Podcast WSW - Transform your Accounting Firm with AI
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[00:00:00]
Dan DeLong: Welcome everybody to another workshop Wednesday brought to you by schoolbookkeeping. com where you. You become the best bookkeeper you can be because today we're having casual conversations for serious workflow. Some introductions are in order because we have a new face in the in the Brady bunch [00:01:00] here.
Ted, introduce yourself for us.
Meet Ted McRae
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Ted McRae: Hello everyone. I'm so Ted McRae, I work over here at Makers Hub. I'll just do a brief background. I, have to say this at least three or four times a week because I do webinars all week long. But I started my career with leadership roles at ADP paychecks.
And then, Dan, like I like to joke with you, I went to a tiny little company that you guys have probably all heard of called Intuit. And I was a recycled employee at Intuit for, I, it was so many times I think like 10 years. And then I went to an even, from Intuit, I went to an even smaller company called Xero.
And at the time it was small. I started as employee number 15 at Xero U. S. and really help them develop their partner, like they're going to markets for their partners. [00:02:00] In the beginning, it was really cool, albeit at the towards the end. And even now, I think The partner channel has gone, by the wayside, unfortunately.
And then I went to a company called accounting suite, and now I'm here at makers hub doing the same thing, helping with technology and bringing it out to the accounting partners.
Transforming Practices Through AI
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Dan DeLong: So we're going to be talking today about, transforming practices through. AI and you have a, a special love with with AI.
Tell, tell us a little bit about, I have a unique
Ted McRae: skill set. I've been trained for many years. No. So one of the things is I, am a, self proclaimed propeller head. I love technology and I'm a I'm a big gigantic nerd.
Dan DeLong: So yeah. And he is pretty tall too. So
Ted McRae: I don't know if I'm, I've lost a lot of weight.
I don't know if I'm as gigantic as I used to be. [00:03:00] But no, I really just love technology and because I've been in the accounting industry, not as an accountant, but in the industry for 30 years. What I really enjoy doing is helping people take technology and figure out how do we make you more efficient?
so especially when we talk about like subscription based or value based whatever you want to call that Technology is really where you need to go and, help get that into people's into people's world, their work world is really what I'm passionate about. So in doing that, I went to, when chat GPT came out, I made sure that I started going to all these classes and I got, my prompt engineer certification.
Dan DeLong: Oh, so there's actually a, certification to to talk to chat DPT.
Ted McRae: Yeah if you think about it, [00:04:00] it demystifies the whole chat GPT experience, if you go in and it took a lot of time. But it really helps understand what it is. So I went and got my engine, my, my prompt engineer because you know what happened down and Rachel, I think it probably happens for a lot of people is you think that there's this secret code that you have to know in order to craft a prompt, right?
It's but there's no code. It's just like there's not a secret. There is sometimes to talk to Dan DeLong. There is a When I'm at the trade shows no, but you know if you're just talking to your spouse or your friend, there's no secret code You know what you're going to ask them based on the response that you are hoping to get.
Dan DeLong: Yeah I freeze up when I, have to talk to technology, I feel like, I forget what happened, but I was, [00:05:00] I said the wrong word and, like it was, like. I it's performance anxiety when it comes to you. I know Siri's listening and
Ted McRae: here she comes.
Dan DeLong: Yeah. ,
Ted McRae: and then you're like, oh, wait no. I didn't mean to say that. Especially like with, I won't say her name right now, but it starts with an A, an N. And if I say it right now, she's gonna talk back to me. But especially with that I, because in some cases she'll go on and talk for 15 seconds after I ask her the wrong thing, and I'm like.
No, shut up. That's not what I meant
Rachel D: you guys I get so frustrated with that because I Will tell I maybe it's A L E X A, I'm not sure what's the other one I have the, a Google one, and it's music in the kitchen, and I'll constantly tell it play this, and the complete opposite comes out, but when it comes [00:06:00] to ChatGPT, oh, I love telling ChatGPT what to do, I am like, the boss, and it's fun!
Practical Uses of AI in Accounting
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Ted McRae: Yeah, that's and what I've really tried to do is, How do I figure out, even for myself, how to, get chat GPT to work for what I'm What I need it to do, and how do I create what they call GPTs so I don't have to explain to it every single time I need something. And those, and the efficiency that it's created, I can create a, what used to take me like three days to create a, blog that was.
