In the future, businesses may no longer need to go directly to their bank for banking services

Accountants will probably recognise the situation where a business owner says: “I knew the payment was due, but I expected that by then a client would already have paid one of the larger invoices.” The business owner was aware of both the outgoing payment and the expected receipt, but the overall cash-flow picture was not visible at the right time. As a result, even a profitable company can quickly find itself in a difficult position.

Looking ahead has always been an important part of financial management. What is changing, however, is how quickly we can assess, on the basis of existing data, what may happen next. The earlier a possible financial bottleneck becomes visible, the more time a company has to make decisions.

Business software will become more than an accounting programme

Companies already have much of the information needed for financial analysis. Business software brings together data related to sales and purchases: invoices, receivables and liabilities. Through bank integration, information about transactions on bank accounts also reaches the same environment. As a result, a large part of a company’s financial picture is already available on the accountant’s desktop.

The next development could go beyond merely reducing manual work. Business software may become a company’s main financial workspace, where more and more banking services are also available. Businesses would no longer need to log into the online banking platform separately for every payment or other banking operation. Banking services would be available in the environment where the company’s finances are already managed, while the bank would operate securely in the background.

This also changes the role of the bank. One of the bank’s increasingly important tasks will be to make its services securely available in other environments. Making a payment or addressing a financing need does not necessarily have to begin by opening the online banking platform. Ideally, these actions could become a natural part of a business owner’s and accountant’s normal workflow.

AI can help identify financial needs earlier

If a business owner sees EUR 42,000 in the current account today, this primarily tells them how much money is in the account at that moment. It would be far more valuable to know what that balance might look like in two weeks’ or two months’ time.

If the account balance is connected with receivables and liabilities, future payments and clients’ past payment behaviour, the system could assess when the company’s cash reserves may fall below their usual level.

It is possible to go one step further. What happens if a larger client invoice is paid a week late? If an investment is postponed by a month? Or if several major outgoings fall in the same week? Artificial intelligence could help model such scenarios and bring a potential cash need to the business owner’s attention before it becomes a problem.

This would also change the conversation between the business owner and the bank. If a potential funding need is known several weeks or months in advance, solutions can be discussed while there are still several options available.

Data analysis will move to the centre of the accountant’s role

More automated data exchange and technology will also change the role of the accountant. The less time is spent moving data manually, the more accountants can focus on analysing it: why a change has occurred, what it means for the company and what steps should be considered. The bank’s client manager, in turn, can help assess possible financing solutions and the risks associated with them.

Companies are generally not short of data. What is often missing is the ability to turn that data into decision-ready information quickly enough. The next step could therefore be for business software, banks and artificial intelligence to work more closely together, so that companies receive important financial information before a financial bottleneck emerges.