For accounting and finance firms, especially those working remotely, having an arsenal of cutting-edge AI tools is no longer a luxury but a necessity.
As the need for accounting services expands and companies struggle to find more high-quality accounting staff to fill the demand, accounting and finance professionals find themself in a difficult position: Increasing workload on the one hand, and on the other, the market pressure to a more insight-driven service and session make. The result? Burnout. According to a study, 99% of accountants have expressed suffering from burnout at some point around the year.
Accounting AI tools are ad-ons to regular accounting software with artificial intelligence technologies that can perform those time (and mind) consuming repetitive tasks such as data entry, reconciliation, reporting, and auditing for us. Basically, makes our lives easier. These tools can also provide interesting insights that combined with human analysis can result in better and faster outcomes for the clients.
Now, there are many AI tools for accountants that stand on their own and can be used independently on what accounting or cloud-based software your firm is using. But, one can have just as many tools.
So, if you are looking for tools that can make your team's workload easier, here are 6 tools that integrate with the most popular accounting software like QuickBooks, which is used by millions of small businesses and accounting professionals around the world.
Why Use Accounting AI Tools with QuickBooks?
As accountants, we need tools that not only simplify our everyday lives but also ensure accuracy and compliance. Now, automation in this field has been around for years with accounting software like Quickbooks, firms’ favorite, which has integrated intelligence to reveal insight and shortcuts on regular everyday tasks.
But we can take even more advantage of these tools, by adding other tools that can improve:
Assurance: Automated data entry and error checking to save hours of manual work.
Accuracy: AI minimizes human errors, offering precise calculations and projections.
Real-time Insights: AI-driven analysis provides instant financial insights, allowing for proactive decision-making.
Remote Accessibility: Cloud-based AI tools can be accessed anytime, anywhere, making remote work smoother.
Comparing the Best AI Tools
At the end of the day is going to be up to your firm to try on one or all of them to know exactly what you need, but as many of these tools have both free and premium plans, is important to consider beforehand if any of them aim to your special need to go for it.
For example, one feature we suggest considering is how seamlessly the tool syncs with QuickBooks. Real-time integration is a plus. A user-friendly interface and intuitive design are crucial to making the technology adoption seamless, especially for firms working remotely. And, very importantly, scalability: Can the tool handle the growth of your firm, both in terms of data volume and complexity?
Top Accounting AI Tools Integrated with QuickBooks
Here's a roundup of some of the best accounting AI tools that boast integration with QuickBooks. Most of them offer from free plans to trial periods, so we suggest you try them all at list for a quick run:
Chata.ai: Get Accounting Answers Using AI
Chata.ai is like having a conversational AI assistant for QuickBooks. You can ask it questions related to your financial data, and it provides answers in real time. For example, “What was our total revenue last quarter?” or “Which product had the highest sales in June?”. It's an incredibly intuitive tool for extracting insights without manual data diving.
- Query Sync: Chata.ai directly communicates with QuickBooks’ database through a secure connection. This allows users to make natural language queries about financial data.
- Data Retrieval: Instead of manual searches or generating numerous reports in QuickBooks, Chata.ai extracts the relevant data based on the AI's understanding of the user's query.
- Adaptive Learning: The more you use Chata.ai, the better it gets at understanding the type of queries and data insights you need, optimizing its interactions with QuickBooks.
Chata.ai is perfect for those who want immediate insights without intricate setups. Its conversational feature is what we are all looking for.
Vic.ai
Primarily for larger accounting firms and enterprises, Vic.ai offers autonomous invoice processing, expense management, and real-time insights. Its deep integration with QuickBooks ensures that all financial data is up-to-date and accurate.
- Advanced OCR: Vic.ai uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to scan and interpret invoice data. This interpreted data is then relayed to QuickBooks for entry or reconciliation.
- Autonomous Matching: If Vic.ai recognizes an invoice from a regular supplier or identifies recurring transaction patterns, it can automatically match these to existing QuickBooks records, reducing reconciliation tasks.
- Expense Management: Beyond invoices, Vic.ai can classify different expenses and ensure they are correctly categorized in QuickBooks, learning from previous entries and user corrections.
Vic.ai offers depth and comprehensive features, ideal for larger enterprises with complex needs.
Botkeeper
Botkeeper takes over the repetitive tasks of bookkeeping. Using its advanced algorithms, it categorizes and interprets financial data, processes transactions, and offers detailed financial reports. Its seamless integration with QuickBooks ensures that data flows smoothly between the two platforms.
- Automated Data Entry: Botkeeper connects to QuickBooks and takes over the manual data entry tasks. Using its algorithms, it can determine where different financial data should be entered and categorized.
- Error-checking and Reconciliation: One of Botkeeper’s strengths is identifying discrepancies. If it detects potential errors or inconsistencies in the data, it can flag these for human review or automatically correct them based on historical patterns.
- Reporting Sync: Post data interpretation, Botkeeper can generate financial reports directly within QuickBooks, ensuring that users get the most updated and accurate reports based on the latest data.
Botkeeper is a balanced solution, offering both automation and analytics, suitable for medium to large firms
Grabb AI
Grabb AI is an AI-powered tool that focuses on sales performance in the context of client nurturing and monitoring. It is designed to be the easiest way to boost sales with your B2B clients. It integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks Desktop (and will soon be available with QuickBooks Online) and transforms your data into actionable business intelligence and AI recommendations for sales activities and management purposes1.
Grabb AI’s features include:
- Alerting you about changes in customer purchasing behavior
- Notifying you about potential opportunities
- Classifying customers into segments relevant to your business such as industry classification, customer importance, loyalty level, lifetime value, etc.
- Recommending what supplemental or add-on products customers could be interested in and at what time
Grabb AI is ideal for businesses that want to increase their sales revenue and profitability by optimizing their customer relationships and cross-selling opportunities.
ScanWriter
ScanWriter is a data entry automation tool that uses computer vision technology to scan paper documents such as receipts, invoices, bills, checks, etc. and convert them into digital data that can be imported into QuickBooks Online or Desktop3.
ScanWriter’s features include:
- Scanning paper documents using a scanner or a mobile device
- Extracting key information from scanned documents such as date, amount, vendor name, account number, etc.
- Validating and verifying the extracted data against your QuickBooks records
- Importing the data into QuickBooks Online or Desktop with a click of a button
ScanWriter is ideal for businesses that want to reduce their paper clutter and manual data entry workload.
Intuit Data Protect
Intuit Data Protect is a secure online backup service that protects your QuickBooks data from loss or damage due to accidental deletion, theft, fire, virus attack, etc. It automatically backs up your QuickBooks data daily to a secure online location.
Intuit Data Protect’s features includes:
- Backing up your QuickBooks data daily to a secure online location
- Restoring your QuickBooks data from any backup date in case of data loss or damage
- Encrypting your data with 256-bit AES encryption
- Monitoring your backup status and history
It's All About Streamlining Workflows
There's a fine line between being submerged under waves of information and riding them to strategic insights. What if there was a tool, or rather, a set of tools, to transform this overwhelming tide into a navigable stream, ensuring you always have your finger on the pulse of financial clarity? This isn't the stuff of dreams but the reality of today's accounting AI advancements, especially when melded with the prowess of QuickBooks.
As businesses shift to remote operations and the volume of transactions magnifies, the call for streamlined, efficient accounting systems becomes deafening. The answer? A synergy of QuickBooks and leading-edge AI tools that promise more than just automation—they promise revolution.