Full filled with nice content readable content now can take me less than 20 minutes
Rachel D: Oh, it's incredible. It's completely transformed my whole business every single thing that I do and for me It's not even the content writing it is the practice [00:07:00] management. I mean it's wild It is completely crazy, and I Now, can't even get through my day without Gary.
But it's no, but now I, like I was telling Dan the other day, Gary is just my main chat GPT. Now I've got a zillion GPTs. I create one for each client. I create one for sales, for managing my practice, for this new program that I'm going to be doing for, like goal setting. And just so many different things.
And for me, it's the biggest. Time saver is wait. I want to tweak something and I'll add that sentence. Do it again. Reframe it. Do it again. Add this. Do it again. Over and over and over. These tasks that I used to do as an admin. I can have done in seconds.
Ted McRae: I now think about Rachel, the like for a practice.
And especially for somebody that is either just starting out or they've got a lot of, [00:08:00] they've got a lot of clients, but they're the one man shop and I need a new client checklist
that,
that is like something that would take me a day or two to do probably at least. Here's where I use it the most.
And this is probably what you do as well. Instead of staring at the blank word document, I at least say, here's what I'm thinking about doing, here's who I'm thinking about doing it to, here's what I want it, so I give it a structure, and you create a draft that might be neat.
Rachel D: Yeah. It's, crazy.
It's wild. Yes. Like you're saying to get started. I have found for me, the most important thing that it's become for me is my it department, because that's where I struggle the most is I struggle with that kind of stuff. I'm, just not a trained it gal. [00:09:00] And, but once I figure something out, then I know it.
And, I'm pretty good. Yeah. I definitely have. It helped me with some accounting sometimes, but for me, it's the show me how to create a zap between this and that in seconds. And I just follow the step by step instructions for me. I never have to hire it's so funny because like people are talking about, oh it can do this in your bookkeeping.
Forget that. I now don't have to hire an IT manager. I don't have to hire HR. I don't have to hire all these things. I, it's replaced a lot of that for me.
Ted McRae: Yeah. And there's another product out there. You might've heard of it called perplexity.
Rachel D: No.
Ted McRae: Okay. So perplexity for your questions. How do I do this?
If you go and look at perplexity, it's not just
Dan DeLong: looking it up.
Ted McRae: It's not a chat GPT type of a thing. Where you can have it [00:10:00] create stuff for you, but I use it. So fortunately and unfortunately for me, I don't know QuickBooks desktop very well, right? But I still have to work in it so I can ask perplexity.
How do I set up? a P. O. In QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Edition, and it will give you the true real steps to doing it.
Rachel D: Oh, that's incredible.
Ted McRae: Yeah. Like for you, for your zaps, it's perplexity. So I use them. And I have them in a group, within Chrome. So all I have to do is type on the AI group and it opens up perplexity and G a chat GPT.
So if I wanted to, if I want to create something that has statistics, I'll ask perplexity, give me all the statistics. on how long it takes to do a bill and the cost and all this type of stuff and it will give me all the stats with all the sources and everything and then I use that to [00:11:00] go into chat GPT and say I'm creating this or that.
So here's the statistics that I have and it will do everything else for me.
Rachel D: Oh, yeah, and that's great And then if you've created, you know your own In chat you betina and I've got projects if you've created, one ongoing drop it in there and just train it, you know over and over it's incredible
intro: Yeah, so
Rachel D: actually and on the front page of perplexity.
There's a prompt that says, how, what do I use perplexity for on it? It's very meta and it says, with professional applications for educational and learning uses for creative tax tasks, content generation. And it's so funny because, Yeah it, oh my gosh, oh my, real time and practical uses.
Okay, I'm gonna be in here a lot. If you
Ted McRae: type in hey, what are the best, what's the best software to do infographics? It's gonna give you five infographics with the links to there.
Rachel D: [00:12:00] Yeah, it's crazy because like for me the probably the in the top five things of what I love about AI is that it points me in the right direction.
So I don't have to, because it's so funny. Like I've learned with the onset of AI so much more about what I'm good at versus what I'm not good at and What I'm not as good at is creatively coming up with the maybe I'll mix that with that people are really good with that. I'm not, I, you point me in the right direction.
