John Stokdyk sadly passed away in June 2023. He had been with the site since 1999, rising from news editor to editor in chief, global editor and head of insight. As a roving editor, he investigated the profession's use of technology around the world. He devoted his spare time to technology history and an oddball collection of stringed instruments.
You can read more about his impact on the accountancy profession in this In memoriam.
Shortly after I posted this article, Intuit CEO Sasaan Goodarzi popped up on LinkedIn with his latest analysis on the prospects for generative AI within the evolving QuickBooks platform. The post heralds the arrival of Intuit's "proprietary" (ie not Open) GenAI Operating System (GenOS).
The code will empower Intuit technologists "to design, build and deploy breakthrough generative AI (GenAI) experiences with unparalleled speed", he wrote, fuelling the company's ability to innovate at pace and “automagically” generate insights and actions for customers to put more money in their pockets.
It's breathless stuff that references how GAI tools within Mailchimp are being used to help customers refine their marketing mailings (an example I didn't fit into the article), but doesn't specify any other developments or examples that weren't already in the public domain.
It also addresses the trust issue, promising: "Amidst the delivery of these game changing AI-driven experiences, Intuit will continue to fiercely protect the privacy of all customers’ data. That commitment has always been at core of our company and will be even more important in the age of AI." https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-intuit-harnessing-power-genai-transfo...
While it's hard not to feel a little deflated that my analysis was eclipsed within a few hours, it looks like Goodarzi is determined to push Intuit back onto the AI's centre stage after the spotlight switched to OpenAI (and Microsoft). Or could something I wrote here have provoked his response?
The repercussions from this story continue to grow. Since Mark Taylor's initial report, former CEO Tom Seymour has left the firm entirely. Senior executives from PwC Global were quickly on the spot and called in the CEO of Telstra to conduct a review into the firm’s governance, accountability and culture.
Good work it200... about 30mins after your post, we got a correction email from HMRC apologising for the 22 May 2024 mistake and confirming the VAT registration helpline will close on Monday 22 May 2023.
So, it appears they listen to accountants sometimes. if it appears on AccountingWEB.
[OK, maybe others have been pointing this out on social media too, but the timing was auspitious from our point of view]
For the sake of completeness, we've also picked up news from the Florida about Client Hub's ChatGPT-powered Magic Workflow feature. Announced in April, which puts it ahead of the Pixie CoPilot launch, Magic Workflow aims to simplify documenting and building practice workflows by setting up job templates for the use based on a simple description of what the job is.
According to the developer's website, the AI-generated processes can be tweaked to suit the user's unique requirements.
The company was founded by accountant and occasional AccountingWEB contributor Judie McCarthy. We'll be in touch with her to find out a little more.
Update: Tax policy blogger Dan Niedle has looked into the background of AMS Group and established that it is related to tax advisory boutique Signature that specialises in “education and school fees planning”.
I've been in touch with Thriveal founder and CPA Jason Blumer, who uses Karbon within his firm. Jason hasn't had exposure to the new functionality yet, but didn't give the impression he was about to bet his tech stack on it just yet. His regularly adds new software tools, but only after going through a structured process.
"It's a very strategic decision and one that many firms make too lightly," he said. "Adding very popular AI tools into the firm takes careful consideration, messaging to the team and clients, and the strategic management of the tool and who will champion its use."
I'm getting back to him to see if we can go into a bit more detail around potential AI deployments.
@paulwakefield1 - You are entirely correct and the mistake is down to poor fact-checking on my part. I'm really sorry for letting you down and to colleagues who would expect better of me.
I spent a fair amount of time pursuing various strands of thought down Google wormholes and at one point confused OpenAI with something I imagined was called "OpenMind"... Convinced that this was a Google subsidiary, that's what I typed when it would have taken 30secs to clarify the issue, as you have done.
That said, Microsoft has put $10bn into OpenAI, so I think I can stand by my contention that generative AI and further developments will end up in the hands of megatech corporations.
As an aside, I asked ChatGPT for its analysis of this point and got a classic, bland summary of the two sides of the argument: "On the one hand, technology corporations have the resources and expertise to drive innovation and bring new AI-based products and services to market. They can also use their power to invest in research and development and to promote collaboration within the scientific community, which can benefit society as a whole.
