A.I. will not replace accountants. But we need to adapt.

Hey 👋 - Brandon here.

Happy Saturday to 1,187 growth-minded accountants.

Here’s one growth tip for you and your firm.

Today’s issue takes less than 5 minutes to read.

We've all heard the talk recently about how A.I. will replace accountants.

There is even a chart floating around LinkedIn that says accountants are 100% "exposed" to A.I. and at risk of jobs being replaced by a machine.

I was clued into A.I. in December after Chat GPT launched its prototype on Nov. 30, 2022. It seemed like the world changed overnight and Chat GPT was the only thing anyone could talk about for a solid two months.

The launch of Chat GPT has resulted in many companies quickly jumping on the A.I. train and rushing to build their own protocol:

• Microsoft invested $10 Billion into OpenAI (Chat GPT creators)

• Google Launched Bard (an AI chat bot) in March

• ClickUp announced it's working on an AI

A.I. will be revolutionary, but people want to work with people

Especially as it pertains to understanding finances and taxes.

The thing about A.I. is if you feed it garbage, your output will also be garbage. Our clients will appreciate our usage of A.I. but will ultimately still require us to help guide the machine and interpret results. It will allow accountants to finally spend more time advising and coaching (because we currently spend 80% of our "advisory time" processing information).

And do we honestly believe A.I. will catch the "OF Subscription" of $19.99 booked to "Office Expenses" each month?

Probably not.

But, I do believe A.I. is here to stay and will fundamentally change how we work. And my firm is already changing our systems and processes, how we collaborate and share information, and how we process data to fully leverage A.I. when it goes mainstream.

Here's how:

Consolidating information into one platform will allow you to fully leverage your future A.I. helper

I believe over the next 12-24 months, our practice management softwares will roll out A.I. helpers that can rifle through enormous amounts of data in milliseconds.

Consider how beneficial it would be to ask the A.I. helper to pull client context in a summarized format. Or summarize prior clients calls and Zoom videos. Or pull relevant Knowledgebase entries that impact the client so I can prepare for an upcoming call.

The number one action you can take today is to figure out how to consolidate your practice management so that a future A.I. bot can sift through your data.

For example, we use ClickUp.

And ClickUp is coming out with an A.I. that will assist my team with finding, summarizing, and interpreting any and all information inside of or connected to ClickUp.

So we're putting information into ClickUp, such as our:

• Emails (via integration)

• Client notes

• Client calls and the text transcription from Zoom

• Technical knowledgebase

• Software user guides

• Calendar events

• Important vendor information

• Important marketing connections

• etc.

How amazing will it be to have an A.I. bot help you answer complicated questions from the client? Maybe it even prepares your email drafts to clients. Perhaps it points out strategies the client used in the past based on prior notes or call transcript context.

This is going to be incredibly powerful for firms.

And the beautiful thing is you don't even need to understand how the protocol, code, automation, integrations, etc works. You just need to consolidate your information to provide the A.I. helper with enough context.

(p.s. data security is a top concern. I'm not advocating that you store SSNs, addresses, or other sensitive information in the same practice management software your future A.I. will be scraping).

The old way of slow communications and turnaround times is over

A.I. is not here to take our jobs.

But it will fundamentally change how we work and what clients expect from us.

A firm that utilizes A.I. to its full potential will provide better client service through faster turnaround times, clearer and more thorough answers, and better strategic planning. These factors will become the new "minimum expectations" when clients shop for accountants.

Refusing to think about how you can modernize your practice to fully leverage A.I. means putting your future business growth at risk.

That's all for this Saturday. See you next week.

Whenever you're ready, here's how I can help you.

→ Work with me 1:1 to grow your firm (one opening per week, 12:30pm EST on Friday)

See you again next week.

Cheers,

Brandon

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