Tell me what to do. I will do it and I will learn and retain it just like that. So to have this as my guide and assign me, do that. And then that, great now I know, and it is sped up my ability to. troubleshoot I. T. Like you would not imagine. It's incredible.
Ted McRae: Yeah. And think about it like I'm the complete opposite.
I can create and I know what I want it to do. I just don't know. I look at that. I'm the one that will look at that lenders document [00:13:00] for 35 minutes or three days and put in like writing a book and only put once upon a time.
Rachel D: Yeah,
Ted McRae: I know. I know what I want. The story to be and you don't know how to start it The
Dan DeLong: night was humid you always start with the night was humid it was a
Ted McRae: dark scary night
Rachel D: Oh, but can I and then also dan I know you want to say something But let me just tell you like the coolest thing ever yesterday I What I am very lost when it comes to Google ads, and it's on my list okay, ask Chad duty, how to walk me through step by step So I was like, okay, now I'm going to tackle this. And because I was having somebody do it, but then I had to Let that person go. And so I was like, I'll do it myself. Okay. I started with, cause it's like what you were just saying, it seemed too big and monumental. So I just said I went to my Google ads thing and I just said, what's this?
And then it just set me on the [00:14:00] path. I taught myself. every single thing about all the Google ads, what it all meant. And I just, and then I asked it, why would I want 50 landing pages? And then it just explained it. I feel like I can now open up a whole business on how to do Google ads for somebody.
Ted McRae: Yeah. Yeah. And, but just think about, Oh, Dan, go ahead. Are you wanting to say something?
Dan DeLong: Oh I was just I think Right now we look at where chat GPT or open AI or this whole thing about AI was introduced, almost like maybe 18 months ago, and where we are today, I think a lot of people, especially accountants and bookkeepers are in AI fatigue where it's it's a fire hose of information and a lot of people could be like in the, position of It's too far. I feel like I would be drowning now. [00:15:00] Yeah, you're starting a race.
Ted McRae: You're starting a car race three days late, and you gotta catch up with them.
Dan DeLong: Where do you see, Ted, where is this AI monument now, in the present day, as what you would call
Ted McRae: it? I was thinking about this last night, like where it is and seeing China's new new thing. AI is has gone beyond the terrible twos.
And it's now that toddler that, that is just gro You're like, every day you go and you're like, Holy smokes, they know how to do that now? Oh my gosh, they climbed up the refrigerator and grabbed the cookie jar. So It really is that toddler that is just you're amazed at what how much it can learn,
Dan DeLong: right?
so like you've gone from choking hazards to you [00:16:00] know You've gone
Ted McRae: Like what we were talking about is AI hallucinations to like, you know That's not even it can almost ask you. Are you sure this is what you were asking for? Because it doesn't make sense So AI today, like I say, it's like that toddler because now It can, read images, which is amazing, right?
You can take a picture of a butterfly, upload it and say, tell me what this picture is, and it will tell you exactly what it is, what type of butterfly it is, what type of bush that it's on, what the background is and all those types of things. So we're getting past like just a large language model.
And we're getting into more of a seeing, I call it computer vision. It can see things, and it's going to be doing things that in the future that I can't even probably think about right now, beyond [00:17:00] just asking a question, I truly believe that what AI is going to be able to do, especially for businesses like CPAs and accountants.
And, easily right now it can do it, but it can be your chat bot, but be almost where you don't even know that person is a a chat bot that is really somebody that's answering human like intelligently based on your SOPs and all that other stuff. So you have an internal client chat bot and an external.
And it's answering S. O. P. S. It's answering easy accounting questions. But you have to think of a I right now as that, like Rachel, like what you were saying as that assistant. If you're gonna upload. So what I did, I saw on LinkedIn, somebody put a an infographic. It was like a ginormous thing with all these formulas and stuff of how [00:18:00] to analyze a balance sheet versus, a cash flow or PNL and all these other things.
And I'm like, okay, let's just take a picture of that. And let me create a GPT. And tell it to act as an accountant because I don't I want it to act as an accountant. Now I'm going to upload this and then I uploaded a balance sheet into it and it used all the formulas that were on that sheet that I just, I didn't have to type anything and I just took a a screenshot of it and uploaded it into there.
And now all of a sudden it's giving me. Like real feedback on about on a sample balance sheet, but like I said, it's like an assistant. Rachel, like you were saying is now. I'm not just going to take that and give it straight to my client. I want to actually review it.