"On the other hand, the concentration of power in the hands of a few corporations can stifle competition and innovation, limit consumer choice, and lead to ethical concerns around privacy, bias, and fairness... Ultimately, the future of AI and its role in society will depend on how it is developed, deployed, and regulated."
@JustAnotherUser - thanks for saving me the trouble of vanity surfing my own name on ChatGPT. All that info is out there on the search engines, but as I suggested the bot is not above a bit of fabrication. To my knowledge, I have never contributed to the International Accounting Bulletin.
Hmmm... I'd say it's less a case of deconstructing my job than astrally projecting themselves into my daily reality. Spooky.
Like Phil Connors, I've now written this item twice in a row, because my number came up again on the 2 February opinion article lottery (and I have a weird obsession with furry little critters, Bill Murray and ridiculous episodes in American folk culture). Next year could get very meta if we see a repeat engagement.
Unfortunately we have had to close comments on this thread due to reports from members about the direction the discussion has gone. Why not chill out and have a pleasant Friday lunch while we tidy things up.
Please remember that this is a professional forum. Do not say anything here that you wouldn't say in your normal work setting.
As a polite reminder, our site terms and conditions forbid any defamatory comments (eg belittling someone's intelligence or professional expertise), obscene, offensive or discriminatory comments, or anything likely to upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
So have a bit of perspective - this is an article about spreadsheets, after all - and try to ask yourself before you start typing whether the comment you're about to make makes any constructive or useful addition to the debate.
*Comment from IRIS Software Group*
After the article was published, I got some follow-up comments from Jenny Strudwick, product director at IRIS Software Group, that addresses some of the points raised.
She explained: “IRIS Business Tax software automatically attaches the correct sets of accounts to the CT600 (when they are both produced in IRIS) to prevent users from attaching the wrong period of accounts.
“If the accounts are attached manually to the CT600 we validate and warn the user if the periods do not match. We help to prevent mistakes as much as possible in this area.
“With regard to the user submitting the CT600 for the wrong period, we clearly display the Accounting Period End date in the submission screen, so it is easy for the user to select the correct return for submission.
“However, we cannot prevent the user from submitting the incorrect period as we do no know which period they want to submit. We have not had any complaints from users around the clarity or process in this respect.”
My answers
Shortly after I posted this article, Intuit CEO Sasaan Goodarzi popped up on LinkedIn with his latest analysis on the prospects for generative AI within the evolving QuickBooks platform. The post heralds the arrival of Intuit's "proprietary" (ie not Open) GenAI Operating System (GenOS).
The code will empower Intuit technologists "to design, build and deploy breakthrough generative AI (GenAI) experiences with unparalleled speed", he wrote, fuelling the company's ability to innovate at pace and “automagically” generate insights and actions for customers to put more money in their pockets.
It's breathless stuff that references how GAI tools within Mailchimp are being used to help customers refine their marketing mailings (an example I didn't fit into the article), but doesn't specify any other developments or examples that weren't already in the public domain.
It also addresses the trust issue, promising: "Amidst the delivery of these game changing AI-driven experiences, Intuit will continue to fiercely protect the privacy of all customers’ data. That commitment has always been at core of our company and will be even more important in the age of AI."
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-intuit-harnessing-power-genai-transfo...
While it's hard not to feel a little deflated that my analysis was eclipsed within a few hours, it looks like Goodarzi is determined to push Intuit back onto the AI's centre stage after the spotlight switched to OpenAI (and Microsoft). Or could something I wrote here have provoked his response?
The repercussions from this story continue to grow. Since Mark Taylor's initial report, former CEO Tom Seymour has left the firm entirely. Senior executives from PwC Global were quickly on the spot and called in the CEO of Telstra to conduct a review into the firm’s governance, accountability and culture.
Reuters is also reporting that the matter may be referred to the police for a criminal investigation.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-says-pwc-leak-gover...
Good work it200... about 30mins after your post, we got a correction email from HMRC apologising for the 22 May 2024 mistake and confirming the VAT registration helpline will close on Monday 22 May 2023.
So, it appears they listen to accountants sometimes. if it appears on AccountingWEB.
[OK, maybe others have been pointing this out on social media too, but the timing was auspitious from our point of view]
For the sake of completeness, we've also picked up news from the Florida about Client Hub's ChatGPT-powered Magic Workflow feature. Announced in April, which puts it ahead of the Pixie CoPilot launch, Magic Workflow aims to simplify documenting and building practice workflows by setting up job templates for the use based on a simple description of what the job is.
