'Industry Observer' is our column dedicated to cutting-edge technologies such as AI, XR, Metaverse, and Web3, primarily sharing stories of emerging enterprises or entrepreneurs in these fields. Announced the completion of a $10 million seed round funding just five months ago, and recently completed a new $28 million funding round? Why has Numeric become the preferred solution for the accounting departments of many well-known enterprises? Below is our 31st issue. Enjoy!

For a long time, the month-end, quarter-end, and year-end closing processes have been a major concern for accountants, as they often rely heavily on manual operations, which are prone to errors, time-consuming, and labor-intensive.

It was this deep understanding of the tedious work that prompted Parker Gilbert to co-found Numeric accounting software in 2021. By automating parts of the bookkeeping process and enhancing its capabilities with AI technology, Numeric has become the preferred solution for the accounting departments of many renowned companies such as Brex, OpenAI, Plaid, and Wealthfront.

Is the spring of the accounting industry approaching?

01. Quick Overview in 1 Minute

1. Project Name: Numeric

2. Establishment Date: May 1, 2021

3. Product Introduction:

Numeric is a leading AI-driven data analytics company dedicated to providing efficient and intelligent analytics solutions for various industries.

4. Founder Team:

CEO: Parker Gilbert

CPO: Anthony Alvernaz

CTO: Andrew Bihl

5. Funding Status:

Completed a $10 million seed round led by Long Journey Ventures on May 7, 2024;

Completed a $28 million Series A round led by Menlo Ventures on October 10, 2024.

02. The Path to Success for Numeric

Numeric's success lies not only in its vast customer base but also in its astonishing growth rate. In the past year, the company's revenue quadrupled, reaching millions of dollars.

Numeric's core competitiveness lies in its ability to significantly reduce the time required for monthly bookkeeping.

Founder Parker Gilbert explained, "Numeric integrates and reconciles data from various accounting systems and Excel spreadsheets, then utilizes AI agents to analyze each change compared to the previous month. Once anomalies or unexpected fluctuations are detected, the AI automatically provides explanations for account increases or decreases, significantly saving human labor time."

To ensure accuracy, Numeric provides links for accountants to verify the AI's work results at any time.

While generative AI has not yet fully taken over the actual verification and calculation processes, Parker Gilbert predicts that Numeric's models will soon be capable of accurately performing these tasks. Large language models have already demonstrated remarkable capabilities in synthesizing and analyzing vast amounts of data and are expected to continue improving in the future.

03. Intelligent Data Analytics Platform

Numeric's core product is an intelligent data analytics platform designed to provide enterprises with comprehensive data integration and visualization tools.

Data Integration

Data integration is crucial for achieving comprehensive data analysis in enterprises.

Companies typically use multiple independent systems and platforms to manage different types of data, such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, sales records, marketing platforms, social media channels, and supply chain management systems.

These systems generate vast amounts of data, but their separation makes it difficult for companies to gain holistic insights. The formation of data silos not only limits decision-makers' comprehensive understanding of the business but can also lead to duplicate work and data inconsistencies.

Numeric's data integration technology supports seamless connections to multiple data sources, easily integrating both structured data (such as orders and financial records in databases) and unstructured data (such as emails and comments on social media).

The platform automatically collects and aggregates data from different systems using built-in APIs and data import tools. This allows enterprises to view and analyze all data on a centralized platform, reducing decision delays and information errors caused by data fragmentation.

Automated Data Processing

Data integration is just the first step; the integrated data must undergo further processing to become valuable information.

Traditional data processing often involves extensive manual operations, such as data cleaning, standardization, and format conversion, which are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to human errors.

Numeric's platform offers automated data cleaning functions, automatically checking and correcting common errors during data import. For instance, the system can handle duplicate data records, missing values, inconsistent formats, and other issues, ensuring that the final data is clean and consistent.

Moreover, Numeric boasts powerful data standardization capabilities, automatically converting data from different systems into a unified format, facilitating subsequent analysis and visualization.

04. Generative AI Accounting Co-Pilot

The company has also created a generative AI accounting co-pilot to save accountants time and answer any questions they may have about accounts. Accountants can inquire about financial statements, cash flow status, or forecast data using simple queries, and the AI will generate and display the corresponding results in real-time.

This intuitive and convenient interaction allows financial managers to easily access critical information without needing to master complex financial software operations.

Additionally, the generative AI can automatically generate complex financial statements, including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. For senior managers, the AI can produce concise financial summaries, while financial analysts can receive more detailed data analysis reports.

The technical architecture behind the generative AI accounting co-pilot relies heavily on advanced technologies such as natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and deep learning. Its core components include:

Big Data Processing Platform: Handles vast amounts of data from multiple systems, ensuring accurate and timely data input.

NLP Engine: Recognizes and understands financial terminology in natural language, converting unstructured text information into structured financial data.

Machine Learning Model: Learns from historical financial data to predict future financial trends and provide intelligent suggestions to users.

Security and Compliance Module: Ensures that all data processing adheres to industry standards and regulatory requirements.

These technologies not only process existing financial data but also leverage their predictive capabilities to provide intelligent financial advice. They can predict future capital needs based on past spending patterns, helping managers make adjustments before cash flow tightens and automatically identify and report potential financial risks.

05. Deepening the 'Moat' Continuously

Numeric clearly states that AI technology is gradually paving the way for the future business environment, portending profound changes in the accounting industry.

In this future scenario, accountants' roles will evolve beyond traditional data preparation and organization to strategic reviewers deeply involved in corporate financial management and decision-making processes.

However, Numeric still faces fierce competition from companies like Blackline Inc. and FloQast Inc., which also focus on innovative accounting software. Therefore, they cannot afford to let their guard down.

Menlo Ventures Partner Croom Beatty highly praised Numeric's development prospects, stating, "Numeric's moat is much deeper than in many industries we focus on. It seamlessly integrates complex workflows with complex data in a market that has yet to be fully developed and effectively served by technology companies."

Based on this positive market feedback and strong technical capabilities, Numeric plans to use the newly acquired funds to further expand its product offerings to meet the diverse needs of more enterprises.

Simultaneously, the company will actively explore new market opportunities adjacent to its current business, such as financial planning and analysis, aiming to leverage the transformative power of AI technology in a broader business environment, driving continuous progress and development in the accounting industry.