Rachel D: Yeah, it's really important. You have to.
And like the key thing that you said is you put the instructions of how to analyze it before you put the, is that what you just said? Yeah. Yeah. I didn't say,
Ted McRae: Hey, [00:19:00] analyze this for me and let it do whatever it wants.
Rachel D: That's the risk is and I'll give you an example. Cause I'm getting my master's in accounting right now.
And I have a GPT for every single one of my classes too. And because they're all very different. And so you like, I would just test it. Okay, calculate. The capital gains deduction on this and that. Oh, wildly incorrect. So you have to be very, careful with the calculations and the whatever.
And the more prompting ahead of time, these are the parameters now analyze it based on the parameters I just told you, that's where you're going to get the best success. And that's what I always. Dump things in there. You're, going to get a total insanity. And so I did that. I was like, Oh my gosh I want to see if it can do it.
Everything was wrong. I was like, you gotta be kidding me. It was right. I took my syllabus. [00:20:00] And I uploaded it and I said, and here's the parameters of the class. Now it can, it knows the nuance of the various things that I need. So if you understand, like we've had this discussion a million times, if you really are understanding how to prompt it for what you need and the parameters of what you need, you're going to get better results.
And so the people that really understand how to assign it very specific things, Are going to get those type of outcomes. And like at my firm, we just had a meeting this morning talking about it. Oh, I'm not looking to have chat, GPT or automation, or AI, do my work. Oh, we want to do that work.
We're human people connecting with our clients. That's really important, but all you, and, but like with the, repetitive tasks and even just getting the data into the application or getting everything into QBO. [00:21:00] Of course we're going to use every automation tool in the world and every AI prompt in the world because then we can speed that up and now we've got our bread and butter.
Now we can analyze what we need. Now we can present it bespoke and connect with our clients and the way. So it's really getting you. Speeding you up so you can scale and that's what I love about it. And so, I feel like it's an incredible tool for those that kind of want to look at it that way and have this endless possibility of you can grow your firm kind of any way you want.
And that's what the creative part that I like about it. And
Ted McRae: that's where Dan, a lot of people fail because all what Rachel just said is, so Oh my gosh, that is just, I have to do all of this. I don't even know how to get in and start my first chat, right? It's that's where and I've seen [00:22:00] Anytime I do it chat GPT webinar I swear I get 500 people on the webinar because they still don't understand even, just the basics on how to create a prompt or where to, go.
And I think probably where most people fail in technology is not having the understanding like Rachel does about I have to upload it. How do I do that? I have to have it look at websites. How the heck do I do that?
Rachel D: But I just started like one day trying one thing and because I didn't know a lot about it before either.
And again, like I'm not a developer, I'm not, that kind of person, but I, know what I do well and I follow instructions. This has been able to and trust me, I know I go to conferences and sometimes I sit next to people who are like, one of these days I have to get in the cloud and I'm like, yeah and then I'll talk to other people [00:23:00] I don't know if you guys know Andrew Wall, but I'll talk to Andrew Wall, and I'll be like, I literally know nothing!
This guy is automated the universe, and he's so incredible and it is, it's all relative.
Ted McRae: Yeah and, so that's what, you're saying, you need to just start with your first
Rachel D: prompt
Ted McRae: and just say, even if your prompt is, Hey, what can you I'm you need to, figure your prompts out like this.
Who am I? What do I, what is the end product? Hey, I'm an accountant. Or hey, I'm a bookkeeper and I've been doing this job for X amount of years. What can chat GPT do for me and just started out like that in a prompt and it's going to tell you, can you and then say, how do you, so you, I always think, and this is what I learned in some of the prompt engineering is start with what you want the ending to look like.
But know that you're going to have to make [00:24:00] adjustments along the way. So I want the ending to be, all right, here are the manual tasks that I'm doing and here's what ChatGPT can do. So I can tell ChatGPT I'm an accountant or a bookkeeper. I've been doing it for this long. Here are some of the things that I do for my clients.
Please create a table with what I do now with my clients listed on one side and what ChatGP can do for me on the right hand side based on, those two factors. And now I'm like, okay, I'm going to start with the first one. How can you help me? Yeah.
Rachel D: That is so cool. And a lot of it is also if you're interested in it, but no, don't know necessarily how to do it.
