ChatGPT in Accounting: Pros and Cons

Published On Sat May 13 2023
ChatGPT in Accounting: Pros and Cons

The Promise and Peril of ChatGPT in Accounting

ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot, has gained immense popularity worldwide due to its ability to interpret questions and commands and produce human-like responses. Users can input any text and ChatGPT will respond almost instantly with a written response. This platform has been used for everything from generating website copy to college essays and restaurant reviews. ChatGPT's potential for finance and accounting has been much discussed, with early adopters already using language-based AI interfaces to create formulas and programming scripts, write marketing material, and draft responses to clients.

However, as with any new technology, there are concerns about ChatGPT's security and accuracy. The chatbot's responses can contain errors and untruths, and this poses a significant risk in the accounting and finance industry. The following are some of the ways that ChatGPT has been used in accounting so far:

Putting ChatGPT to Work in Excel and Programming

Early adopters of ChatGPT have found it to be useful in Excel formulas and programming. One such example is Byron Patrick, Vice President for Client Success at The B3 Method Institute. He discovered that ChatGPT has an extensive knowledge of programming interfaces of countless web-integrated technology platforms, making it capable of writing code for interacting with those products. Patrick used ChatGPT to structure a pile of data that needed to be sorted. He describes ChatGPT as a game-changer as it not only produced functional code but also included explanations of how that code was identifying phone numbers and addresses for sorting. Patrick was able to fine-tune that code in a matter of minutes by making further requests of ChatGPT. He believes this will lead to a surge in custom tools being built by accountants.

Accelerating Email and Research Projects

Jason Staats, an Oregon-based CPA and founder of Realize, an accountancy community, has been using ChatGPT to improve his emails and speed up the writing process. He simply pastes text into the program and asks for a revision – much like he would with a human being. Staats suggests that accountants can use ChatGPT to improve their marketing materials. The system can take the style or details of current marketing materials and translate them to a new audience. Staats and others also use ChatGPT as a research tool to explain a concept in simple terms and then use its suggestions as a jumping-off point for further research. Pascal Finette, co-founder of a Colorado-based tech consultancy named be radical, believes that extended conversations with ChatGPT can surface new ideas and unexpected connections to other areas.

The Peril of ChatGPT

One of the critical weaknesses of ChatGPT and other similar platforms is their tendency to get things wrong. ChatGPT sometimes gives the wrong answer to simple math problems and struggles with more complex arithmetic. It has also shown a tendency to get facts wrong. Users need to proceed with caution, as ChatGPT's errors and untruths could have significant implications in the finance and accounting industry.

In conclusion, ChatGPT's potential in accounting is vast, and early adopters have already found ways to use it to their advantage. However, users must be aware of its limitations and potential risks, and exercise caution while using it.