“Advances in machine learning, however, automate much of this work, promising to give accountants more time to focus on client value,” Mr Forbes said in recent insights.

“We see basic examples of this through accounts payable or staff reimbursement systems that take digital invoices or photos and extract details into a software. And yes, with just one simple document type, this technology is easy to implement. Commercial offerings in this area usually work very well and save firms a lot of time.”

Mr Forbes said he is currently leading a team to research how a similar approach can be applied to streamline superannuation accounting and compliance. 

“The documents we work with aren’t just simple invoices though – there are countless types of documents, each with their own data sets to identify and extract,” he said.

“We’ve looked to supercharge the drag and drop mode by developing a batch upload system through either email or direct upload. The data is ready when and where you want it, and it bypasses the need for data feed authorities.”

Over the last few years, SuperConcepts has been testing both methods to streamline SMSF administration within SuperMate, according to Mr Forbes. This includes processing Annual Tax Statements through the drag and drop method, which has proven significantly more efficient when entering complicated tax components.

“More recently, we’ve been working on a brand new platform, DataHero, which works as an email address allowing you to simply send all key documents to. They’re automatically identified, and the data is extracted and saved in a central location,” Mr Forbes explained.

“The extraction engine of this platform continues to be optimized; we’ve been performing real-use trials of it in SMSF administration across five key document types.

“During the trial, just shy of 160,000 bank transactions were automatically entered straight into SuperMate, saving significant processing time.  

“Now that DataHero is ready for wider use, we’re building it into the next generation of SuperMate so that our clients can benefit from this exciting technology. Machine learning document processing is just one of the ways SuperMate will supercharge your practice efficiency.”