This is why I've befriended people that are interested in the same kind of thing as me. I met Dan and I was like, Oh, we are interested in the same stuff.
Networking and Learning from Others
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Rachel D: And now one day I'll tell them, Hey Dan I don't I, how do you connect that to that? And he's [00:25:00] Oh, did you try it with zap? Where's that beer?
Like the yesterday. And, I was like. No, I did not. And so I just told Chachaputi, tell me how to do this and that was that instant. And so I got the idea from him. So you really, it helps, if you're like a solopreneur or whatever, and you're just like living in your own little world, it really helps.
to kind of network with other people that are like minded and also would like to learn new things in A. I. And just immerse yourself because everybody learns from everybody. And I get ideas from other Rachel. Guess what?
Ted McRae: Perplexity. I didn't find it on my own. Somebody told me about it.
That's the same thing.
Rachel D: Perplexity. What I'm, an accountant. What can I do? There
Dan DeLong: you go. Yeah.
AI as a Toddler: Understanding and Training
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Dan DeLong: So you had mentioned something of like where AI is right now, or [00:26:00] where it's graduated up to
intro: the,
Dan DeLong: And, I, think analogy of, where things are today, because. If anybody's had toddlers, no, that you just can't tell the toddler to do the results.
So you have to they will be there. They're as literal as they come. When you're talking to a toddler if you say something a specific way, they will take that interpretation of that.
Ted McRae: Keep your eye on the ball. They're going to put the ball up to their eyeball.
Dan DeLong: You said keep your eye on the ball.
Ted McRae: Yeah.
Dan DeLong: Yep. That's, that, that's a good way to to, imagine what, a when you're interacting with, AI, that, [00:27:00] that's where it's you would not, make sure what you're telling it and frame it, framing it is where. Is, the skill Yeah.
Ted McRae: To,
interact with. And Dan, think about it in, in these terms with ai right now, all of us that have had toddlers, fortunately mine are 28 and 26, but still act like toddlers, . If you tell them to, if you tell a toddler to clean their room Not only are they gonna have a, temper tantrum, but they, the room is so messy they have no idea where to start.
So what you have to do is say, Hey, let's start by cleaning up the, blocks. And now let's start by picking up all your dirty clothes over here. So it's almost the same with chat GPT. You're going to have to, the first prompt that I do is never the finished prompt. I'm always, making changes and edits, and I'm like, no, I don't like the [00:28:00] way you answered that, make it a little more witty or, no, that's not what I wanted, here's a website for you to view that says exactly what I want, and guess what, Rachel, I found the website on Perplexity.
So I'm like here, are three or four of the websites to do the research. So I'm constantly like a toddler cleaning its room, his or her room, telling it, no, you need to do here. You need to do this. And then finally the room's clean. And I'm like, Okay, I need to review everything that the toddler just did because I'm not gonna if the toddler comes downstairs and says my room's clean I'm gonna be like, I don't think so.
Let me go up and take a look and I open up the closet and it's filled with crap
Or I look under the bed, right so That's why I like to use that toddler analogy because it truly is yeah.
Dan DeLong: Yeah, and the thing about The thing where you from watching you work with with, AI is [00:29:00] that you can ask AI to help you question right? So you can help AI will help you create the prompts.
Yeah. What do I need to tell your room? And it was and you mentioned it earlier and we were talking about what brought up this whole idea of.
AI in Everyday Tools and Future Plans
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Dan DeLong: What we're talking about here today is I read AI hallucinations. Cause we early on in the, whole chat, GPT is going to take conquer the world.
We, we had this one end of the spectrum of it can't do math, right? Where it's like, how's it going to take over the world? If it, can't, even do the math. Can't even do math. But then the other end of the spectrum is they can pass the bar where , if you fed it, if you fed it the right amount of , they can fed the right information.
Yeah. But if you [00:30:00] say, PA pass the bar exam what, would ultimately come out? Probably nothing close to what you were to tell it, right? Yeah. That's where we're at. Today is how we how, do we interface with AI because this AI over overload is everything's got AI now it's, in QuickBooks, it's in, Your software, Makertub, it's in, it's everywhere, right?
So everybody's got this new shiny AI tool, right? What, we're going to do with Ted is we're going to start creating a a cohort an AI transformation cohort at school. bookkeeping where we're going to, we're going to back the truck up a little bit and, talk about just missions of what [00:31:00] is AI, what are the components of AI?
