Harnessing AI for Chartered Accountants & Finance Professionals

Executive Summary

In this article, we explore how Chartered Accountants and Finance Professionals can leverage AI to enhance productivity and efficiency. By adopting AI tools for tasks such as data visualization, research, and automation, professionals can stay ahead in their field. We discuss practical steps to start with AI, the importance of responsible AI use, and the resources available for learning and implementation. The article also highlights ICAI’s initiatives in promoting AI adoption among its members and provides a comprehensive guide to using various AI tools effectively.

Introduction

Chartered Accountants and Finance Professionals frequently ask how AI will disrupt their industry and job functions. By taking small steps and dedicating even a few minutes daily, professionals can gain insights and kickstart the process of integrating AI into their day-to-day work.

Getting Started with AI:

ICAI’s “AI in ICAI” committee aims to promote AI adoption among its members through knowledge dissemination, educational activities, and collaboration with AI entities. The committee has launched a website dedicated to AI initiatives and resources: https://ai.icai.org/.

Impact of AI

1. AI for Personal Productivity
2. AI for Team Productivity
3. AI for creating new business models & innovations

Practical application areas for Personal & Team Productivity

1. Create visualizations & summaries of data using natural language inputs (no VBA or DAX code)
2. Research a topic & create a presentation using new AI tools
3. Research a PDF document & create summaries or presentations using new AI tools
4. Automated data extraction from Tally & using AI to create analytic KPIs
5. Create polished videos using your own media (images & video) & add music, transition & text captions

Detailed demonstration steps and video links are given in the later section after the following section discussing safeguards when using AI.

Safeguards & precautions when using AI

As an Employee:
1. Refrain from sharing sensitive company or client data over public LLMs like ChatGPT, as the user data is used to train the models and may be reproduced to other users. Determine if you have the right to share the provided data with a third party. If the data would typically not be shared without consent in the normal course of business, it should not be sent through a public LLM account.
2. The Human-in-the-Loop (HITL)[1] concept ensures responsible AI use. AI models can hallucinate, make up answers, and replicate biases from training data. HITL means humans make final decisions based on AI recommendations. AI processes involve HITL to train models, design processes, allow human intervention when needed, and monitor for biases and hallucinations.

As a policy making manager or owner of your organisation:

When considering which method to use LLMs, organizations have two main options:
a. Paid enterprise LLM accounts: Paid accounts share data through secured APIs, with contractual assurances it won’t train the provider’s models, though subject to their security.
b. Hosting their own LLMs internally. Self-hosting open-source LLMs is most secure, with data staying within the company’s network.
A hybrid approach using enterprise LLMs for non-sensitive tasks like market research while self-hosting for sensitive data is common.

Regardless, human oversight (HITL), input moderation to filter harmful prompts, and output moderation to catch concerning responses are critical.

Factors like data sensitivity, risk tolerance, and resources for proper governance should guide which method suits an organization best after a thorough risk assessment.

Resources available for Practical Applications

Fraternity of Chartered Accountants globally have been sharing their experience with using AI in the Hackathons being conducted by the AI in ICAI committee and some common use cases with easy-to-understand steps to access & use the AI tools has been given below.

1. AI Tool: Power BI now with AI features

Use Cases: MIS, Audit
How it works:
– Use the Q&A visual icon to create visualizations by typing requirements in natural language after loading and transforming your data.
– Customize visualizations and apply dynamic filtering.
– Add new visualizations to the same dashboard using additional Q&A boxes.
– Create narrative summaries by typing queries in the Q&A box.
– Publish dashboards online for organizational access or export to PDF/PowerPoint for articles and presentations.
Benefits: Easily create visualizations and narrative summaries without needing DAX code or VBA knowledge.
For a detailed demonstration, view the live video by CA. Megha Tayal here.

