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Why AI is killing the spreadsheet – and it’s good news

ApprovalMax
ApprovalMax
accounting & finance business & leadership
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This year might finally spell the death of the spreadsheet. At least, that’s what Dan Schonfeld, CFO of ApprovalMax, thinks. And while he’s a big fan of Excel (and even has Excel socks to prove it!), this isn’t bad news – it’s the opposite. We spoke to him to understand what’s front-of-mind for the finance leader as we head into the second half of the year, amid a fast-changing, increasingly AI-driven world.

Key points

  • Good data is vital for the finance function, but needs the right people, systems, and processes in place.

  • AI is reshaping finance. The challenge is using its potential wisely without risky leaps.

  • The death of the spreadsheet might finally be here as AI-powered software stacks take over.

As we enter the second half of the year, what are your biggest priorities as a financial leader?

There’s quite a lot happening here at ApprovalMax so it’s hard to narrow it down! Primarily, I’m focused on driving a culture where performance is evaluated and measured as regularly and in real time as possible. This means using industry accepted KPIs and metrics, and making sure that these inform and shape the way we conduct our business and the decisions we make.

Linked to this, we also have a need to continuously strive for better data – something most finance leaders would agree with. This means more accurate, granular, accessible and structured data, as it needs to be framed and analysed the right way with the correct terminology and definitions. 

This is an ongoing effort and one I'm sure is common across the industry and in general. To make good decisions, you need good information and this doesn't just appear – you need to work hard to get it. That means having the right processes, systems and people in place to deliver it consistently.

How is technology changing the way you operate as a leader, as well as the broader finance function?

It all comes down to two letters: AI.  AI is going to change everything – and it already is. Talking about it in the future is a mistake. It's happening all around us and at a really fast pace. It's affecting how we work as a finance function, as well as across industries. Everything is affected by it.

It's still unclear to what extent the applications and implications of AI truly are; they’re being figured out as we speak. It's happening very quickly. This creates pressure to adopt and integrate AI into anything and everything that we do to avoid falling behind. 

At the same time, the challenge is always not doing it in a reckless fashion. We need to use AI in a way that allows us to maintain sufficient control and not break anything, especially working in finance where there’s a strict need for accuracy and compliance. 

It’s also important to avoid doing anything premature or half-baked and ending up with results that are worse than not doing anything at all. So it's a tricky balance.

Are there any interesting ways you’re using AI?

I’m not an AI expert – I certainly don't code. I'm just a user but I've been experimenting with this over the last few months. 

I've taken ChatGPT and trained it to be our Board of Directors, with deep knowledge of each of the distinct members. Then I use that as a sounding board. Every time I want to present something to my board, I run it by this virtual board first and get feedback. And it works – I’ve checked with our CEO and his feedback was almost exactly the same.

It's amazingly powerful in that it allows me to see around corners. It flags potentially challenges, questions, complications and issues I might run into so I can prepare in advance – it’s proven to be a useful tool.

On a more personal level, I’ve recently been clued on to the fact that you can use AI models to effectively run your own role-playing game, like Dungeons and Dragons.

You train it to be your dungeon master and it then creates a role playing scenario for you. It's really fun and creative in the way it shapes up challenges, riddles and adventures for you.

AI is very much in the spotlight right now, but what do you think not enough people are paying attention to right now?

We’re finally witnessing the death of the spreadsheet. This has been talked about for a couple of decades now, but no matter how hard people have tried, spreadsheets still stayed with us. While there are software applications for certain purposes, at the end of the day the glue that holds it together, between finance and other functions in an organisation, has been the spreadsheet. 

We’re now getting to a point where there’s such a plethora of software applications supercharged by AI, and things are connecting in such a way that shows we’re not far from a time where you could run an entire business end-to-end on a pure software stack, fully integrated, without the need to open Excel or Google Sheets. I don’t think people realise this is just around the corner.

What does this mean for businesses and finance functions?

A lot of things will change. Spreadsheets are amazing, obviously I love Excel – a good friend of mine even got me Excel socks for my birthday recently.

But the problem with spreadsheets is that they're not built to be collaborative tools. It's very easy to make mistakes, to overwrite data, break stuff and get lost in multiple versions.

Software takes away a lot of that; it's built for collaboration in real time. The UI is structured so it’s intuitive and user-friendly. All of these are changes for the better. This will give us what we need to operate faster, more efficiently and with the right insights, better data. 

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Approvalmax is an all-in-one B2B software platform used by businesses around the world to build robust AP and AR automation, creating multiple layers of internal control. It streamlines the approval process by allowing users to create automated workflows to approve bills and invoices. ApprovalMax integrates with accounting platforms such as Xero, QuickBooks Online, and Oracle NetSuite to unlock powerful efficiencies for accounts payable and accounts receivable functions in any finance team.