According to the developer's website, the AI-generated processes can be tweaked to suit the user's unique requirements.
The company was founded by accountant and occasional AccountingWEB contributor Judie McCarthy. We'll be in touch with her to find out a little more.
Update: Tax policy blogger Dan Niedle has looked into the background of AMS Group and established that it is related to tax advisory boutique Signature that specialises in “education and school fees planning”.
In his assessment, the tax avoidance scheme designed to lessen the liability for parents paying school fees is unlikely to succeed. The Guardian followed up the story over the weekend here:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/06/tax-firm-run-by-snps-au...
Our own tax editor, Rebecca Cave, has been in touch with Niedle to explore the issues in more detail. Stay tuned!
I've been in touch with Thriveal founder and CPA Jason Blumer, who uses Karbon within his firm. Jason hasn't had exposure to the new functionality yet, but didn't give the impression he was about to bet his tech stack on it just yet. His regularly adds new software tools, but only after going through a structured process.
"It's a very strategic decision and one that many firms make too lightly," he said. "Adding very popular AI tools into the firm takes careful consideration, messaging to the team and clients, and the strategic management of the tool and who will champion its use."
I'm getting back to him to see if we can go into a bit more detail around potential AI deployments.
@paulwakefield1 - You are entirely correct and the mistake is down to poor fact-checking on my part. I'm really sorry for letting you down and to colleagues who would expect better of me.
I spent a fair amount of time pursuing various strands of thought down Google wormholes and at one point confused OpenAI with something I imagined was called "OpenMind"... Convinced that this was a Google subsidiary, that's what I typed when it would have taken 30secs to clarify the issue, as you have done.
That said, Microsoft has put $10bn into OpenAI, so I think I can stand by my contention that generative AI and further developments will end up in the hands of megatech corporations.
As an aside, I asked ChatGPT for its analysis of this point and got a classic, bland summary of the two sides of the argument: "On the one hand, technology corporations have the resources and expertise to drive innovation and bring new AI-based products and services to market. They can also use their power to invest in research and development and to promote collaboration within the scientific community, which can benefit society as a whole.
"On the other hand, the concentration of power in the hands of a few corporations can stifle competition and innovation, limit consumer choice, and lead to ethical concerns around privacy, bias, and fairness... Ultimately, the future of AI and its role in society will depend on how it is developed, deployed, and regulated."
@JustAnotherUser - thanks for saving me the trouble of vanity surfing my own name on ChatGPT. All that info is out there on the search engines, but as I suggested the bot is not above a bit of fabrication. To my knowledge, I have never contributed to the International Accounting Bulletin.
Hmmm... I'd say it's less a case of deconstructing my job than astrally projecting themselves into my daily reality. Spooky.
Like Phil Connors, I've now written this item twice in a row, because my number came up again on the 2 February opinion article lottery (and I have a weird obsession with furry little critters, Bill Murray and ridiculous episodes in American folk culture). Next year could get very meta if we see a repeat engagement.
Unfortunately we have had to close comments on this thread due to reports from members about the direction the discussion has gone. Why not chill out and have a pleasant Friday lunch while we tidy things up.
Please remember that this is a professional forum. Do not say anything here that you wouldn't say in your normal work setting.
As a polite reminder, our site terms and conditions forbid any defamatory comments (eg belittling someone's intelligence or professional expertise), obscene, offensive or discriminatory comments, or anything likely to upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
So have a bit of perspective - this is an article about spreadsheets, after all - and try to ask yourself before you start typing whether the comment you're about to make makes any constructive or useful addition to the debate.
*Comment from IRIS Software Group*
After the article was published, I got some follow-up comments from Jenny Strudwick, product director at IRIS Software Group, that addresses some of the points raised.
She explained: “IRIS Business Tax software automatically attaches the correct sets of accounts to the CT600 (when they are both produced in IRIS) to prevent users from attaching the wrong period of accounts.
“If the accounts are attached manually to the CT600 we validate and warn the user if the periods do not match. We help to prevent mistakes as much as possible in this area.
“With regard to the user submitting the CT600 for the wrong period, we clearly display the Accounting Period End date in the submission screen, so it is easy for the user to select the correct return for submission.
“However, we cannot prevent the user from submitting the incorrect period as we do no know which period they want to submit. We have not had any complaints from users around the clarity or process in this respect.”