What's the difference between Claude and chat GPT? What's the difference between the open AI versus co pilot or all of those things. And then as we go through. And, talk about the advancements of, getting, a little deeper. You, we'll, get into the point of prompts that will allow you to augment your practice, as, an accountant or bookkeeper or, whatever that, happens to be, but learning how to create the prompts.
So that puts that you're, looking for inside of it. So we're. I'm super excited about that. Yeah, we'll have the Mr. Rogers version of AI and [00:32:00] then we'll, graduate to Sesame Street. And then we'll go to the electric company,
Rachel D: change our cardigans and change our shoes, just like Mr. Rogers.
Can I tell you guys, I just, this is like the coolest thing ever, Dan. I am. I love that so much. I just asked Perplexity, what is the difference between ChatGPT and Perplexity? And it gave me an incredible answer, but it's basically like dissing ChatGPT, basically saying it sucks and we're way better. And I can't, Dan, I can't post like outwardly, so I'm actually going to copy this and put it into a message to you.
And then if you want to,
Dan DeLong: Oh yeah, we'll put it in the chat.
Rachel D: Yeah, put it, if you want to put it in the comments, I just I just mess, private chatted you but yeah, it's, that's so incredible because I, really think it's transformational and, not only that I, did you get it,
Dan DeLong: it got cut off.
Yeah, only [00:33:00] one or two.
Rachel D: Okay. Hold on one second. Let me actually just, let me copy the whole thing. Yeah, it's really neat. And it's basically it basically says we incorporate stuff from chat. GPT chat, GPT only depends on its own language model, but we use all kinds of different things.
So it's like ours is more like a melting pot of all these things. Yeah. GPT
Ted McRae: is chat. GPT is the world basically. As far as what chat GPT knows, it's only its own like open AI, it has its own large language model that powers chat GPT, which is owned by it. And just think about it. Rachel and Dan chat GPT as of just like last year, or maybe 18 months only knew anything up until 2021 September 11th, 2021 because It was in its own little [00:34:00] database and it didn't learn.
So now that they've opened it up and you wouldn't be able, you could go out and have it learn stuff from the Internet. But now I can go in and ask it. Hey, what's makers up and it would know or what is. It knows things as early as what happened 10 minutes ago now, because it's constantly updating itself and now can go out and look on the Internet.
So you can just say to it now. Give me all the news of the day that I might be interested in. Here's my career. A male I won't say how old, like a hundred years old and what list out the things that I might be interested in and, it will go out and do that for me.
Rachel D: Oh, it's incredible.
And I, you know what I do? This is a conversation, you know what I do with it? I I even keep it open while I'm on client meetings or whatever, because I'll ask it, does this sync with QuickBooks? Does, can [00:35:00] I do this one task in this one thing? Okay. Okay. I'll constantly and it knows because now sometimes it doesn't always I asked it yesterday, where can I find this one specific little thing and it was, it clearly didn't know because it sent me down like a generic of a path and so what, but you know what, sometimes I'll do and I'll say, I did that.
It's not there and it'll go, oh, okay, hold on. Think again and it'll find it. So it's really incredible in terms of yeah. Like this back behind the scenes wizard, like making you appear smart, especially when you're in a meeting or trying to figure out like, oh can it do this?
And that's where
Ted McRae: perplexity is going to, change your life as well.
Rachel D: Yeah,
Ted McRae: I can
Rachel D: see you posted that link. Yeah, for some reason I couldn't get the whole thing.
Ted McRae: So for whatever reason not whatever [00:36:00] reason. So I, I've never, I don't replace chat GPT with perplexity. I use them in tandem,
And it really improves my, prompts.
And Dan, that would be something that we would go. Cause so like baby steps is like chat GPT one on one almost right. Here's how you sign up for it. Here's the overview and the UI, here's what you can do. And then maybe we give them a homework assignment, create your first couple of. Prompts and we want it to equal this at the end So I'll think of some cool little thing that everyone needs to come to the correct answer But it will take them a few steps to do it and then like We'll get into what really helped me understand how it works is getting into the way that it token it There's something called tokenization So it breaks out everything you say into tokens and then it puts them back together It's almost like it's learning how to [00:37:00] speak English Or learning how remember when we were in grade school and your teacher said, okay, now underline the noun, underline the adjective under.