2. AI Tool: Claude AI, Gamma & Canva

Use Cases: Researching a PDF or topic and preparing a presentation.
How it works:
Claude AI:
– Visit the Claude AI platform at claude.ai (ensure you have an account and are logged in; account creation is free).
– Click the “Upload” button to upload your PDF document (e.g., a research report on tax and regulatory updates).
– Prompt Claude AI to extract relevant content by typing a command like, “Highlight the top 5 tax and regulatory updates for startups in the year 2023.”
– Review the extracted content to ensure its accuracy and relevance.
Gamma:
– Go to the Gamma platform at gamma.app (ensure you have an account and are logged in).
– On the homepage, click on “Create New with AI.”
– Choose from options like “Generate from a Prompt,” “Paste in Text,” or “Import a File.”
– Select “Paste in Text” and copy the extracted content from Claude AI. For the “Generate from a Prompt” option, enter a brief topic description like “Healthcare industry in India” and click on “Generate Outline.”
– Specify the number of slides/cards (e.g., 8 slides), the text style (brief, medium, or detailed), and a theme (professional, colourful, etc.).
– Customize the presentation by adding your organization’s logo via the “Edit Theme” option.
– To embed a Twitter feed, click on the desired slide, select “Embed Tweet,” paste the URL of the Twitter feed, and click “Go.”
– Use the “Edit with AI” option to get suggestions.
– Click on the “Export” button and choose your preferred format (PDF, PowerPoint, etc.).
– Share the presentation directly from Gamma by generating a shareable link or inviting collaborators.
Canva:
– Visit Canva at canva.com (ensure you have an account and are logged in).
– Download the generated presentation from Gamma in PowerPoint format.
– In Canva, click on “Create a Design” and select “Import File.”
– Upload the PowerPoint presentation downloaded from Gamma.
– Choose from a variety of Canva’s pre-designed themes and templates.
– Use the “Elements” tab to find relevant images and graphics and adjust the slide layouts.
– Click the “Download” button and select your preferred format (PDF, PowerPoint, etc.).
– Share the presentation directly from Canva by generating a shareable link or inviting collaborators to view or edit.
Benefits: Efficiently extract content from PDFs using Claude AI, create structured presentations with Gamma, and enhance visual appeal using Canva’s design tools.
For a detailed demonstration, view the live video by CA. Manish Agrawal and CA. Akanksha Gupta here.

3. AI Tool: Python with Tally & ChatGPT

Use Cases: Automated extraction of data from Tally and analysing it using ChatGPT.
How it works:
Setup:
– Install Python from python.org or use Jupyter notebooks from Anaconda.
– Install Tally ERP 9 or TallyPrime and ensure it is configured and running.
– Install the necessary Python libraries (enter commands in Windows command prompt).
Configure Tally:
– Open Tally and enable the ODBC server.
– Go to Gateway of Tally > F12: Configure > Advanced Configuration, set “Yes” for “Enable ODBC Server,” and note the Port Number (default is 9000).
Python Script:
– Create a Python script to connect to the Tally ODBC server (code can be shared separately if needed).
– Save the script as extract_tally_data.py and run it. This script connects to the Tally ODBC server, fetches the ledger data, and saves it as a CSV file.
Data Analysis with ChatGPT:
– Upload the CSV file to ChatGPT using the file upload feature or copy and paste relevant sections.
– Start a new conversation with ChatGPT and prompt it to analyse the data. Example prompts:
“Analyse the sales total from the uploaded Tally data.”
“Provide a summary of the party-wise sales from the ledger data.”
“Highlight the maximum and minimum sales orders for each customer.”
– Use ChatGPT to generate insights and create summaries based on the analysis.
Automation:
– Automate data extraction and analysis by scheduling the Python script to run at regular intervals using task schedulers (like cron jobs on Linux or Task Scheduler on Windows).
– Integrate the Python script with ChatGPT using API calls for real-time data processing.
Benefits: Efficiently process data from Tally using Python and gain insightful analysis with ChatGPT, leveraging AI and automation.
For a live demonstration, view the video by CA. Rama Jain here.

4. AI Tool: Clipchamp

Use Cases: Creating and editing videos for internal and external use.
How it works:
Setup:
– Login to Clipchamp at clipchamp.com with your Microsoft account or download the desktop application from the Microsoft Store.
– Click on “Create a video with AI” to start a new project.
Video Creation:
– Enter a title for your video, e.g., “Introduction to GST.”
– Click “Upload” to add images and video clips.
– Select a template that fits your video’s theme and style.
– Drag and drop media into the storyboard, rearranging as needed.
– Browse Clipchamp’s library of royalty-free music tracks and add a track by dragging it to the timeline. Adjust the volume and duration.
– Add transitions by dragging desired effects between clips.
– Add titles, captions, or text overlays by selecting a text style, dragging it to the timeline, and customizing it.
Finalizing:
– Click “Preview,” choose the desired resolution (e.g., 720p, 1080p), and then “Export” to save the video.
– Upload the video to YouTube or share it via a link or by embedding it on your website.
Benefits: Easily create customized, polished videos with your own content and share them directly on platforms like YouTube.
For a detailed demonstration, view the video by CA. Alok Sethi here.

Concluding remarks

You may form small teams of individuals who share these interests, meet to share your discoveries & review your progress periodically.
AI provides more benefits & opportunities by creating avenues to improving your products & services than threats due to disruption.
We can benefit from the disruption created by AI by keeping abreast of AI tools, redesigning our processes & creating new products & services leveraging on AI capabilities while being putting in place the necessary guardrails outlined earlier.

Harnessing AI for Chartered Accountants & Finance Professionals

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