Accountants have long been burdened with the tedious tasks of matching receipts to transactions and waiting for clients to provide details about various purchases, such as Amazon parcels. Automated bookkeeping is the solution, paving the way for accountants to finish work early and spend more quality time with their families.

What is Automated Bookkeeping?

Automated bookkeeping represents the seamless integration of human expertise and cutting-edge technology. It involves automating labour-intensive tasks, allowing accountants to step in only when the system encounters issues it cannot resolve on its own. This technology leverages AI to streamline processes that previously required significant manual effort.

The Evolution of Automated Bookkeeping

Accountants are already familiar with several aspects of automated bookkeeping, often without realising it. Features like creating rules in QuickBooks Online (QBO), integrating bank accounts for direct bank feeds, and generating financial statements are standard practices. These elements have become so ingrained in daily workflows that they are almost second nature.

However, with the advent of artificial intelligence, automated bookkeeping has evolved significantly. It has progressed from merely fetching bank feeds to checking off nearly every item on the month-end close checklist. This includes tasks such as categorizing transactions, reconciling accounts, and ensuring compliance with accounting standards.

Benefits of Automated Bookkeeping

• Saving Time: Automation can reduce the time spent on the month-end close process from several days to just a few hours. This time-saving allows your team to focus on understanding future business needs and preparing reports earlier than usual.
• Increasing Revenue: With the extra time saved, accountants can focus on offering more value-added services, such as advisory and tax planning. This increased bandwidth enables firms to upsell their services and generate new revenue streams.
• Accessing Real-Time Data: At any moment during the month, if you need to analyze current financials, the computer can deliver this information without delay, unlike traditional manual processes.
• Enhancing Accuracy: Automated bookkeeping minimizes human error, ensuring a higher level of accuracy and reliability in financial data.

The Drawbacks of Automated Bookkeeping

While automated bookkeeping offers many benefits, it has its limitations:

• Error in Categorization/Adjustment: Machines may struggle with complex transactions that require accruals or deferrals.
• Human Setup Requirement: Systems need continuous updates as accounting practices evolve.
• Data Analysis: Drawing insights and making business-specific conclusions still require accountant's expertise.

Tasks that Advanced Automated Bookkeeping Tools Perform

• AP Automation: Automating invoice capture, approval workflows, and payment processing
• AR Automation: Automating invoice generation, reminders, and payment tracking
• Invoicing and Billing: Simplifying the creation, sharing, and tracking of invoices
• Expense Tracking: Automating the categorization of expenses, providing real-time visibility

Revolutionizing Financial Close with Dunlin.ai

At Dunlin.ai, we are transforming the financial close process from start to finish. Our categorization algorithms boast an impressive accuracy rate of up to 90%, ensuring that most transactions are correctly classified with minimal effort. For the remaining transactions, our advanced flagging models bring any uncertainties to your attention, allowing you to make necessary adjustments quickly and efficiently.

Not just that, we also automate the reconciliation process and integrate with your billing and invoicing tools, we automate the management of deferrals and accruals, ensuring that your financial records are always up-to-date and accurate.