Accounting to become ‘a living system’

The addition of AI to accounting solutions was set to elevate the sector, working alongside experienced professionals to help them more strategic decisions.

The webinar; ‘When Accounting Solutions Start Thinking, Not Reporting’, supported by Percipient, heard how AI’s ability to constantly analyse data would form the basis for more accurate reporting and facilitate valuable decision making faster than using traditional methods.

Jo Fuller, head of pre sales and innovation, Percipient, said: “You’ve probably heard the headline that AI is going to replace finance. I don’t think that’s true. I think finance teams that use AI will replace those that don’t.

“Finance is going to change from explaining what’s already happened, to seeing what’s coming next.”

Fuller told attendees that AI would not replace finance professionals but would significantly change how finance teams work. Instead of focusing primarily on compiling historical reports, the finance function of the future would be defined by its ability to anticipate financial outcomes and identify risks early.

Fuller said: “If the accounting solution evolves into a living, intelligent system, it becomes a strategic advantage. Identifying abnormal patterns affects margins. An AI-centric accounting system changes the model significantly and detect anomalies in real time. It doesn’t stop for a coffee break at 10,000 transactions.

“The result of this is a shift in focus. When exceptions not transactions become a focus, finance moves from a clerical effort to strategic control. In a high-volume, low-margin environment, small judgement errors scale quickly.”

Revenue from rooms, food and beverage and ancillary services fluctuate constantly in the sector, while settlement timing from OTAs, payroll costs and supplier payments can rapidly affect cash flow. According to Fuller, waiting until month end to identify financial issues has meant that margin erosion has already taken place by the time it had been identified.

AI-driven accounting systems aimed to address this gap by continuously integrating operational and financial data. This allows finance teams to monitor margin performance across outlets and revenue streams throughout the period, rather than relying solely on retrospective reporting. With earlier visibility of changes in costs or revenue patterns, organisations can take corrective action more quickly through pricing adjustments, staffing decisions or supplier negotiations.

Another key theme of the webinar was the shift from processing transactions to managing exceptions. Hospitality businesses generate thousands of daily transactions across PMS, POS, OTAs and payment service providers. Reviewing each transaction manually is both time-consuming and inefficient. Instead, AI systems can analyse the entire data populations and automatically flag anomalies such as settlement mismatches, tax discrepancies or unusual posting patterns. This allows finance teams to focus their attention on potential risks rather than routine processing.

Fuller emphasised that AI did not solve underlying data quality problems. Rather, it highlighted them more quickly, helping to prevent poor decision making.

The discussion also addressed the changing value of finance within organisations. While accuracy remained essential, the focus was increasingly shifting towards anticipation.

Operational signals such as bookings, cancellations and labour demand often change more quickly than financial statements can capture. By connecting these operational indicators with financial data, AI systems can identify emerging trends and highlight margin or liquidity pressures before they appear in formal reports.

Compliance and internal controls were also highlighted as key areas where intelligent systems could support hospitality businesses. Traditional audit approaches rely heavily on periodic reviews and sampling, but high transaction volumes mean that small control weaknesses can quickly escalate. AI-enabled accounting platforms can embed revenue recognition rules, tax logic and settlement controls directly into workflows, providing continuous monitoring and traceable audit trails.

As automation takes over routine processes such as reconciliation and validation, Fuller suggested that the role of finance professionals would become more strategic. With machines managing large-scale data processing, finance teams can focus more on pricing strategy, cost management and capital allocation decisions that directly influence profitability.

Fuller said: “An AI-centric model allows finance to move from processing transactions to processing risk. Automation elevates finance. High-quality judgement is the valuable asset which AI can provide. AI is becoming the backbone of finance decisions.”

The webinar concluded that accounting systems were evolving from static ledgers into dynamic financial intelligence platforms. For hospitality organisations operating in high-volume, low-margin environments, the ability to detect risks early and act quickly could become a defining competitive advantage