If you’re a business owner, you already know how financial tasks can drain your time and resources, especially when you run a small business or startup. As a result, some professionals have turned to artificial intelligence (AI) for help. But is it effective?
We spoke with professionals across three industries to learn how AI has helped them streamline workflows and reduce their outsourcing costs. Here are the financial tasks they stopped paying experts for after turning to ChatGPT.
Dennis Vong, founder and owner of Inland Power Wash, said he used to pay a bookkeeper every quarter to organize the company’s expenditure habits. “Now, I input my income, material costs and seasonal changes into ChatGPT, and it gives me a clear breakdown I can refresh anytime, saving me hundreds annually and giving me greater control of my figures,” said Vong.
Cord Thomas, president and COO of vacation rental company SkyRun, said he also uses ChatGPT to support budgeting and analysis. “AI tools now replace human experts for budget creation and financial analysis we once relied on experts for; I can generate budgets quickly, modify them based on cash flow and evaluate scenarios, including unexpected revenue declines.”
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Additionally, both Thomas and Vong turn to AI when they’re looking to assess risks within their businesses.
Before making important decisions, Thomas consults ChatGPT to determine any risks. He said, “AI identifies possible liabilities to help with investment and contract decisions; this also allows [my] team to focus on long-term planning.”
Vong said he uses AI to predict potential risks before investing in new equipment. “Before purchasing a pressure washer or water tank system, I entered the information into ChatGPT to organize cost, lifespan and maintenance projections, similar to what a consultant would provide; this helped me avoid rushed [purchasing] decisions and costly errors.”
Vong used to pay an outside advisor to help him anticipate seasonal slowdowns, but now he can just use ChatGPT.
“In off-peak months, I enter hypothetical job counts and costs to estimate how constrained things will be,” said Vong. “ChatGPT presents the cash flows clearly and has replaced the financial advisor I used to call during crunch times.”
ChatGPT has also helped businesses by taking complicated financial documents and turning them into clear and simple report summaries.
