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Frankenstein’s Accounting: Into the Arctic of Artificial Intelligence
- Brett J. Federer, CPA
- Sep 27
- 3 min read
It always begins with good intentions. A founder stares at messy books and decides the solution is a clever mix of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, automations, and quick fixes. A subscription here, a cheap add-on there, and a spreadsheet to patch the gaps. Piece by piece, the creation takes form. At first, it feels ingenious — efficient, fast, and almost alive.
Little do they know, they have just created a Frankenstein’s monster, where the dangers don’t appear right away but build quietly in the background, hidden beneath the surface until the stitches start to tear.
The Temptation of the Shortcut
When resources are tight, founders often believe artificial intelligence can do the heavy lifting on its own. Transactions post automatically, reconciliations appear clean, and reports generate in seconds. It feels like the perfect solution — a way to save money while keeping the numbers moving.
In the beginning, the stitched-together system looks strong. The efficiency is real, but it creates a dangerous illusion: that human oversight is no longer needed.
The Stitches Start to Tear
Over time, the cracks begin to show.
Expenses slip into the wrong categories — like mismatched limbs sewn together, the system moves, but not in the way it should.
Bank reconciliations don’t quite tie out — uneven, like Frankenstein’s unsteady steps, they wobble just enough to throw the entire balance off.
Revenue rules work for most cases, but not the one that matters most — the way a bolt in the neck may spark to life but can’t replace a beating heart.
These errors don’t scream for attention. Instead, they lurk quietly in the background — ghost entries, phantom balances, zombie reports — while leadership continues to trust the output. By the time the flaws are obvious, the damage has already spread through the system and the town already has the torches and pitchforks.
The Fear of Losing Control
This is the real horror of Frankenstein’s accounting: not the mistakes themselves, but the silence that follows. When experts are replaced by machines, there’s no raised eyebrow, no second look, no instinct to ask, “Does this make sense?”
The biggest fear with artificial intelligence isn’t speed or automation — it’s the loss of control. That’s why experts warn about the risks of artificial intelligence accounting, where numbers may look clean on the surface but erode trust underneath. Once human oversight is gone, errors compound, trust erodes, and leaders are left with financials that no longer reflect reality. The monster doesn’t need to chase you down; it simply grows stronger in the shadows, until control has already slipped away.
Artificial Intelligence Accounting Isn’t the Villain — Abandonment Is
In Shelley’s novel, the creature wasn’t born evil. It became dangerous when left misunderstood and alone. Artificial intelligence is the same. The harm doesn’t come from the tool itself — it comes from abandonment and misuse.
The key is moderation. Artificial intelligence belongs where it works best: automating repetitive tasks, reducing manual effort, and streamlining routine processes. In the same way factory automation once took on the most dangerous, exhausting jobs to protect human health and safety, today’s tools can take on the repetitive accounting grind so people can focus on higher-value judgment.
But it should never displace the humans who provide oversight. Accounting requires judgment, context, and skepticism — qualities no machine can replicate. Without that balance, the system stops being a solution and starts becoming a threat.
How to Avoid the Monster
The lesson is simple but critical:
Use artificial intelligence to support, not replace, your experts.
Trust technology to handle speed and volume.
Trust people to bring judgment and clarity.
AI where it works, humans where it counts. That balance is what keeps the stitches from unraveling.
Into the Arctic
In the movies, Frankenstein’s monster usually ends in flames. But in Mary Shelley’s novel, the creature isn’t destroyed — it wanders into the Arctic, abandoned and misunderstood, left to outlive its creator.
This Halloween, the scariest monsters aren’t the ones in haunted houses — they’re the ones we create ourselves. A stitched-together accounting system left to run unchecked may seem efficient at first, but without human oversight it becomes a nightmare.
The real safeguard isn’t avoiding artificial intelligence altogether. It’s using it wisely, in moderation, while keeping human expertise firmly in place. Because when the stitches hold, you’re not building a monster — you’re building a foundation you can trust.
If your accounting systems feel more like a monster than a foundation, it might be time to rebuild. Start here
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