ChatGPT’s capabilities are ever expanding with more accurate iterations and additional plug-ins, web browsing abilities and more. 专业人士, 包括会计, are finding innovative ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) in everyday tasks.
最新的迭代, ChatGPT-4, 能分析声音, 文本和图像, and has improved accuracy in answering more complex questions, computing math and in generating art. 而免费的GPT-3.5 is still effective at basic computing and generating text, GPT-4更强, more advanced and requires a monthly subscription.
公告, launch and demonstration of GPT-4 in March 2023 included a demonstration of the AI preparing a very simple tax return with outdated numbers. Millions of people tuned into the livestream and millions more viewed a recording. This demonstration set expectations that GPT-4 could easily prepare tax returns — but accountants understand that tax engagements can be quite nuanced.
With ChatGPT continually advancing, accountants need to balance their client’s expectations and knowledge of this kind of technology with harnessing AI’s usefulness to streamline processes.
Practical applications of ChatGPT
Both iterations of ChatGPT, 3.5 and 4, have practical applications for accountants and were discussed at 188bet亚洲真人体育下载® & Cima®参与2023 in the session “Accountant Support: Steal These Automations.” Highlights within the session that accountants can use at their firms included the mastery of prompt engineering, 改进电子邮件写作, easy extraction of bank statement data and tutoring with Microsoft Excel.
Inputs influence outputs. As you boost your familiarity with ChatGPT, you’ll begin to understand the model’s behavior and how specific, contextualized prompts will produce desired responses — this is prompt engineering. The art of prompt engineering is an effective research tool and can help you gain insights on accounting treatments, industry-specific examples, 行业标准, regulatory implications and more.
ChatGPT can improve your email writing — all you need to provide is a specific prompt of what you’d like to say and the tone in which it should be written.
It’s cumbersome to extract structured transaction data from bank statements; however, ChatGPT can easily streamline this process when provided the necessary data points from the bank statement. What results is a downloadable CSV file that can then be uploaded to your accounting software.
Microsoft Excel has a learning curve in figuring out some of its more advanced features, and ChatGPT can help you learn new Excel skills. Once prompted with what you need, ChatGPT can provide descriptions, examples and even sample data to help you learn.
Steps to safeguard data
As AI models continue to evolve, they need access to large amounts of data, and there are growing security concerns — including worry over a heightened risk of inputting proprietary or confidential information — which were explored in a podcast episode from Tax Section Odyssey.
Because AI retains information and continually learns from what’s inputted, practice caution. Before submitting a prompt, 确保所有敏感, identifiable data is removed — account numbers, 的名字, 生日, 等. Additionally, you can disable data retention settings.
If your firm is not yet familiar with AI and its capabilities, there are steps to putting AI to work in your firm and ways your firm can get onboard with ChatGPT safely.
After GPT-4’s demonstration of preparing a simple tax return, AI will continue to make waves in the accounting and finance profession. With their innovative uses, AI and ChatGPT are valuable tools for accountants, but they do not replace professional judgment and expertise in the financial domain.
Learn updates on the advancements at 188bet亚洲真人体育下载 & Cima engage 20246月3日至6日. The three-day conference kicks off on Monday, June 3, at Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas and connects you to AI experts, emerging trends and the relevant information you and your clients need. On-site and livestream options are available. 今天注册.
Beth Roessner, m.s.A.
Beth Roessner is a senior content writer at 188bet亚洲真人体育下载 & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.