With the rapid development of information technology and the needs of economic society, artificial intelligence has ushered in the golden age. The application of artificial intelligence technology in the accounting field is an inevitable trend, which will bring tremendous changes and development to the accounting industry. This paper takes the application of artificial intelligence in the accounting industry as the research object, analyzes the impact of artificial intelligence on the development of accounting industry, and puts forward relevant suggestions for its existing problems.
In 1956, at the University of Dartmouth seminar in the United States, John McCarthy and other computer experts first proposed the concept of “artificial intelligence” [
With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology and its wide application in various fields, the trend of human work being replaced by robots is intensifying. The involvement of artificial intelligence in the accounting industry will inevitably affect and subvert the traditional development mode and bring innovation to the accounting industry. The 2017 Chinese Government Work Report promoted the development of artificial intelligence to the national strategic level, clearly pointing out the need to accelerate the development and transformation of artificial intelligence technology; the State Council issued the “New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan” to promote the integration of artificial intelligence and various industries, promote large-scale application of artificial intelligence, and comprehensively enhance the level of intelligent development of industry [
In 2016, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, one of the world’s four largest accounting firms, announced the introduction of artificial intelligence into accounting, taxation, and auditing [
At present, the application of artificial intelligence in the field of accounting in China is still in its infancy. Although more and more units have introduced accounting robots, these robots are just a kind of operation of process automation technology with clear algorithm, which is suitable for a large number of repeated operation scenarios without the ability of deep learning, which is essentially “weak AI”. Currently, the application of automation technology is more extensive, and the application scope is mainly at the level of financial reporting. It has not yet entered the core areas of accounting such as financial analysis, and has not yet exerted an influence that can drive the change of accounting standards [
For enterprises, in order to introduce artificial intelligence into the accounting field, it is necessary to design a unique artificial intelligence system that conforms to the characteristics of the enterprise according to the actual situation of the enterprise. First of all, capital investment is the most important guarantee; secondly, after the introduction of technology, it is necessary to adjust the management of human resources and the daily operation mode of the enterprise. Finally, when the intelligent transformation of the accounting information system is completed, a series of training should be carried out, including the training for the use of new system features and the training of information security [
The application of artificial intelligence technology in the accounting field requires the corresponding professional talents to manage, and the current senior accounting talents in China are scarce. It is estimated that as of 2015, China’s accountants reached 20.5 million, accounting graduates with a bachelor degree or above accounted for 23.11%, and there are 100,000 certified public accountants [
Nowadays, most universities have set relevant courses in accounting computerization. However, influenced by many internal and external factors, there are some problems such as the unitary contents of courses, the disconnection between theoretical knowledge and practical application, and the difficulty of forming scientific computerization system, which cannot meet the requirements of the development of the times [
With the general trend of economic globalization, the links and cooperation between countries are getting closer and closer, meanwhile, the competition is becoming more intense. To be competitive in the international stage, China’s accounting industry must constantly improve the level of the accounting industry. At present, China has raised the development of artificial intelligence to the national strategic level. The government should also implement relevant plans and measures in various industries and actively create favorable environmental conditions for the development of artificial intelligence in the accounting field. Relevant policies and regulations are needed to encourage and guide the application of artificial intelligence in the accounting industry. For example, enterprises that actively apply artificial intelligence technology should be given appropriate subsidies or tax reduction.
At present, technology giants such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft are investing more and more resources to seize the artificial intelligence market. The domestic Internet leader “BAT” is also actively deploying artificial intelligence and applying this technology to more life scenarios. For example, Alibaba’s face recognition technology in payment and financial services, and intelligent robot customer service on the shopping platform, these specific applications of artificial intelligence technology have driven the transformation and upgrading of business and services. Artificial intelligence has become a new focus for enterprises to improve their core competitiveness. Therefore, enterprises should look upon artificial intelligence from the perspective of the overall situation, and cooperate with cloud computing and big data analysis technology to make good use of resources. Applying artificial intelligence at the accounting level will increase the cost of the enterprise in the short term, but looking forward to the future, it will enable the company to have more sustainable development capabilities and will occupy a place in the future of artificial intelligence.
Colleges and universities should arrange major courses reasonably and scientifically according to their teaching objectives, and design systematic professional training programs. On the one hand, colleges need to attach great importance to the combination of students’ theoretical knowledge and accounting practice, strengthen cooperation between universities and enterprises, and strive to create practical opportunities to improve students’ practical ability and cultivate applied accountants. On the other hand, colleges should constantly improve the quality of teachers. Teachers should always keep abreast of the changes and trends in the development of international financial standards and accounting in order to make accounting classroom teaching and practical teaching keep pace with the development of the times [
Accountants should pay attention to the improvement of personal professional skills and the cultivation of professional ethics, and establish the idea of life-long learning to adapt to the rapid changes and development requirements of the accounting industry in the future. The “13th Five-Year Plan for Accounting Reform and Development” proposes to promote the widespread application of management accounting and implement the accounting talent strategy [
As one of the important representatives of the new round of scientific and technological revolution, artificial intelligence is moving from technology research and development to industrial application, and has become a new driving force for global economic development. At present, China’s economic development has entered a new normal and the Chinese government has laid out the artificial intelligence industry in many aspects. The accounting industry should also strengthen the main position of artificial intelligence application in the process of reform and innovation. For enterprises, making good use of the new information technology will be the key to capturing opportunities and upgrading in the new era. Undoubtedly, intelligent finance and accounting is the future development trend. In the process of promoting the application of artificial intelligence in the accounting field, it is necessary for the country, enterprises, universities, individuals and other parties to work together, and how to effectively solve the problems arising in the process of application will be the key.
2018 “Project of the National College Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program” of Hohai University: “Analysis of the Complex Relationship between R&D Investment and Innovation Performance of Artificial Intelligence Companies” (No. 69).
The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.
Luo, J.X., Meng, Q.J. and Cai, Y. (2018) Analysis of the Impact of Artificial Intelligence Application on the Development of Accounting Industry. Open Journal of Business and Management, 6, 850-856. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojbm.2018.64063