New bot tracks business expenditure through messaging apps

One of the apps on show will be Pegg, the personal trainer for business and a chat bot which lives on a smartphone or computer. Pegg will log a business's expenses and file its receipts, as well as be able to tell a business owner what has been spent or earned for the month and remind the owner instantly who owes the business money.

The chat bot is the first in the accounting industry and allows one to track expenses and manage finances through messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and Slack.

Pegg hides the complexities of accounting and lets entrepreneurs manage finances through conversation, making the process as simple as writing a text. By digitising information at the point of capture, it takes away the process of filing receipts and expenses, therefore eradicating the need for paper and data entry.

“Smart bots, alongside the affordability of cloud-based business applications, is one of the trends that we can expect to dramatically change how business builders work in the future. These bots are not about replacing human beings like accountants or bookkeepers, but rather about making it easier for them to get the most from technology," says Anton van Heerden, executive vice-president, Africa & Middle East at Sage.

“In South Africa and across the rest of the continent, we can expect to see bots pop up in applications such as education, healthcare, customer support and personal financial management. For example, a mathematics tutor bot could provide schoolchildren with after-hours help when they are struggling with their homework.”

A South African support network for pregnant women, MomConnect, uses Facebook’s Messenger bot to answer specific questions relating to maternal healthcare.

Says Kriti Sharma, Sage’s 27-year-old VP of Bots and Artificial Intelligence, and the mastermind behind Pegg, “Users can say ‘spent R50 on post-it notes at Game’ to enter expenses and can ask questions like ‘how much money did I make last year in October?’ or ‘who is my best customer?’. Some of the most dull, unexciting administrative functions can be the best use cases for bots,” concludes van Heerden.

Find out more about Pegg, here.