Aug 29, 2024 | AI
How Gen AI Tools Are Helping the Tax and Accounting Industry Address the Labor Crunch: A Conversation With David Wong and Nancy Hawkins
David Wong, chief product officer, Thomson Reuters, and Nancy Hawkins, vice president, Product Management, Tax Research, Thomson Reuters, highlight the importance of generative AI in helping the tax industry address staffing shortages and the uptick in retirements.
David Wong, chief product officer, Thomson Reuters, and Nancy Hawkins, vice president, Product Management, Tax Research, Thomson Reuters, discussed the increasing importance of embedding generative AI in tax and accounting solutions in the latest episode of TechConnect.
“When I think about efficiencies in the tax industry, especially given the staffing shortages and the uptick in retirements, efficiencies are so important and a huge driver for the development of our tax tools,” Hawkins said. “We know from our research that customers are prioritizing these efficiency gains and looking to technology to really help them unlock them.”
Wong cited findings from the latest Thomson Reuters Future of Professionals report that demonstrated a shift in the tax and accounting industry’s adoption of AI tools.
“In contrast to a year ago, where we had the most excitement and the most interest from the legal industry, this year in 2024, we’ve had a much clearer signal from the tax, accounting and audit industry that they are ready and eager to apply some of the AI technology to their work to seek efficiencies,” Wong said.
He added that this shift can help the tax and accounting industry address a labor crunch.
“There aren’t enough CPAs or enough people who are willing to jump into the tax and accounting profession, and technology is seen as this sort of savior for this ever-growing pile of work within the industry,” Wong said. “AI is one additional set of tools to help the industry get to a new frontier of automation.”
Wong and Hawkins noted that AI tools must work in conjunction with the other workflow tools tax and accounting professionals already depend on.
“The exacting nature of the tax profession is extremely unforgiving when it comes to inaccuracies or mistakes,” Hawkins said. “As we put our AI-Assisted Research together, we really had that in mind – to help with making research more efficient for the new entrants into the industry.”
“Having an efficient way to research is critical,” Hawkins added. “The AI-Assisted Research that we have in Checkpoint Edge really allows someone to come in and simply ask a question, like you would to a trusted colleague down the hall and get an answer back that is easily digestible.”
Hawkins said she hears customers talk about how senior members of firms want to mentor junior members but don’t have the time. She said firm leaders are excited about how generative AI tools can help “upskill more junior members of a firm quickly to have the mature and robust conversations around tax topics.”
Watch the latest episode of the TechConnect series, which brings diverse and dynamic perspectives from all corners of the technology world with thought-provoking questions and conversation.
