Back office and administrative functions, especially in accounting, are often burdened by repetitive, data-heavy tasks that slow down work for people. You could say it slows down productivity and increases the risk of errors in areas like data entry.
It is essential for businesses to seek cost efficiency especially in an uncertain economy. One way to do this is a push to do more work, take on more clients, and deliver outputs faster, which demands a great deal of effort from staff. But humans pushed to the limit will have issues with accuracy. And tired staff are prone to errors and stress. It is, therefore, not surprising that a growing number of companies are turning to AI to get ahead or, at the very least, keep afloat.
Overview of AI Use in Financial Services
In a white paper released by The World Economic Forum (“Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services,” 2025), it noted, “Artificial intelligence is transforming financial services, offering efficiency and revenue growth opportunities, but also posing significant risks and challenges.”
Naturally, businesses in finance and accounting deal with data-rich and language-heavy operations so their use of AI is a no-brainer; some have even been doing this for years. The report notes that financial services firms have spent billions of AI, with investments projected to reach $97 billion by 2027. The same report notes that industry stakeholders must “address key risks such as data transparency, privacy, cybersecurity and the spread of misinformation, while also closing policy gaps that could hinder the use and innovation of AI. Overcoming these challenges is essential to ensuring that AI can be leveraged effectively and responsibly across the industry, now and in the future.”
Pro-tip: If you are taking the AI route to save on costs and trying to improve work efficiency, consider the AI automation hybrid model called AI +Human.
The AI +Human hybrid automation model is Agility’s answer to adoption and full dependence on AI. A major cost-saving software automation solution paired with offshore staffing, this approach is NOT about replacing human workers; instead, it’s empowering human workers to have the support of a super-efficient system and let them focus on higher-value tasks while the machines handle the routine processes.
Streamlining Data Entry and Document Processing
Accounting departments frequently deal with large volumes of invoices, receipts, and financial statements. Traditionally, this work is time-consuming and prone to human error. AI-powered automation tools can now extract, classify, and input data from scanned documents and digital files with remarkable speed and accuracy. For example, AI agents can process thousands of invoices daily, categorize expenses, and flag discrepancies for human review.
This is where Agility’s AI +Human model supercharges the workflows for accounting firms. While AI agents can be programmed and coded to specific business tasks, having human agents doing oversight makes the process more trustworthy. This deployment of AI agents in partnership with human agents assures the speed and accuracy of the process. And when the human agents are offshore teams that have a track record in efficiency, great work ethic, and savings of up to 70% compared to onshore staff, the benefits are massive. With AI working in the background and doing near perfect data input, offshore teams can then focus on verifying flagged items, handling exceptions, and managing vendor communications.
Enhancing Compliance and Audit
Compliance and audit preparation require meticulous attention to detail. AI can assist by continuously monitoring transactions for anomalies, automating the documentation of controls, and generating audit trails. The offshore staff can then focus on interpreting results, managing regulatory inquiries, and ensuring that all documentation meets legal standards.
In 2023, the University of Pennsylvania conducted a study with OpenAI that said about half of all tasks US workers perform could be completed faster by generative AI without losing quality. An article by the Journal of Accountancy published the same year (“How artificial intelligence can help save accounting,” 2023) noted that The Wall Street Journal reported in December the year before that 17% of accountants and auditors, essentially one out of six, quit the profession in 2020 and 2021. The article attributed this to possible burnout.
That said, AI could alleviate staff shortages, and offshore staffing would most likely bring down people costs by up to a whopping 70%. And working with a provider that has a very low churn rate would certainly help in terms of minimal business disruptions.
Optimizing Accounts Payable and Receivable
Accounts payables and receivable are areas where automation can yield significant benefits. AI agents can automate invoice matching, payment scheduling, and reconciliation with bank statements. Offshore teams can handle vendor disputes, negotiate payment terms, and manage collections. These are tasks that require human judgement and interpersonal skills.
An article in Gartner.com quoted that a Gartner, Inc. survey revealed the adoption of AI by finance functions has “increased significantly in the past year with 58% using the technology in 2024—a rise of 24 percentage points from 2023.”
The same article said the areas where finance has mostly adopted AI are in:
- Intelligent process automation (used y 44% of finance functions)
- Anomaly and error detection (39%)
- Analytics (28%)
- Operational assistance and augmentation (27%)
Using AI for these areas and having offshore staff provide reviews and oversight would be an ideal solution that assures improved accuracy.
The Future of Accounting Operations is Now
The integration of AI +Human hybrid automation (particularly offshore staffing paired with AI agents) is transforming not just back office and admin operations; it is also changing accounting operations in a big way. It makes the job faster, more accurate, and more cost-effective. This hybrid model allows organizations to reduce administrative overhead, minimize errors, and free up skilled staff to focus on other initiatives. As espoused by Agiity’s AI +Human model, the future of administrative work and operations is the seamless collaboration between AI and human expertise. This is already majorly underway in the healthcare space, and the combination taking over accounting and finance workflows is just a natural progression of AI’s growth.
The synergy between intelligent software automation and skilled offshore teams is currently redefining how businesses approach administrative work in areas like healthcare, IT, HR, and accounting. AI +Human hybrid delivers greater agility and resilience in an evolving global business landscape.
Learn more by visiting our AI +Human page.
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