AI for Accountants Vol. 1 - AI & LLMs
Welcome to issue #002 of New Age Accounting — Vol. #1 of AI for Accountants. Let's start from the beginning: AI & LLMs.
AI. Artificial Intelligence. The biggest buzzword in modern-day accounting and finance. Growing up, AI was the 6’0”, Hall of Fame PG/SG that played for the 76ers. Today, it’s the ‘thing that’s going to take your job.’
It’s daunting. However, I believe the reason people are fearful is because many of these concepts are new and they don’t fully understand their capabilities. The purpose of ‘AI for Accountants’ is simple: teach accountants the basics of AI to help them enhance their careers, not be replaced.
And with that, let’s get into it.
Whether you are just starting out or are a seasoned veteran, one of the first ways to get into AI within accounting is through an LLM (large language model). An LLM is simply a type of AI that is trained to read, write, and reason using language. The most notable are Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini. If you’ve ever typed a question into one of those, you’ve already used one.
Each of these models has their own strengths and weaknesses. Claude, made by Anthropic, is known for its strong writing, deep analysis, and complex reasoning. ChatGPT, made by OpenAI, is widely recognizable in the space and is known for its broad capabilities, ease of use, and large user community.
As an example, I once dropped the same request into both Claude and ChatGPT: “Summarize the key risks in this contract.“ Claude returned a structured breakdown with specific flags; ChatGPT gave a cleaner, more readable summary but lacked depth. Neither was wrong. They just approached the response differently. Try the same thing for yourself. Same prompt, two tools. You’ll learn more in five minutes than reading any comparison article.
One thing worth understanding early on is that these tools are not search engines. You’re not Googling a keyword and scanning results. You’re having a conversation. The better you become at explaining what you need (prompting), the better the output.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
Weak prompt: “Help me with this reconciliation.”
Strong prompt: “I’m reconciling our credit card statement to the GL for October. There are 14 unmatched transactions under $500. What are the most common reasons these mismatches happen? Where should I check first and how should I approach this task?”
Same task, completely different results. The more specific, conversational, and detailed you are, the better. The first one is vague. The second provides context — and context is everything.
Once you’ve picked a tool, here’s what to expect on pricing. Each of these LLMs has various tiers beginning at $0 (with limited usage) and scales to $200+ per month (depending on usage and other factors). It’s worth noting that most of the features that will impact your day-to-day only begin to take shape in paid versions.
Like most people, I personally started out using ChatGPT and I still find it to be a great tool. But over time, Claude has become my default of choice. Like many accountants I’ve spoken with, what won me over was the quality of analysis and its ability to handle dense, complex work — which we do daily. This has become more apparent as I’ve moved to higher tiers.
All things considered, when it comes to which is best, it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish and who you ask. There are many opinions. Focus on what you’re trying to accomplish, pick the one you prefer, and get after it.
If you don’t know where to start, here’s a prompt to try (replace words as needed):
I’m an accountant who wants to start using AI in my day-to-day work, but I’m not sure where to begin. Can you give me a simple, beginner-friendly roadmap? Start with the most practical first steps — things I can try today — and explain how AI can help with common accounting tasks like reconciliations, reporting, data analysis, or client communication.
Believe it or not, that is how it started for me. I knew this was the future, it was inevitable, however, I had no idea how to even begin. Now, through countless hours of trial and error, I still find myself asking Claude how to get more out of these tools.
Don’t overthink the prompt either — it doesn’t need to be perfect. One of the biggest misconceptions is that you need to know exactly what to say to get value out of these tools. You don’t. Just start prompting, see the result, and refine from there.
Start small. Keep refining. Sooner or later it’ll make sense and you’ll surprise yourself with what you’re capable of.
The accountants who will thrive in the next decade won’t necessarily be the ones who know the most technical details about how AI works behind the scenes. The accountants I’ve seen get the most out of these tools are the ones who identified a bottleneck, opened a tool, tried to build the solution, and kept going. Stay curious. Keep learning.
It’s worth noting that the same tool a beginner uses to draft an email to a client is the same one advanced users are connecting to live data, automating workflows, and running full flux analysis and scenario forecasting. That’s where this series goes. But it starts here.
Now that you know what these tools are, the next question is: how do you actually talk to them?
That’s where most people get stuck — and that’s exactly what we’re covering next.
Here are my questions to you:
Which LLM do you currently use? Do you have a strong preference to a specific LLM? Click the button below and tell me. I read every response.
The purpose of New Age Accounting is simple: to empower accountants — at every level — to become builders, not bookkeepers. Whether you’re a staff accountant, a controller, or a CFO, there’s something here for you. Some topics will be high level, others will come with step-by-step guides, and some will include the exact prompts and tools you need to start building today.
If you’ve made it this far, you’re already thinking differently about this profession. Subscribe and come build with us.