In systems built with mutual learning, AI tools can recommend data-driven actions in response to specific problems, and then humans can either approve those moves or edit and course-correct those actions as necessary. In either case, humans learn how data can shape decision-making. The AI itself then learns from those approvals or course-corrections, applying the human input to improve the AI’s models and algorithms. This, in turn, allows the AI to make better-informed recommendations in the future that will ideally require less human input—over time, the tool and the human continually increase their individual knowledge and collaborative effectiveness, creating ongoing and compounding value together,” he adds.

U.S. Warns China About Australia Clash

China, Trade, ,

The Biden administration warned China Tuesday that the United States would not “leave Australia alone on the field” in its ongoing economic clash with Beijing.

China and Australia have been at odds since 2017, first when parliament outlawed foreign political donations in order to stem Chinese influence in Canberra, and later when Australia locked Chinese tech giant Huawei out of its 5G network.

Beijing responded by imposing a series of punishing tariffs and limits on a range of imports from Australia including coal, wine, barley, live seafood, beef and timber.

China is Australia’s largest trading partner by far, with bilateral trade growing from $132 billion in 2014-15 to $231 billion for 2019-20. Australia is also one of the few countries to maintain a trade surplus with China, with Canberra exporting $150 billion to China against $81 billion in imports.

To date, the United States has not intervened in the standoff. The issue did not play a role in former President Donald Trump’s policy vis-à-vis China.

But speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald ahead of a meeting between American and Chinese officials, who are scheduled to convene in Anchorage, Alaska on March 18, Kurt Campbell, President Biden’s point man for the Indo-Pacific region said the new administration would link its China policy with Beijing’s treatment of U.S. allies.

“We have made clear that the U.S. is not prepared to improve relations in a bilateral and separate context at the same time that a close and dear ally is being subjected to a form of economic coercion,” Campbell told the newspaper on March 16.

Last year, Britain’s The Guardian reported that sanctions have cost the Australian economy $19 billion, but predicted that the number could grow to $28 billion if travel by Chinese nationals to Australia does not rebound after Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

New York Economy Showing Signs of Rebound

Economy, , , , ,

When 25-year-old entrepreneur Neil Hershman decided last year to open a flagship branch of Dippin’ Dots/Doc Popcorn in midtown Manhattan, he made the decision with a generous dose of nostalgia.

“I grew up like many others eating Dippin’ Dots exclusively at an amusement park or sports game,” Hershman told QSR Magazine, a journal covering the food service industry. “I wanted to bring that same experience to the millions of young adults and families traveling through Manhattan daily.”

Nostalgia aside, however, the decision to invest time and money in the city was a business call and a vote of confidence that the city’s economy will soon begin to bounce back from the downturn that accompanied the coronavirus last year.

The new store, which is scheduled to open in early April at 1 Madison Avenue, adjacent to Madison Square Park, is not the only indication that things are looking up for New York. The real estate sector, too, is showing more signs of vitality than it has in years.

“It is a reach to say the city’s property markets are roaring back,” the Financial Times reported in early March. “But the beast is certainly stirring. The first two months of 2021 have been the strongest opening to a year in Manhattan since 2015, the height of the market. February alone saw more new deals than any single month since May 2013.”

Even more significant, said the FT, is the fact that the economic growth appears to be led by wealthy New Yorkers eager to get back to museums, Broadway, sporting events, ballet performances and more.

“I’m optimistic on the eventual return of normalcy to New York City within the next 24 months,” concluded Neil Hershman.

Is Remote Working Here to Stay?

Remote Work, , ,

Much has been written about the shift to remote work since coronavirus emerged.  A year into the Covid-19 era little progress has been made on creating the conditions to emerge from pandemic mode: Vaccination programs have gone slow in many Western countries, and new variants of the virus have emerged in the United Kingdom, South African and Brazil, calling into question the efficacy of the vaccines that are currently on the market.

Traditional wisdom would posit that those factors will have an outsized impact on bringing workers back to the office. But while Covid-19 may have sparked the shift to remote work, there is no indication the trend will reverse itself on the day after the pandemic.

Not many people would choose this…
over this

According to Forbes, the number of workers permanently working from home is expected to double in 2021, with up to 70 percent of the workforce predicted to maintain arrangements to work from home at least five days a month – regardless of developments surrounding Covid-19.

“The rise of remote will lead to people re-prioritizing what is important to them,” said Chris Herd, founder and CEO of Firstbase, a tool to help companies transition to remote working.

Herd told Inc.,  “Organizing your work around your life will be the first noticeable switch. People realizing they are more than their job will lead to deeper purpose in other areas.”

Herd says remote work is beneficial for both employers, who can focus on outcomes and eliminating “senseless tasks,” and for employees, who have the ability to work when they want, spend time with their families and concentrate on their health and exercise.

Early signs appear to validate Herd’s analysis. Commercial real estate values have plummeted in urban centers around the world, with rental prices down 30 percent in New York, large swaths of empty office space in downtown  Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, and London-based HSBC announcing it would slash office space around the world up to 40 percent.

2021 Paycheck Protection Program Opens With New Reqs

Economy, , ,

The Biden administration has announced updated regulations for the Paycheck Protection Program in order to ensure funding reaches small business owners. The new regulations will limit loan applications under the program to businesses with fewer than 20 employees for the first two weeks of the new application period, which begins on February 24.

The new rules will also alter some eligibility requirements for applicants with felony records, outstanding student loans and uncertain citizenship status.

In a statement released by the White House, the administration said the revamped program is aimed at ensuring “equitable relief to hard-hit small businesses,” as well as rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse.  

Last year, the Small Business Administration and Trump administration officials came under criticism for approving loans to large corporations while blocking assistance to so-called “Main Street” businesses.

The PPP is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a $2 trillion aid program ratified by Congress last March to provide relief to business owners who have suffered significant drops during the corona crisis.