By Anna Tong
(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 led by former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and former Apple executive Daniel Gross, OpenAI board members Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo, and Google chief scientist Jeff Dean.
New York-based Basis is part of a category of AI startups that create autonomous agents, or systems that use artificial intelligence to perform actions on their own. Executives in the field, such as OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar, have said that such systems will dominate the AI agenda next year, as the models have only recently reached the point where they can carry out long-term planning.
Basis’ product, which they sell specifically to accounting firms, is capable of performing various workflows, such as entering transactions and verifying data accuracy, and integrates with popular accounting systems such as QuickBooks and Intuit’s Xero, the company said. company.
Large accounting firms like Wiss, which employs 450 accountants, have seen up to a 30% reduction in time when using Basis, the company’s chief executive, Matt Harpe, told Reuters.
The product, which functions as 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 solve the current critical shortage of accountants, Khosla Ventures CEO Keith Rabois told Reuters, as baby boomers retire and younger generations choose to leave the profession.
The sector employs more than 3 million in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the number of candidates taking the annual CPA exam decreased 33% from 2016 to 2021, according to the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.
Historically, global accounting firms have dealt with shortages 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 automation based on large language models could impact 100% of the tasks of accountants and auditors.
(Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; Editing by Bill Berkrot)