AI Startup Basis Raises $34 Million for Accounting Automation Agent

AI startup Basis raises $34 million for accounting automation 'agent'

New York-based Basis is part of a category of AI startups creating autonomous agents, or systems that use AI to perform actions on their own. Executives in the field such as OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar have said such systems will dominate the AI agenda next year, as models have recently gotten to the point where they can carry out long-term planning.Artificial intelligence startup Basis has raised $34 million in a Series A funding round for its AI-powered accounting automation product, the company said on Tuesday. The round was led by Khosla Ventures. Other investors included NFDG, the AI-focused fund run by former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and former Apple executive Daniel Gross, OpenAI board members Larry Summers and Adam D'Angelo, and Google's chief scientist Jeff Dean. New York-based Basis is part of a category of AI startups creating autonomous agents, or systems that use AI to perform actions on their own. Executives in the field such as OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar have said such systems will dominate the AI agenda next year, as models have recently gotten to the point where they can carry out long-term planning. Basis' product, which they specifically sell to accounting firms, is capable of performing various workflows such as entering transactions and double-checking data accuracy, and integrates with popular ledger systems like Intuit's QuickBooks and Xero, the company said. Large accounting firms like Wiss, which employs 450 accountants, have seen up to 30% in time reduction from using Basis, the company's CEO Matt Harpe told Reuters. The product, which functions like a junior accountant, allows staff accountants to spend their time reviewing the AI agent's work, rather than doing the work manually, Harpe said. Basis helps to solve the current critical shortage of accountants, Khosla Ventures managing director Keith Rabois told Reuters, as baby boomers retire and younger generations opt out of the profession. The sector employs over 3 million in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the number of candidates sitting for the annual CPA exam decreased by 33% from 2016 to 2021, according to the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. Global accounting firms have historically dealt with the shortage by setting up shop in outsourcing hubs like India. Accounting is also among the sectors most vulnerable to AI disruption. A 2023 OpenAI paper concluded that large language model-driven automation could impact 100% of accountants and auditors' tasks.

AI-powered accounting startup Basis raises $34M in funding - SiliconANGLE

Basis, a startup developing artificial intelligence software for accounting firms, today announced that it has closed a $34 million investment. The Series A round was led by Khosla Ventures. It also drew contributions from Better Tomorrow Ventures, BoxGroup, Avid Ventures and NFDG, a fund run by former GitHub Chief Executive Nat Friedman and former Apple Inc. executive Daniel Gross. They were joined by several angel investors including Google LLC chief scientist Jeff Dean. Basis, officially Essex Labs Inc., provides an AI platform that promises to make accountants more productive by automating repetitive parts of their work. The software is powered by language models "built specifically for extremely high accounting performance." Those models power agents, AI programs optimized to perform a narrow set of actions with little to no human input. Accountants must often move data between applications as part of their day-to-day work. For example, a finance professional may have to copy the details of a transaction from scanned receipts stored in Dropbox to a centralized ledger. Basis says that its AI agents can automate data entry tasks. Double-checking ledger entries is another chore that the company promises to speed up. Searching for errors manually can be highly time-consuming at a large company that processes upwards of hundreds of transactions per week. An accounting firm's clients often manage their financial data in different ways. Two companies that operate in two different markets, for example, may have to structure their earnings reports in different ways to comply with local regulations. Basis says that its AI agents can adapt to each client's requirements. The platform accesses ledger data through integrations with popular accounting applications. According to Basis, its software retrieves records using revocable access tokens and doesn't store application login details. It leverages several different encryption methods to protect the information it processes. Basis says that its platform has been adopted by several of the top 100 accounting firms in the U.S.. One customer, New Jersey-based Wiss, has reduced the amount of time that staffers spend on manual tasks by up to 30% in some cases. Basis will use the funding to hire more employees. Additionally, the new capital should make it easier for the company to pursue its product development efforts. Both training AI models from scratch and fine-tuning existing algorithms can incur significant infrastructure expenses. Basis is the latest in a series of startups to have raised funding for AI-powered accounting tools.

AI startup Basis raises $34 million for accounting automation 'agent'

Dec 17 (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence startup Basis has raised $34 million in a Series A funding round for its AI-powered accounting automation product, the company said on Tuesday. The round was led by Khosla Ventures. Other investors included NFDG, the AI-focused fund run by former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and former Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab executive Daniel Gross, OpenAI board members Larry Summers and Adam D'Angelo, and Google's chief scientist Jeff Dean. New York-based Basis is part of a category of AI startups creating autonomous agents, or systems that use AI to perform actions on their own. Executives in the field such as OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar have said such systems will dominate the AI agenda next year, as models have recently gotten to the point where they can carry out long-term planning. Basis' product, which they specifically sell to accounting firms, is capable of performing various workflows such as entering transactions and double-checking data accuracy, and integrates with popular ledger systems like Intuit's (INTU.O), opens new tab QuickBooks and Xero (XRO.AX), opens new tab, the company said. Large accounting firms like Wiss, which employs 450 accountants, have seen up to 30% in time reduction from using Basis, the company's CEO Matt Harpe told Reuters. The product, which functions like a junior accountant, allows staff accountants to spend their time reviewing the AI agent's work, rather than doing the work manually, Harpe said. Basis helps to solve the current critical shortage of accountants, Khosla Ventures managing director Keith Rabois told Reuters, as baby boomers retire and younger generations opt out of the profession. The sector employs over 3 million in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the number of candidates sitting for the annual CPA exam decreased by 33% from 2016 to 2021, according, opens new tab to the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. Global accounting firms have historically dealt with the shortage by setting up shop in outsourcing hubs like India. Accounting is also among the sectors most vulnerable to AI disruption. A 2023 OpenAI paper, opens new tab concluded that large language model-driven automation could impact 100% of accountants and auditors' tasks. Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco Editing by Bill Berkrot Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence Anna Tong Thomson Reuters Anna Tong is a correspondent for Reuters based in San Francisco, where she reports on the technology industry. She joined Reuters in 2023 after working at the San Francisco Standard as a data editor. Tong previously worked at technology startups as a product manager and at Google where she worked in user insights and helped run a call center. Tong graduated from Harvard University.

Basis Raises $34 Million to Deploy AI Agents for Accountants | PYMNTS.com

Basis has raised $34 million in a Series A round to expand its deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) agents designed to help accountants. "We've raised $34m to accelerate our goal of equipping every accountant with a team of AI agents," the company said in a Tuesday (Dec. 17) post on X. In a deployment with select accounting firms in the U.S., the company's AI agents have saved accountants as much as 30% of their total time, per the site. "Accountants don't need more software; every accountant already has dozens of software tools," Basis said on its site. "Accountants need tools that can understand accounting, learn specific client needs, work independently and take real actions. Every accountant deserves a team that is an extension of them, that they can manage, and that can do work on their behalf." Wiss began this full deployment of Basis after seeing successful results in 10 months of testing the platform in beta in its Client Accounting Services (CAS) practice. During that time, Wiss' internal adoption of Basis increased rapidly each month. "Our initial tests showed enormous potential for Basis to reduce the amount of manual work within the practice while providing an even higher quality experience for clients," Wiss Partner Mike Castle said in a September press release. "The leadership team was eager to roll this out to all clients as quickly as possible, recognizing this as a key enabler of scaling our CAS service line for future growth."