Can AI do my bookkeeping?
A short learning video. A renovation company owner, a software engineer and her bookkeeper go through one BAS quarter with AI.
What this video shows
Nora’s quarter used to end with a shoebox of receipts and two lost evenings. Now she photographs each receipt at the counter, and the AI matches her bank lines to the receipts. It ticks the lines it is sure about and leaves the rest for her. One mixed payment, a drill for work and a barbecue for home, is a decision only she can make. Sam shows what a study from 5 October 2026 found: AI that can look at a business’s own past books gets about nine in ten transactions right. Good, but not perfect. Grace, Nora’s bookkeeper, checks the quarter, and Sam explains why someone you pay for BAS work must be a registered BAS or tax agent. The AI never presses the lodge button. The article has the full picture, app by app, and the Tax Practitioners Board’s own list.
If you want an AI agent that drafts your books and leaves every decision with you, see how I can help or tell me what your quarter looks like.
Transcript
0:03 Nora: Can AI do my bookkeeping?
0:07 Sam: Partly, yes. AI can now do most of the first draft: it matches bank lines, reads receipts and suggests tax codes.
Sam: But you check it. And it does not lodge your BAS by itself.
0:21 Nora: Every quarter: a shoebox of receipts, a bank statement, and the BAS date on my calendar.
Nora: I lose two evenings to it.
0:30 Nora: Now I take a photo of each receipt at the counter.
Sam: The app reads the supplier, the date, the amount and the GST, before you leave the shop.
0:40 Sam: Then the bank feed comes in. The AI matches each payment to its receipt or invoice.
Sam: When it is sure, it ticks the line. When it is not sure, it leaves the line for you.
0:52 Nora: This one it could not decide. A drill for work and a barbecue for home, on one card payment.
Sam: That is a judgement. Only you know what was for the business. So you decide the GST, not the AI.
1:07 Sam: How often is it right? An American study this month tested two thousand real business payments.
Sam: Hired accountants who did not know the businesses got about eight in ten right. Plain AI, the same.
Sam: An AI agent that could see each business’s past books got about nine in ten. Good, not perfect.
1:29 Nora: It also shows who still owes me money. I call them that day.
Sam: A good job for AI. It finds and it drafts. You act.
1:38 Nora: Grace, my bookkeeper, checks the quarter before we lodge.
Sam: If you pay someone to code your GST or do your BAS, they must be a registered BAS or tax agent, or work under one.
1:52 Nora: And lodging? Does the AI press the button?
Sam: No. No main accounting app lets AI lodge your BAS by itself. You lodge it, or your registered agent does.
2:05 Sam: Two more rules. Keep your records for five years. And you stay responsible, even when someone helps.
Sam: Before you connect an AI, ask where your data is kept, and if it trains the AI. Start with read-only.
2:20 Sam: So, the AI drafts. You decide. And a registered agent checks and lodges, if you pay for that work.
2:29 Nora: Now my books take a few quiet minutes a week, not two lost evenings.
Sam: Start with one job. Let it match your bank lines for a month, and check every one.
2:39 Sam: AI can do the first draft of your books. You check it. And you, or a registered agent, lodges the BAS.
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