"Thanks to ai-Gust, accountants can really benchmark companies"

In the increasingly fast-moving and digitising world of accountancy, sharing and comparing data between firms is a promising development. A new platform called ai-Gust, which focuses on benchmarking and data comparison, allows accountants to provide clients with even more targeted and proactive advice.

AI-GUST helps accountants better meet their clients' expectations by extracting data from existing accounting software packages and other systems and transforming it into clear, actionable insights and advice that accountants' clients can use to make their businesses perform better, according to its mission statement.

This frees the accountant's hands for more personalised and targeted advice, so that the client knows where he stands with his business.

Although the platform is still under development, it is already showing potential as a support tool in customer meetings and reporting. Valérie Rivière, Partner Accountancy at Grant Thornton, provides more insight into the platform.

From idea to practice

ai-Gust was born out of a collaboration between three accounting firms. It was founded by BDO, Van Havermaet and Vandelanotte, and at the next stage new shareholders came on board, notably Baker Tilly, Certifisc and RSM. Late last year, Grant Thornton joined as a shareholder. Their goal was simple but powerful: to gather insights from the figures of different files in order to make a comparative analysis. Not only at the individual customer level, but especially within sectoral contexts.

Financial data is of course often processed digitally these days, but often the data is fragmented across various packages and systems. That makes benchmarking more difficult. ai-Gust meets this.

Rivière explains: "For example, if I have a client in the construction sector, I can benchmark his figures against similar files. Think gross margin, cost structure or profitability." This comparative approach gives accountants a broader basis for advisory discussions.

Sector benchmarking with nuance

While benchmarking offers valuable insights, caution is needed. 'Trade in building materials', for example, is a broad category that includes different types of businesses.... It is therefore important to have sufficient granularity in the analysis.

The platform works on the basis of sector codes, and the more specific these are entered, the more relevant the output. Still, a comment remains in place: "We cannot make a one-to-one comparison with a specific competitor. That's not the point either. It's about detecting trends and anomalies at the sector level."

Support for customer meetings

In practice, the platform is mainly used for more in-depth customer conversations or for preparing annual reports. After all, not every customer or balance sheet requires extensive analysis. But when additional substantiation is needed, the platform offers solid added value.

It enables accountants to step up to the client not only with numbers, but also with context and comparisons. "We know our clients well, but it always helps to benchmark their performance against industry averages as well. It makes our advice more concrete and more numerically based," Rivière states.

Continued development and cooperation

The benchmarking platform is 'work in progress' and is constantly being refined and improved. Through meetings between participating offices, feedback is collected and turned into improvements. This co-creative approach ensures that the platform is closely aligned with the needs of the industry.

It is also hoped that the platform can be used in the future on other topics, such as sustainability. "SMEs will also be impacted by regulation anyway. As accountants, we should be able to support them in this," Rivière says.

The role of the accountant is changing

This evolution is part of a broader trend: the transformation of the accountant from numbers processor to advisor. Automating repetitive tasks or supporting them with smart tools frees up space for consulting and data interpretation.

Yet critical thinking remains crucial, Rivière says. "It remains important for the accountant to do the thinking and interpret the output correctly."

Conclusion

While digital tools and benchmarking platforms offer great potential, caution remains the order of the day. The confidentiality of customer data must be respected at all times. Security and data protection are essential.

The conclusion is therefore twofold: on the one hand, accountants need to be critical when implementing new technologies, especially with data integrity in mind. On the other hand, they should not miss the opportunity. "If we are sufficiently critical and careful with such tools, they can really strengthen us in our role as consultants," concludes Valérie Rivière.