AI startup Basis raises $34 million for accounting automation ‘agent’

By Anna Tong

(Reuters) – Artificial intelligence startup Basis has raised $34 million in Series A funding for its AI-powered accounting automation product, the company said on Tuesday.

The round was led by Khosla Ventures.Other investors included NFDG, an AI-focused fund led by ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and ex-Apple executive Daniel Gross, OpenAI board members and Adam D’Angelo and Jeff Dean, Chief Scientist at Google.

New York-based Basis is part of a category of artificial intelligence startups that create autonomous agents, or systems that use AI to perform actions on their own, industry leaders such as OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said , that such systems will dominate the AI ​​agenda next year, as models have recently reached the point where they can perform long-range planning.

Basis’ product, which they sell specifically to accounting firms, is capable of handling various workflows, such as transaction entry and double-checking data accuracy, and integrates with popular accounting systems such as Intuit’s QuickBooks and Xero , the company said.

Large accounting firms like Wiss, which employs 450 accountants, have seen up to a 30% time reduction as a result of using Basis, the firm’s CEO Matt Harp told Reuters.

The product, which acts like a junior accountant, allows staff accountants to spend their time reviewing the work of an AI agent rather than doing the work manually, Harp said.

Basis helps address the current critical shortage of accountants, Keith Raboy, managing director of Khosla Ventures, told Reuters as baby boomers retire and younger generations leave the profession.

The field employs more than 3 million workers in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but the number of candidates taking the annual CPA exam dropped 33% from 2016 to 2021, according to the International Association of Certified Professional Accountants.

Global accounting firms have historically dealt with shortages by setting up shop in outsourcing hubs like India.

Accounting is also one of the areas most vulnerable to AI disruption. A 2023 OpenAI paper concluded that automation based on large language models could affect 100% of accountants’ and auditors’ tasks.

(Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco Editing by Bill Bearcrot)