Accounting
Xero’s JAX said to tame gen AI hallucinations for acconting tasks
Small business accounting platform Xero announced that it is beta testing a new generative AI assistant called Just Ask Xero, or JAX, which sports a control system that Diya Jolly, chief product and technology officer, said ensures accuracy and security.
Speaking during Xero’s annual Xerocon event in Nashville, she noted that Xero is “no stranger to AI” as “it powers a range of our products,” but what’s different here is that JAX uses generative AI to automate tasks and provide guidance through a plain language interface. So while, before, someone might press a button that says “create an invoice,” then type in the line items and then type in the prices and then check the total, users would be able to simply tell JAX to create an invoice, and the AI will pull from the relevant data to deliver the result.
“All of that is already in your email. You already typed it out once. Why do you need to type it again,” she said in a later interview, noting that it’s “just more natural” to interact with a plain language interface versus navigating through tabs and menus to get things done.
Jolly said that accuracy is one of the key differentiators for its AI system. The tendency for large language models to give inaccurate information, particularly where numbers are concerned, is well known at this point. This has led to a certain degree of hesitation from professionals to deploy generative AI for serious accounting work (
“While there is power in generative AI, it has to be bound for accounting. … We cannot launch something in accounting where we do not have a high level of belief in its accuracy. This is our product. What are we doing if we’re not accurate?” she said.
To this end, JAX was trained on a very specific set of data. More generic models such as those developed by Microsoft or Google are trained on massive data sets because it is intended for users to apply them to a wide set of functions. Jolly said that JAX was trained on more specialized data, such as being able to recognize an invoice or a quote, or understand terms like cash outstanding or accounts receivable. This helps the AI stay on task and avoid some of the confusion that can come from other models.
Beyond this, however, the accuracy of the outputs are further bolstered by the fact that JAX was described as a hybrid AI that combines a large language model with machine learning and deep learning models. JAX itself does not actually do the work but, rather, acts as a go-between with the human user and the other AI models.
So, if a user asked JAX for a cash flow projection over the next quarter, JAX would understand the request; then, it would convert this request to actual machine code which then gets passed onto the deep learning and machine learning AIs on Xero’s servers; these models would then perform the necessary calculations using the data they are allowed to access; the results, in machine code, would then be passed back to JAX, which would then translate the information back into plain language for the user to see. This is all part of what Xero called “JAX Assure” which Jolly described as a sort of control center that keeps the results accurate.
“Because this is accounting, we want to be a lot more precise. So we can’t leave it up to the generative AI models to tell you cash outstanding. So then we use the machine learning, deep learning models to do the task. We are pretty confident, then, that we’re not going to get hallucinations… because, again, the AI models convert the language but the actual calculations happen with our [other] models,” she said.
She also highlighted the AI’s mobile compatibility. People can access JAX through a mobile device, so they’re not tied to a desk, they can do what they need to do wherever they are. Jolly said she was often frustrated by the fact that she would go to meetings with “all these bills and receipts” but couldn’t do anything with them until she could get to her computer later.
“So the fact that I just sent a quote or just created an invoice… the fact you can do it from email, you can do it from WhatsApp, it is extremely liberating and efficient for small business users as well as an accountant. So, being able to get paid, being able to make sure you’re staying on top of what you need to do to get your business moving, I think is cool, because believe it or not most of our businesses, when they have to send invoices or whatever at night, they forget,” she said.
These features are only the beginning. Jolly, during her presentation, said that JAX, over time, will be in more and more of the Xero platform where it might be able to do things like check for anomalies or find specific types of transactions. Regardless of what it does, though, Jolly said the key differentiator will be its accuracy.
“I think our accuracy will be our long sustaining [differentiator], like ‘hey we found a way to do gen AI that is accurate. And private,” she said.
JAX is currently in beta. Those who are interested in taking part
One suspect in the two New Year’s Day incidents being probed as terror attacks was a former U.S. Army sergeant from Texas who recently worked for Big Four firm Deloitte. The other was a U.S. Army special forces sergeant from Colorado on leave from active duty.
Law enforcement officials on Thursday said there appears to be no definitive link between the two deadly events: a truck attack in New Orleans that left at least 15 dead and the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside of President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas that killed the driver and injured seven.
But in addition to the military backgrounds of the suspects — they both served in Afghanistan in 2009 — on the day of the attacks they shared at least one other striking similarity: Both men used the same rental app to obtain electric vehicles.
