AI and finance: real cases and practical guides for SMEs
AI can help finance teams prepare commentary, process documents and identify variances. Connections and calculation rules remain the foundations of reporting. These guides help you choose a first use case, test it and verify its value before expanding.
By Benjamin Ziza · Updated on
Where are you starting from?
Six guides from need to pilot
Guide 1
Automate financial reporting
Automate SME reporting: sources, reconciliations, controls, an illustrative ROI calculation and a documented case. A finance-led method.
Guide 2
ChatGPT for finance
Three finance exercises: variance commentary, document requests and board preparation. Prompts, expected answers and data confidentiality.
Guide 3
Choose an LLM for finance
Choose an LLM for finance: test framework, sources, calculations, confidentiality and integration. A comparison protocol without an artificial ranking.
Guide 4
Reporting and AI tools
Compare reporting, connectors and AI assistants: criteria, total costs, licences and questions before buying. Links to vendor documentation.
Guide 5
Real cases and experience reports
U.S. Venture, Armanino and Hebbia: three documented AI cases and their relevance to SMEs. Opti Digital is a separate Iter financial-structuring assignment.
Guide 6
90-day roadmap
An AI and reporting rollout plan for SMEs: owners, deliverables, stage gates, measured benefits and a return to manual processes when needed.
What evidence will you find in this section?
The public U.S. Venture, Armanino and Hebbia cases are attributed to Microsoft or Anthropic. The analysis identifies the tasks and distinguishes reported results from estimated benefits. These companies are not presented as Iter clients.
Our documented work at Opti Digital illustrates ERP, reporting and closing structuring. No AI gain is attributed to it. Prompts and ROI calculations in the guides are clearly labelled fictitious exercises.
Automation, AI and accountability: who does what?
A connector retrieves data. Rules calculate indicators. An assistant can prepare analysis or commentary. The finance owner checks results and approves decisions. Describe these stages separately to identify errors and measure the net time benefit.
To understand organisational choices, read the CFO’s role in AI-assisted finance (FR). To select the first tasks, use the repetitive-task prioritisation framework (FR).