Dext Launches Accounting AI Agent To Learn And Automate Bookkeeping Decisions

Bookkeeping automation vendor Dext has released a new AI agent called Dext AI Assist, designed to learn how accountants and finance teams work and then automate repetitive decision-making across their workflows.

The tool, announced in Sydney, is built into the existing Dext platform and aims to go beyond the document capture and data extraction capabilities the company already offers. Rather than simply processing receipts and invoices, AI Assist targets the layer of judgement-based decisions that still require manual input from professionals.

How it works

AI Assist observes how users interact with the Dext platform, tracking their decisions, preferences and edits over time. It then surfaces suggestions for automating those same decisions across future transactions.

The types of decisions it handles include how transactions are categorised, how description fields are populated and how data is structured for reporting purposes. These choices often vary between firms, clients and individual finance teams, making them difficult to automate using standard rule-based approaches.

Every suggestion the system generates remains visible and reviewable. Dext has built the tool around a human-in-the-loop model, meaning users retain full control over whether a suggestion is applied. The system then learns from that feedback to improve its accuracy over time.

Tackling the next bottleneck

Dext already processes a significant volume of financial documents. In January 2026 alone, the platform handled 31.4 million receipts and invoices globally.

The company estimates that manually processing each of those documents would take between three and four minutes, putting the total manual workload at more than two million hours. Using Dext’s existing automation, users spent roughly 206,000 hours on the same task, a reduction of more than 90 per cent.

But while document capture has become largely automated, the decisions that sit on top of that data have remained a manual process. AI Assist is Dext’s attempt to close that gap.

Sabby Gill, CEO of Dext, described the tool as a natural extension of the company’s existing platform.

“Dext has already helped remove millions of hours of manual data entry from bookkeeping by automating document capture and processing at scale,” Gill explained. “With AI Assist, we’re taking the next step – helping firms and finance teams apply their own judgement and way of working more consistently across every transaction.”

Gill added that every organisation has its own approach to categorising transactions, structuring data and managing workflows.

“AI Assist learns how you work and helps apply those decisions automatically, while keeping you fully in control. This frees up teams to focus on higher-value work like insight, advisory and strategic decision-making,” he noted.

Pressure on productivity

The release comes against a backdrop of growing workload pressure across the accounting and finance profession. Transaction volumes are rising, compliance requirements are expanding and clients are expecting faster turnaround on financial insight.

Productivity growth in Australia has also been tracking below long-term trends, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That has put greater emphasis on technology that can remove operational bottlenecks without sacrificing professional oversight.

Stephen Edginton, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Dext, stressed that the tool is designed to work alongside users rather than replace them.

“The platform already processes financial data at scale with high accuracy. AI Assist builds on that by learning how each team works and applying those decisions consistently,” Edginton told iTnews. “Human judgement remains central to the process, while AI helps reduce the manual effort that slows teams down.”

Early feedback from beta users

Dext ran a beta program ahead of the broader rollout. Michele Grisdale, Founder of Rainforest Bookkeeping, reported measurable improvements in workflow efficiency.

“It’s reduced the amount of manual entry and corrections we need to do, saving us several hours,” Grisdale observed. “What stands out is the level of control – we can set the parameters and be confident the right assumptions are being applied, which is critical in accounting.”

Grisdale added that the system appeared to learn how her team operates and apply that understanding consistently across transactions.

“That not only saves time but also improves accuracy,” she continued. “It has real potential to change how bookkeeping gets done.”

Availability

Dext AI Assist is now rolling out across the Dext platform. The feature will be available as a free trial until 23 April, with further capabilities planned as the system continues to develop.

Last Updated on March 24, 2026 by Nick Ross