Artificial Intelligence: Could It Help Your Small Businesses?
During the best of times, running a small business is a challenging endeavor. Most days, there aren't enough hours available to tackle every task. This leaves many small business owners under pressure and unable to switch from working in the business to working on the business. For some, that leads to a lack of knowledge about critical metrics such as the amount of cash the business might generate in the next month or quarter, the amount of inventory on hand to satisfy customer demand and whether the business will produce enough revenue to pay its expenses.
Unlike many large companies that possess the financial wherewithal to hire employees whenever the need arises, small businesses often lack the funds to hire additional employees to manage complicated or inefficient processes. That leads small business owners to look for ways to manage their business more efficiently and effectively.
For some small businesses, artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly appealing option. As the name infers, artificial intelligence involves machines using real-time data to make observations and decisions, which normally require human intervention.
For example, if a business struggles to record and pay invoices on time, an accounting software powered with artificial intelligence could analyze every incoming invoice and develop an approval process based on the nature of the charges. By doing so, not only would a business save time in managing their invoice payment process, but they might also qualify for supplier discounts. Allowing AI to run the payment process would then allow the owner of the business to focus on more important tasks such as those related to revenue generation.
Another example of AI involves the use of chatbots as a customer service tool. Chatbots are intended to simulate human conversation. Instead of a visitor browsing a website and leaving, a chatbot powered by AI can be used to engage a potential customer or support an existing one.
Accounting with AI
When it comes to accounting systems, most cloud-based solutions use AI to a lesser or greater extent. Nonetheless, for AI to provide the most benefits, the initial setup must form a strong foundation for the solution to learn.
For example, the initial classification of expenses uploaded to the solution shouldn't contain errors as the system will use that information to learn and classify subsequent transactions. Furthermore, those involved in the accounting process should take the time to check the expense classifications the system assigned as a default. Additionally, any reporting generated from a new package should undergo analysis to verify its accuracy and integrity.
Assessing the Need for AI
Similar to the process companies should follow to adopt any form of technology, small business owners must take the time to understand the problems they would like to tackle with AI. This should include identifying the root cause of the problems and how AI might solve the issues. The provider of the AI solution should be able to provide case studies detailing how its technology solved the same problems for other small businesses.
Any solution a company adopts should possess sufficient flexibility to fit the company's unique environment and grow as the operation evolves. As part of the due diligence process, it can make sense to involve your CPA firm as CPAs may have experience helping other clients adopt the same technology solution.
Since AI is still in its infancy, many small businesses may not appreciate its potential to address common business problems. To complicate matters further, most small businesses can't afford to invest substantial sums in AI. That's why it makes sense for small business owners to monitor the marketplace for solutions that incorporate AI. As AI improves and small businesses learn about the business benefits, the use of such technology will become critical.