AITB No. 13 Accounting for AI-Enhanced Financial Risk Management Systems
Issue: How should entities account for costs and benefits associated with deploying AI-enhanced systems for financial risk management?
Background: In the complex financial landscape, managing risks associated with investments, loans, and market fluctuations is crucial. AI-driven systems provide predictive analytics and real-time insights to manage these risks more effectively.
Guidance:
- Capitalization of Risk Management System Costs: Costs related to the development or acquisition of long-term AI financial risk management systems should be capitalized as an intangible asset.
- Expensing of Data Inputs and Continuous Updates: Costs associated with data inputs essential for risk predictions or routine system updates should be expensed as they are incurred.
- Amortization of Capitalized System Costs: The capitalized costs should be amortized over the system's expected useful life, taking into account the pace of technological and financial industry changes.
- Benefit Recognition: Financial benefits resulting from better investment decisions, reduced losses, or optimized financial portfolios due to the AI system's insights should be recognized in the income statement in the relevant period.
Examples:
- Company M invests $3.3M in an AI-enhanced financial risk management system expected to be beneficial for 7 years. They would capitalize the $3.3M and amortize it over the 7-year period.
Note: This is a fictional representation and does not represent any real-world standard for AI. The development of such standards would involve extensive consultations with experts, stakeholders, and the public. Fictional representations simplify complex AI concepts, stimulate discussion, envision future scenarios, highlight ethical considerations, encourage creativity, bridge knowledge gaps, and set benchmarks for debate in fields like accounting.