So that's what chat GPT does. And then it brings everything together. So it understands what you're talking about and that's tokenization. So we'll even get into those types of things how that works. Because it's really important to understand, Oh, I like your, little, is that a doodle in the background?
Rachel D: Yeah.
Ted McRae: That's what really helps understand this kind of this beast. And because it's a toddler, you're, it's not very quick yet. So you are in the perfect opportunity to catch up with the toddler and catch it.
The Evolution of Technology in Accounting
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Dan DeLong: You can adopt the, this toddler, and we, look back at all of the all the moments in time where where things disrupted, industries, and we just take the accounting [00:38:00] industry for, for, example, right? Everybody was in spreadsheets or actually back in the old days of the ledger, right? Where they had this huge piece of paper where they did their journal entries and then here comes spreadsheets into the mix.
Oh my goodness, this is going to take away the accountant's job. No, but it become, it now becomes a tool so that you can now do your job. More efficiently, and then here comes accounting software like quickbooks and zero and those types of things. Oh, this is going to take away my job.
No, it's just again, that's allowing me to it's a tool that I can use. Now here's a I coming for my job, right? No, Dan, think
Ted McRae: about it. So there's been different eras in technology. So there is a W era. Which was all of us just getting [00:39:00] online and that allowed us to talk with each other and communicate over a distance.
Then there was the cloud era and that allowed us to access things from the cloud, access databases. None of these, shut down our business, right? And then there was the mobile era. Which allowed us to connect to each other and do everything over our phone.
Embracing AI: The Future of Professional Jobs
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Ted McRae: And now there's the, and now there's the AI first era.
And that's what we're in right now. It's not, it's gonna, it's going to make remedial jobs. It might affect remedial type jobs. It's not going to affect professional jobs. It's going to enhance those jobs. And we're in the AI first era right now. We, you need to embrace it cause it's not going anywhere.
Dan DeLong: You said something on Monday. You said something on Monday about the people that are like, Oh my gosh take my job. It's not, AI. That's going to take your [00:40:00] job. It's what,
Ted McRae: It's the not, it's the not changing. That's going to take, your job. I don't know what I said, but it's the not adapting.
I
Dan DeLong: remember. So it was the It's the person who does adopt AI that's going to take the job.
Rachel D: Yeah, because they're going to be able to combine a whole new set of things and new job descriptions will emerge. And all these cottage industries and that's, it was so funny because I read something, maybe it was yesterday, that some guy said, AI is going to basically, do all, mathematics now, and now the only thing people will ever need to do is communicate just speak and, I'm like I don't, know.
Because here's my take on it. I am in the trenches every day with small businesses. These people, they're not very well versed. And so they really need hand holding. And [00:41:00] I could say. Your margins in quarter four compared to quarter one. And they're just like, oh my god So as long as there are still other Businesses and other business owners and other folks out there that don't understand This new technology and the lingo and all of the things, we're still going to need to have an element of human interaction in our business and interpreting the financial information, everything from very basic interpreting very basic bookkeeping, okay, client, here's the money that you earned, here's the money that you spent, and here's the difference.
You're, people are going to have to be X. blamed.
Ted McRae: You know what Rachel, you could even so you have all this stuff that you want to tell your client. You can even [00:42:00] ask and I know this is bad, but you can ask chat GPT to dumb it down. Hey, I have a client who's in the the who has a garage and works on trucks.
And I need to, this is the whole, this is their PNL, this is everything that I wanted to talk to them about. Can you help me dumb it down? You don't have to say dumb it down, but put it into terms that this guy might understand. Yeah, for
Rachel D: sure, and you, but my point being though, is I'm not gonna hand them.
What, chat. GPT spits out No, and here's a paper. No, Like my clients wanna interact with you. They still I don't like talking on the phone, but , they still wanna meet or over zoom or in person, they still want to interact uhhuh and understand this part because don't forget the financial information is, that's somebody's livelihood.
That's their. business. That is that's why they're in bus very deeply personal. And [00:43:00] go, here's a piece of pap here's a, here's an excel to understand.
Ted McRae: Firs And second of all, if they did read it, they're not going to understand it.
Rachel D: Yeah and you can ask a lot of firm owners out there too.
