AI Workflow Automation for Accounting & Finance: A Practical Hands-On Training Webinar
Overview
Many accounting spreadsheets eventually become informal workflow systems, but they may not manage ownership, status, approvals, follow-up, or controls effectively. AI can help accountants redesign these spreadsheet-bound processes and create app-like prototypes without manual coding during the guided exercise.
Participants will follow along a practical use case that will show how to diagnose the limitations of an existing spreadsheet, design the underlying data and workflow, generate safe fictional test data, and build a clickable prototype through an iterative create-review-refine process. The course also explains the critical distinction between a prototype and a production application and addresses privacy, security, access, testing, and governance throughout. In this webinar, you’ll learn how to:
- Identify accounting and finance workflows that are suitable for AI-assisted redesign or app-like prototyping
- Design the data, roles, statuses, outputs, review points, and controls for a simple finance workflow tool
- Use general-purpose AI to create, review, refine, and critique a clickable prototype
- Generate safe fictional data for testing without exposing client or organizational information
- Evaluate privacy, access, testing, security, and governance requirements before moving from prototype to production
Objective
To provide CPAs, accountants, finance professionals, and business leaders with practical guidance for using general-purpose AI to redesign spreadsheet-based processes through hands-on demonstrations and repeatable workflow design methods while addressing privacy, governance, and professional review considerations.
Emphasis
- Identifying spreadsheet-based accounting and finance processes that are strong candidates for AI-assisted workflow redesign
- Designing app-like workflow tools, including data structures, workflow stages, reporting outputs, and internal controls
- Practical methods for transforming manual spreadsheet processes into more efficient, structured workflows using general-purpose AI
- Hands-on demonstrations showing how to:
– Evaluate the limitations of an existing spreadsheet-based workflow
– Design the underlying data structure before building a solution
– Define workflow roles, statuses, approvals, and review processes
– Generate safe, fictional sample data for testing and prototyping
– Build, refine, and critique an AI-generated workflow prototype through an iterative development process - Using AI to assist with process documentation, workflow mapping, data dictionaries, and control documentation
- Practical guidance for testing AI-generated prototypes and distinguishing prototype solutions from production-ready applications
- Privacy, security, governance, and responsible AI practices for workflow automation and application development
- Comparing general-purpose AI tools, including ChatGPT and Claude, for workflow design, testing, and iterative refinement
- Reusable workflow design patterns, prompt frameworks, and implementation strategies that participants can apply to finance processes such as month-end close, reconciliations, CPE tracking, and budget requests
Speakers
Tracie Miller, PhD, CPA
Wendy Tietz, PhD, CPA, CGMA, CITP