The driver of the Cybertruck was identified as Matthew Alan Livelsberger of Colorado Springs. He rented the Cybertruck on Turo, the app also used by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the separate attack in New Orleans hours earlier. Turo said it was working with law enforcement officials on the investigation of both incidents.
There are “very strange similarities and so we’re not prepared to rule in or rule out anything at this point,” said Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
The gruesome assault on revelers celebrating New Year’s in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter and the explosion in Las Vegas thrust U.S. domestic security back into the spotlight just weeks before Donald Trump is sworn in as president.
Texas roots
As authorities combed through the macabre scene on Wednesday in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter, they said they discovered an ISIS flag with the Ford F-150 electric pickup truck that barreled through the crowd. Two improvised explosive devices were found in the area, according to the FBI.
Jabbar had claimed to join ISIS during the summer and pledged allegiance to the group in videos posted on social media prior to the attack, according to the FBI. An official said there’s no evidence that ISIS coordinated the attack.
Officials said the 42-year-old Jabbar, who lived in the Houston area, exchanged fire with police and was killed at the scene.
Jabbar has said online that he spent “all his life” in the Texas city, with the exception of 10 years working in human resources and information technology in the military, according to a video promoting his real estate business.
After serving as an active-duty soldier from 2006 to 2015 and as a reservist for about five years, Jabbar began a career in technology services, the Wall Street Journal reported. He worked for Accenture, Ernst & Young and Deloitte.
Jabbar was divorced twice, most recently from Shaneen McDaniel, according to Fort Bend County marriage records. The couple, who married in 2017, had one son, and separated in 2020. The divorce was finalized in 2022.
“The marriage has become insupportable due to discord or conflict of personalities that destroys the legitimate ends of the marital relationship and prevents any reasonable expectation of reconciliation,” the petition stated.
McDaniel kept the couple’s four-bedroom home southwest of Houston. She declined to comment when contacted at her house in suburban Houston.
Fort Bragg
Jabbar moved to another residence in Houston, which the FBI and local law enforcement spent all night searching before declaring the neighborhood of mobile homes and single-story houses safe for residents. Agents cleared the scene shortly before 8 a.m. local time without additional comment.
Jabbar’s mobile home is fronted by an 8-foot corrugated steel fence that was partially torn apart to provide search teams access. Weightlifting equipment and a bow hunting target were scattered across the broken concrete walkway. Chickens, Muscovy ducks and guinea fowl roamed the property.
Behind the home, a yellow 2018 Jeep Rubicon sat with its doors left wide open and a hardcover book written in Arabic sitting atop the dashboard. The license plate expired in May 2023.
The other suspect, Livelsberger, was a member of the Army’s elite Green Berets, according to the Associated Press, which cited unidentified Army officials. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks, and was on approved leave when he died in the blast.
Livelsberger, 37, spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a massive Army base in North Carolina that’s home to Army special forces command. Jabbar also spent time at Fort Bragg, though his service apparently didn’t overlap with Livelsberger’s.
Las Vegas Sheriff McMahill said they found his military identification, a passport, a semiautomatic, fireworks, an iPhone, smartwatch and credit cards in his name, but are still uncertain it’s Livelsberger and are waiting on DNA records.
“His body is burnt beyond recognition and I do still not have confirmation 100% that that is the individual that was inside our vehicle,” he said.
The individual in the car suffered a gunshot wound to his head prior to the detonation of the vehicle.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board today asked stakeholders for feedback on its future standard-setting agenda.
The FASB published an
Stakeholders should review and submit feedback by June 30.
Patrick Dorsman/Financial Accounting Foundation
“As a result of the significant progress on the 2021 agenda consultation priorities, the FASB staff is once again seeking stakeholder input on the Board’s future agenda and initiatives,” FASB technical director Jackson Day said in a statement. “We encourage stakeholders to take this opportunity to review the ITC and share their views on financial accounting and reporting priorities they think the Board should address going forward.”
The FASB began the current agenda consultation in 2024, doing outreach to over 200 stakeholders, including investors, practitioners, preparers and academics. The discussion in this ITC is based on input received from those stakeholders and does not contain FASB views. Most of those stakeholders said “there is not a case to make major changes to generally accepted accounting principles at this time,” according to the announcement, so many of the topics that were suggested focus on targeted improvements to GAAP.
The board encourages stakeholders to continue to submit
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