They're like, my clients don't read the reports that I give them. So it, there's still always going to be that. So I'm not even worried about it because I feel like even if I can harness the AI tools to become as efficient as possible and even learn about it my own self, it's Elon Musk or Bill Gates, like talking amongst themselves about, and we're regular folks out here still not really understanding how their level applies to my life.
So my clients are going to be out there still needing these things to do their taxes. And that's not going away. I don't know. Maybe things will be different for my kid's generation, [00:44:00] but that's a whole different story. Think
Ted McRae: about. when we talk about building, everyone wants to know how to build value to your firm, right?
That's what makes you different than the person next door or down the hall that's doing the exact same thing that you're doing. And then take into consideration what Rachel, what you're doing with your clients, right? So you said, I asked chat GPT, can this do this? And I give the answer straight away to my clients, right?
So in building value, who would you rather have? The person who says, I'm not sure. Let me get back to you on that. And now I have to maybe remember that I even asked that question. And then three days later, they may or may not get back to me. Or the person who, while I'm on the phone with them, types it in and says, Oh yeah,
Rachel D: you
Ted McRae: can do that.
No problem. So the only thing that's going to differentiate your, you from the firm [00:45:00] down the street or that's next in the phone book or on the Google ads or whatever is your value to the client and what your value proposition is. And then when they're working with you, the value that they feel that you bring to them and what sets you apart from those people is being able to embrace.
Something like this so you can utilize so it's not going to take your job away. If anything, it's going to make your client sticky In my opinion, because they're not going to
Dan DeLong: go
Ted McRae: ahead
Dan DeLong: and then in the grand scheme of things my, my biggest takeaway from the reframe conference with Hector was automate the workflows, but humanize the relationship.
That relationship is never going to be taken over by technology, right? It's
Rachel D: as long as there's people out there that don't understand things about what you're doing, you'll be needed.
Ted McRae: Yeah.
Dan DeLong: Yeah. Yeah.
Ted McRae: So go ahead. [00:46:00] Sorry, Dan.
Dan DeLong: No I was, gonna wrap it up, but if you have something more to
Ted McRae: say, I can I could talk about technology.
Dan DeLong: Could have a, workshop Wednesday marathon session, just talking about this kind of stuff.
Rachel D: Wednesday going into Thursday,
Dan DeLong: all nighter. But Ted, I appreciate you joining us here today. We're, going to have Ted on the QB power hour where we're going to. Go into in a little bit of more detail of what we're going to be doing with this cohort at school bookkeeping So look forward to that in the coming weeks and months and we'll look forward to starting that cohort in school bookkeeping where ultimately you can participate in the whole set the whole sessions or Pick and choose topics that, speak to you to augment and be that, [00:47:00] fill in the gaps that you might be having with what that where this technology is today.
Maybe you already know all the, elementary stuff or maybe okay I just need to really understand how do I talk to this toddler today?
Ted McRae: Yeah. And if you already understand all that stuff, like, even Rachel did. You will still learn something like even if it's just as simple as perplexity
Rachel D: yeah. Or sit and have a conversation with Andrew Wall, if anybody knows who he is. And he'll make you feel really dumb. And then you're like, oh gosh, I have, I know nothing about this. I need to keep learning. Yeah. I'm just saying, I love him so much, but he's, so knowledgeable about AI. And, oh man. He's also a reframer too, by the way, shout out, he got
Dan DeLong: me too.
He, adopted, that that technology early on. Like you saw the wave coming and paddled [00:48:00] out in his surfboard to meet it. It's not that you can't catch up. We're at a, we're at a point where it's, relatively easy to, And as we'll, discover, you can use chat GPT or AI to help you catch up.
Ted McRae: Yeah. And just think, and just trying to learn it. So it's been around what, like we're going on four or five, four years, five years, really just think what's going to, what's going to take place in the next four or five years. So if you wait it by.
Hard to catch up. It's almost like my how to use an iPad, right? It's, he can't do it. But if
Dan DeLong: he would've, if he would've started 15, there will be a point where it'll be that waters
Ted McRae: yeah. You can't just paddle out to catch up. So cool. All right, guys. Thanks [00:49:00] for letting me join. I appreciate the talk.
It was awesome.
Dan DeLong: We appreciate you joining us, Ted, and look forward to seeing you, in the future. And we hope everybody who joined us had an insightful session. And we will, we'll see you next time on the Workshop Wednesday. Everybody have a great day. [00:50:00]
