Artificial intelligence (AI) is reinventing the way we conduct business across all industries. And, for the most part, business decision-makers are open to learning more about the opportunities that AI presents, from increased efficiencies to lower costs.

In the accounting profession, AI is poised to have a particularly significant impact. This technology will help firms address one of the biggest factors that will continue to influence the industry: strict regulatory requirements. As new technology shapes the profession, we can expect regulations to change in tandem. Changes in the regulatory environment will encourage firm leaders to find innovative and dependable solutions that achieve greater levels of compliance and control across their operations, especially when it comes to information security. Firms can expect to see this pressure from their clients as they adopt new technologies and expectations of digital collaboration and security increase.

Secure data is the key to compliance
Control over information security is essential to success in professional services. Ultimately, the responsibility and accountability falls on firms to protect the data clients and key stakeholders exchange from being lost, stolen, or otherwise accessed by unauthorised persons. Every firm also has to tailor practices to each region they operate in so that they adhere to relevant local laws, industry regulations, and internal policies and standards created to further bolster their information security. In order to comply with a varying list of requirements, firms should consider introducing controls that automatically facilitate the effective management of information.

This can be a complex and cumbersome process, and a headache for accountants at firms that don’t have streamlined workflows or procedures in place. As a result, employees may deliberately avoid established company procedures and work outside of processes so that it’s easier and more time effective for them to do their jobs. This opens firms up to liability, as workers move to introduce shadow IT, adopting rogue systems and programs that aren’t sanctioned or protected by the IT department.

To mitigate risk, IT departments are increasingly turning to innovative solutions powered by automation and AI, which help streamline processes and build compliance into their information management systems.

Aligning information security and compliance with AI
‍One of the most important ways AI delivers compliance is by applying pre-defined rules based on the type of document or information. This can include documents that require signature or review, documents that include personally identifiable information (PII), data that is part of a specific client engagement or documents that must be retained according to industry specific regulation. Firms can then rely on AI to automatically identify relevant information and enforce applicable rules, delivering a simplified and secure process that helps firms maintain compliance. Automated information management solutions also help streamline daily work and increase staff productivity by moving the responsibility of information security from staff to a system they can rely on.

As well as ensuring that all information can be protected and secured according to the relevant industry specific regulatory requirements, AI can assist with accounting services. Automatically captured audit trails for every activity performed on their information gives firms visibility into their document management controls and supports that data with evidence. As a result, businesses can easily demonstrate compliance to relevant regulatory bodies, clients, and other key stakeholders, and show when information has been modified or viewed, and by whom. This has become increasingly important as regulatory bodies continue to crackdown on firms on compliance requirements.

Powering automated information management systems with AI requires a quick and efficient training process for the technology, using small sample sets that are classified by relevant people. This ensures that the AI can still be corrected in the early stages of the learning process on any misclassifications. Comprehensive training increases the ability of AI models to appropriately recognise PII data according to identified patterns and treat it correctly.

Failing to take advantage of the many applications of automated, AI-driven solutions can leave firms and their clients open to dangers on numerous fronts. Deploying AI as a tool for streamlining document classification allows accounting firms to manage their information in a more secure and efficient way, while maintaining compliance. Benefiting from AI’s capabilities is vital for firms that are responsible for significant volumes of data and information.